Snicker all you want at the unfortunate title of director Roger Kumble’s horrible family film, for that’s the only thing funny about it. Violent, coarse, and mirthless, this “eco”-themed dud stars Brendan Fraser as a real-estate developer hired to raze a forest for luxury homes.
The wildlife, led by a take-charge raccoon, get wind of his plan and rally for a fusillade of Home Alone–style salvos, most of them involving body excretions and attacks to the groin. The casting of live animals that communicate via thought balloons and CGI-enhanced facial expressions charms at first, but since there’s no imagination behind the boulder rolling and the poop bombs, the critters grow wearisome.
A meaty, humiliated Fraser, meanwhile, is no Elmer Fudd, and the other humans (Brooke Shields, Matt Prokop, and poor Ken Jeong in the racist role of Asian corporate baddie) induce much wincing. Forget the ferrets and beavers — this movie bites.
