Review: Chickenhare and the Secret of the Groundhog is a lively adventure

You may be asking yourself, "What is a chickenhare?" But, my friend, the answer is so simple. It's a chickenhare, a cross between a chicken and a hare (basically all hare except for the chicken legs and the smatter of feathers that sometimes power up to make the ears into wings). It's also the name of our hero in Chickenhare and the Secret of the Groundhog, the second film in the franchise, but the first that I've seen. 

Adapted from a series of graphic novels, Chickenhare is a heroic adventurer in the vein of Indiana Jones. He travels around with his trusty companions, a nervous nerdy turtle named Abe and martial arts expert skunk Meg, finding treasures, avoiding danger, and just basically being cool. The gang's dynamic immediately made me think of Sly Cooper (probably because of Abe resembling Bentley), which is to say, I immediately felt at home with them. From the film's cold open operation, which involves them retrieving a mythical spork, I was in: I could tell this was going to be a fun ride.

And a fun ride it is! Chickenhare and the Secret of the Groundhog is a breezy, upbeat, and dynamic adventure that doesn't ask much of its audience. This isn't one of those movies that will stick with you a long time or give you too much to think on, but it certainly made a fan out of me. It had me looking up where to stream the first installment (Netflix, btw) and checking out the recently-released video game, which has been added to my wishlist.

It's basically a requirement for any adventuring hero to have an entry that explores their roots and history, and that's part of what makes this movie tick. Chickenhare and his comrades are on the hunt for the Groundhog with the Backwards Facing Face, a treasure that allows the user to change something that happened in the past. Along for the journey this time is Gina, Chickenhare's recently-revealed sister, a so-called harechicken (more chicken than hare, that is) who has been posing as an archivist at the palace, waiting for the right time to reveal herself.

You see, Chickenhare was adopted by a famous adventurer who has now ascended to the throne. Gina brings troubling news from the homeland, an island that is running low on resources. She thinks that the groundhog could be the key to fixing the past to make the present more sustainable and abundant for her people.

There are a few sequences of exposition throughout this that are the kind of thing that would normally bog a movie down. There's a lot to explain. And while I felt that a bit, the film makes the smart choice of rendering these its in lovely 2-D animation, which makes them stick out and kind of eases the tension of the story stopping in its tracks multiple times to provide backstory. A smart move, that.

The rest of the film is vibrant, clean, and full of fun designs. I was particularly taken with the chameleon henchmen who assist the villainous lynx Crolloq (Meg's old partner who is clearly in love with her) and the cubic pig folk who assemble themselves into walls and wheels as they try to thwart our heroes. I found myself consistently delighted by the characters as they were introduced. This is a really fun cast.

Harold, they're...

This is a movie that doesn't ever take much time to sit still. It keeps moving on to new settings, set pieces, action scenes, comedic asides, introducing the afore-mentioned colorful new characters. It breaks the core team into a few distinct groups, which lets the momentum build as we jump from group to group, checking in to see where they're at, never sticking in one place too long. It has some nice messaging about taking control of your destiny and not letting others define you, but ultimately, it's more about conjuring an exciting adventure than developing resonant themes. Which, for me, is exactly what I was hoping for.

Chickenhare and the Secret of the Groundhog is currently unrolling theatrically overseas. It doesn't have US distribution at the moment, but hopefully it'll make its way over here soon.