HOP (Live action-animatedG, 94 minutes) Russell Brand’s Easter romp has one of the cutest bunnies you’ll ever see and plenty of other eye candy among its computer-generated visuals, yet there’s not much bounce to the story behind this inter-species buddy comedy. Letting bad-boy Brand supply the voice of the Easter bunny sounds like a promising way to add spice to a warm and fuzzy family flick. Too bad the movie winds up about as bland as carrot-flavoured jelly beans. Its gooey sentiment and hare-brained gags are likely to appeal only to very young kids. Director Tim Hill trips up on his scattered attempts to inject some hipness for older children and parents. Blending live action and digital animation, the movie features James Marsden as the unwilling human escort for Brand’s screwy rabbit, who has run away from home because he doesn’t want to follow his dad into the family business as the new Easter bunny. The animation is the movie’s strong point, presenting a rainbow-colored world that should satisfy young children’s cinematic sweet tooth, even if the action is sour.

DAVID GERMAIN, Associated Press Movie Writer

INSIDIOUS (Horror, 14A, 101 minutes). James Wan and Leigh Whannell, the director and writer who launched the Saw franchise, return with a traditional haunted house movie. Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne move with their kids into a cavernous old mansion that is occupied by a sinister presence that moves things around, slams doors, generates loud sounds and sends their young son into a coma. Lin Shaye plays a psychic called in — bringing two ghostbusters for comic relief. Not a great movie, but delivers what you expect.

ROGER EBERT

SOURCE CODE (Sc-fi thriller, PG, 93 minutes). Jake Gyllenhaal plays a character who finds himself inside the mind of a man aboard a commuter train that will be blown up by a terrorist in eight minutes. By reliving those minutes, can he uncover the secret of a plot even larger and more cruel? Michelle Monaghan is a woman on the train who shares the eight minutes with him, more than once. The “science” behind the story is preposterous, but never mind; director Duncan Jones (Moon) has devised an ingenious and appealing thriller.

ROGER EBERT

From thechronicleherald.ca