My daughter has recently gotten very into movies, and we now use them as a reward system for when she successfully completes her sticker chart for the week. So, with a full week’s worth of stickers colorfully arranged on her chart, we set off for an advance screening of the movie HOP from Universal Pictures this past weekend.
I actually hadn’t heard much about the movie before we got there, having just taken a quick look at the trailer online beforehand, but I was pretty sure my daughter would like the movie. But, since she’s only 2 ½, sometimes she starts getting fidgety only a few minutes into the movies and the rest of the time is spent corralling her in her seat and bribing her to be quiet to not disturb other patrons.
Once the movie started and the action began, I was absolutely shocked that my daughter went from jumping in a circle yelling “it’s a bunny movie, I’m at a bunny movie!” to sitting and staring at the screen awestruck. Even more amazing – she stayed in her seat almost the entire movie. As in, only got up twice: once to cuddle with me and another time to cuddle with her dad and brother. That’s got to be a world record, right?
The thing is, I actually forgot that I should be nervous about a two year old in a theatre because I was enjoying the film so much. We’re talking laugh out loud enjoying myself. Numerous times – sometimes when no one else was laughing.
If you haven’t heard of HOP before, here’s everything you need to know: the story follows the story of E.B. (voiced by Russell Brand), the teenage son of the Easter Bunny who lives on Easter Island (naturally). Expected to take over the family business, E.B. flees and finds himself in Hollywood pursuing his dream of becoming a drummer in a rock band. While there he encounters Fred (James Marsden), a twenty-something slacker who is struggling to find himself while dealing with the disappointment of his whole family.
I should stop right now and clarify that this movie is a cross between animation and live action, something hubby and I are not usually fans of. To be honest, it was so well done that it was easy to forget that E.B. was computer generated since the quality was so amazing. Even the way the actors interacted with E.B. was really well done, making you feel like they really believed he was there, too.
While I typically shy away from movies that are season-specific because I don’t want to re-organize our movies that frequently, I will definitely make an exception for HOP because we all enjoyed it so much. But, before it is released on DVD, I am fairly certain we will be catching it again when it comes out in theatres everywhere on April 1st.
For more info on the film you can check out all the HOP websites:
HOP Official Website at http://www.iwantcandy.com/
Follow on Twitter and “Like” on Facebook
HOP on YouTube
Thank you to SocialMoms who allowed us to pay for the movie with a princess sticker chart as opposed to real cash. I was not asked to write a post about the movie or compensated in any way for this Rave Review.