The ongoing battle between over-the-top environmentalists and the rest of us continues as Hollywood stakes out its side with the release of "Furry Veneange," a supposed comedy from director Roger Kumble ("Creul Intentions," "The Sweetest Thing") and starring Brendan Fraser (the "Mummy" franchise, "Journey to the Center of the Earth").
Okay, here's where the positive things I have to say about this picture ends - it is populated by a lot of cute (some real, some CGI) little woodland creatures. There, that's it.
Basically nothing more than a live action version of "Open Season," with a smattering of "Over the Hedge," "Are We Done, Yet?" and "Evan Almighty" slopped about, this is another tale where a bunch of cuddly little vermin connive to thwart a major development project.
Oh yes, the lines are drawn very clearly. For example, the head of the project, Neal Lyman (Ken Jeong, "The Hangover," "The Goods"), brags openly about all of the forests he has - well, deforested. His henchmen are equally disrespectful of the environment. Hey, I'm no developer, but wouldn't an intelligent one utilize both aspect of construction a certain care for the surrounding area? And aren't there many, many laws on the books - both local and national - to prevent wholesale rape of the land?
Anyway, Lyman's point man for the new project is Dan Sanders, who with wife, Tammy (Brooke Shields), and Earth Firster son, Tyler (Matt Prokop, "High School Musical 3"), get to live in the first prototype home in the area. Since the trailers all show it (and the film's title is "Furry Vengeance"), there's no need for a spoiler alert here.
Yep, the little creatures begin to put together a plan not only to drive out the Sanders, but to keep their sanctuary as human being-free as possible. This begins with little annoyances such as keeping Dan up at night (it's funny that only HE - and the audience - sees what's happening, but his clueless wife does not) to total war on the encroaching developers (i.e. birds dive-bombing, bears trapping Dan in a port-a-potty, etc.).
We're supposed to universally root for the animals, but I could not support ANYONE or ANYTHING in this mess. The creatures were creepily unrealistic, the actors were abysmal, dialogue ridiculous and the direction non-existent. That, and there wasn't a solid laugh in the whole enterprise. And this is what passes for comedy in Hollywood today?
In fact, the past two years have been a vast wasteland in the humorous film category. A wasteland littered with the decaying bones of "Year One," "I Love You, Beth Cooper," "Our Family Wedding," "Cop Out," "Hot Tub Time Machine," "Post-Grad," etc., etc., etc. Now add this lame effort to that ever-growing list.
Brief political rant: Okay, I know destroying the environment is bad. We ALL know that. It's also bad to wipe out forests for nothing else except to build a mall. But that mall had to go SOMEWHERE. After all, if there was no mall, there would be no venue for suckers out there to pay good money to watch crap like this.
Okay, here's where the positive things I have to say about this picture ends - it is populated by a lot of cute (some real, some CGI) little woodland creatures. There, that's it.
Basically nothing more than a live action version of "Open Season," with a smattering of "Over the Hedge," "Are We Done, Yet?" and "Evan Almighty" slopped about, this is another tale where a bunch of cuddly little vermin connive to thwart a major development project.
Oh yes, the lines are drawn very clearly. For example, the head of the project, Neal Lyman (Ken Jeong, "The Hangover," "The Goods"), brags openly about all of the forests he has - well, deforested. His henchmen are equally disrespectful of the environment. Hey, I'm no developer, but wouldn't an intelligent one utilize both aspect of construction a certain care for the surrounding area? And aren't there many, many laws on the books - both local and national - to prevent wholesale rape of the land?
Anyway, Lyman's point man for the new project is Dan Sanders, who with wife, Tammy (Brooke Shields), and Earth Firster son, Tyler (Matt Prokop, "High School Musical 3"), get to live in the first prototype home in the area. Since the trailers all show it (and the film's title is "Furry Vengeance"), there's no need for a spoiler alert here.
Yep, the little creatures begin to put together a plan not only to drive out the Sanders, but to keep their sanctuary as human being-free as possible. This begins with little annoyances such as keeping Dan up at night (it's funny that only HE - and the audience - sees what's happening, but his clueless wife does not) to total war on the encroaching developers (i.e. birds dive-bombing, bears trapping Dan in a port-a-potty, etc.).
We're supposed to universally root for the animals, but I could not support ANYONE or ANYTHING in this mess. The creatures were creepily unrealistic, the actors were abysmal, dialogue ridiculous and the direction non-existent. That, and there wasn't a solid laugh in the whole enterprise. And this is what passes for comedy in Hollywood today?
In fact, the past two years have been a vast wasteland in the humorous film category. A wasteland littered with the decaying bones of "Year One," "I Love You, Beth Cooper," "Our Family Wedding," "Cop Out," "Hot Tub Time Machine," "Post-Grad," etc., etc., etc. Now add this lame effort to that ever-growing list.
Brief political rant: Okay, I know destroying the environment is bad. We ALL know that. It's also bad to wipe out forests for nothing else except to build a mall. But that mall had to go SOMEWHERE. After all, if there was no mall, there would be no venue for suckers out there to pay good money to watch crap like this.