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2 Stars
A colorful live-action/ CGI hybrid in the mold of the ‘Alvin’ films of recent years. This strangely off-beat children’s tale is a film of immense technical wizardry and moderate pleasures. Russell Brand makes for a surprisingly appealing voice-actor. Mouthing the lines of the lead character appropriately named ‘E.B.’, teenage son of the Easter Bunny. Dad wants E.B. to take over the family business; supplying candy to children on Easter. However E.B has big musical aspirations and heads to Hollywood looking to fulfill his dreams of becoming a professional drummer. Its here he meets Fred (James Marsden) a 37 year old unemployed layabout still living at his parents.
It’s vaugely depressing to see a likable actor as Marsden reduced to co-starring in this fluff. Maybe after the intense work he did on the mind-bending Richard E. Kelly film ‘The Box’ , he needed a light comedy but this isn’t it. Mixing the musical angle with the cuddly CGI animal and a perpetually exasperated actor may have helped turn the ‘Alvin’ films into global box-office smashes but here it seems trite and reactionary. Lacking the wit of last summer’s ‘Despicable Me’, the sophistication of ‘Rango’ or the heart of ‘Toy Story 3’, this visually appealing film is ultimately a rotten egg.
Director: Tim Hill
Stars: Russell Brand, James Marsden, Samantha O’Hare
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