Psycho's Movie Reviews #88: The Harry Hill Movie (2013)

The Harry Hill Movie is a 2013 British musical, comedy film directed by Steve Bendelack and starring Harry Hill. It was written by Hill along with Jon Foster and James Lamont. It revolves around a fictional version of Harry Hill's adventures, with his diesel drinking nan and misdiagnosed hamster. The film was released on 20 December 2013 in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

Plot:

The movie begins with a scooter chase between Harry and his nan because she didn't know it was him. Afterwards, Harry is sent to get a chicken for lunch, but they fire a machine gun at him and throw a grenade, which Harry throws into the chicken shed, blowing them up. Nan tells Harry the story of his twin brother, Otto, which Harry claims to have heard before.

Suddenly, Harry and Nan then discover that their beloved pet hamster Abu is ill after he vomits a green substance on them, so they take him to the vet. He is almost put down until Harry takes him back home. Ed the vet and his assistant, Kisko, are working for Harry's neo-Nazi twin brother Otto who was abandoned by Nan in the 1970s, claiming it was because she couldn't look after them both, and was raised by Alsatians.

After another failed attempt to capture Abu (by disguising as a priest and a nun), Harry and Nan decide to take him on a trip in their Rover P6 to Blackpool for a week before he dies (when Abu really wanted to visit the home of Rihanna). Ed and his assistant pursue them on the road, until they arrive in "Blackpole" by mistake. The next day, Harry and Nan take Abu on a personal guided tour around the nuclear power plant by the cleaner. Ed and Kisko attempt to capture him again only for him to end up turned into a destructive giant caused by radiation which wears off shortly. While walking on the beach they encounter Barney Cull, a member of the Shell People.

He asks Harry and the others to save his people's children from a gift shop. They succeed and they are invited back to the Shell People's cave where Harry falls for the Shell King's daughter, Michelle. He leaves after being unable to cope living under water. They continue their road trip only to end up in a boxing match where Harry has to fight Kisko to keep Abu. He successfully wins with a free stick of rock. Later on, the car runs out of petrol in the middle of the woods and Harry and his nan leave Abu behind while they search for a petrol station. He's almost kidnapped again by Ed and Kisko only to leave the car in pieces.

Meanwhile, Otto teams them up with a master of disguise fox. Harry, his Nan and Abu hitch a ride with Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez (actually Ed and Kisko in disguise) and they arrive in Blackpool to see a show. After they finally arrive there, Harry is reunited with Michelle (much to his Nan's dismay) and Abu is finally kidnapped and replaced with the fox.

Harry later finds out and they go looking for Abu. They follow a trail of BBQ beef Hula Hoops crisps (which is what Otto was left with to eat when he was abandoned) to his hideout where he reveals his plan to turn Abu into a model figurine for his collection as an act of revenge for being deserted. During a fight between the two, Harry's nan reveals that she got rid of Otto because she kept getting him and Harry mixed up. After being chased away by killer brains, Harry and his nan are saved by the Shell People, to which his Nan accepts his and Michelle's love. Harry pursues his brother to the top of the Blackpool tower.

His Nan rescues him and Abu in a helicopter when Otto falls to the ground after taking a punch from Kisko after he and Ed thought they were working for the wrong brother. After defeating Otto, Abu coughs up a green felt tip pen which turned out to be the cause of his illness. Ed explains that hamsters like sucking on pens and he gave it to Abu so he would be sick and start this whole plan, even though he could've kidnapped Abu at the time.

Abu lives and the movie ends with a big end song with everyone in the film. Just before the final credits, a hamster appears on screen, riding on a model Thomas the Tank Engine. He gets off at the model station when the train stops. The hamster can only be thought to belong to Harry Hill, but there is no evidence for this.

Production:

In February 2012, before the end of Harry Hill's TV Burp, Digital Spy reported Hill was to sign a £2 million movie deal with Channel 4, which would later become The Harry Hill Movie.

Filming:

Set in Blackpool and London, the Blackpool scenes in the film were shot in the town itself. Greatstone-on-Sea, Kent doubled as "Blackpole". The fuel station scene was shot at Millbrook Proving Ground, Milton Keynes.

In real life, Blackpole is an inland suburb of Worcester, which like the fictional town in the movie, is frequently confused for Blackpool by satellite navigation users.

Music:

{I love how there's a mixture of original songs and featured songs; especially the Blackpool song, me and my parents go to stay in Blackpool for the weekend every few weeks and I sing this song when we arrive}

• Popcorn – Performed by Steve Brown

• Days – Performed by Harry Hill

• Blackpool! – Performed by Harry Hill and Julie Walters

• Nutbush City Limits – Performed by Matt Lucas

• London's Burning – Written by Harry Hill

• B & B Song – Performed by The Magic Numbers

• Drive Through My Carwash – Performed by Shingai Shoniwa and Harry Hill

• Down in the Deep Blue Sea – Performed by Sheridan Smith

• ABC - Performed by The Dachshund Five

• I Want You Back – Performed by The Dachshund Five

• Celebration – Performed by Kool & the Gang

• Fight! (Theme from 'Flashing Blade') – Performed by The Musketeers

• And the Rain Falls in My Heart – Performed by the cast

• Frere Jacques – Performed by Harry Hill

• Plastination – Performed by Steve Brown and The Plastinettes

• You Got The Love – Performed by The Cast

• Get Down – Performed by Gilbert O'Sullivan

Release/Reception/Box Office:

The film was theatrically released on 20 December 2013 by Entertainment Film Distributors, and was released on DVD and Blu-ray on 14 April 2014 by Entertainment Film Distributors. When the film was released in the United Kingdom, it opened on #7.

Ryan Gilbey of The Guardian gave it 2 out of 5 and wrote "What's missing is any persuasive comic force or vision to justify the film's place in cinemas rather than in petrol station bargain bins".

There were suggestions that the film is very similar to Beethoven. The Independent were also critical saying its screenplay wasn't "so much offbeat as utterly feeble" and "it is very hard to keep patience with a story which hinges on the health of a toy hamster". However Graham Young for the Birmingham Mail, on a more positive note said, "Uniquely British and deliriously silly, Harry Hill offers up the laughs".

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 33% based on reviews from 6 critics, with an average rating of 4.4/10.

Budget£2 million

Box office£4.1 million

My Review:

This movie is better than Avengers: Endgame!...

If you liked his other work, you will love this. If you found his other work OK, this may put you off. If you hated his other work you will despise this. The use of puppets, obvious green screen and over the top fake effects is very much in the style of a parody which I always enjoy and the cast list which obviously has Harry Hill at the center also includes Julie Walters (Harry Potter, Billy Elliot, Dinnerladies), Simon Bird (Friday Night Dinners), Matt Lucas (Little Britain, QI, Doctor Who), Johnny Vegas, (Dial M For Midsummer, QI, The Last Leg) and Sheridan Smith (Cilla). Quite frankly, how he got these stars to be this ridiculous is a bit beyond me but overall, if you are bored and understand this film is not sensible in the slightest, this can be a bit of harmless fun.

I can't describe how utterly wonderful this epically written masterpiece is. Try to imagine if you can, all of your favourite films such as Scarface, Godfather, Exorcist, Shawshank, Green Mile and SpongeBob. Now, mix those with the best FX films such as the Avengers, Matrix, Harry Potter, Forrest Gump and Paint Your Wagon and they don't even come close! Harry Hill, you're a legend amongst men, Julie Walters, this is your finest hour, Matt Lucas, you are more than tolerable. Oh and that bloke from Friday night dinner is in it. Julian Barrett is plastered in shells and so is Sheridan Smith, that's that covered. It's a wonderous trip to Blackpool and back again, stopping on the way for candy floss in Blackpole. Johnny Vegas is a 🐹

A true Cinematic masterpiece sure to go down as one of the greatest films of all time; 10/10

{You can watch the movie free on YouTube - here I'll just leave it here in case you wanna watch it now!}