A confusing animated family film with poorly developed characters

Hitpig
was intended to become a successful family-friendly animated film, but the film missed the mark. When it comes to animated family films, they have several hurdles to overcome to please and entertain audiences of all ages while still providing excitement, fun, and an engaging story. However, Hitpig seems to have bet on silly humor and left the film with an unpleasant and unenthusiastic story that, despite the novelty of a bounty hunting pig, cannot compensate for a film without risks.

Hitpig, so named because he was adopted by a bounty hunting grandmother and trained as her companion, is now alone. After losing his only friend, Hitpig continues with the family business, and although his specialized skills make him a natural, he has grown tired of his job. Fortunately, when a quirky elephant delivery job goes wrong, it also opens his eyes to the richer, fuller life he could lead outside of his usual routine. The pair are then joined by an eclectic array of characters who help save the day.

A star-studded cast can’t save Hitpig from overwhelming mediocrity

The film stars Jason Sudeikis as the voice of the titular pig, and he is joined by a variety of well-known actors, including Rainn Wilson, Lilly Singh, Andy Serkis, and several others. However, it’s difficult to see past the flat and uneventful story that unfolds, even considering the considerable talent attached to the project. In a landscape where children’s films are spectacular and spread to create huge franchises, films need strong main characters to hold their own against other popular titles.

Yes, Hitpig is a pig bounty hunter, and that’s new, but the character is less engaging and exciting than most of the other protagonists. There are a variety of other equally unique creatures, like a dancing elephant and a strange weasel that farts a lot, but while this humor is clearly aimed at children, it underestimates younger audiences’ ability to connect with complex, emotionally driven characters. Everyone here is one-dimensional, with a quirk that defines who they are and nothing more.

Everything in the film had great potential, but when it came to the script and characters, little consideration was given. Instead, it seems like early ideas stuck and nothing changed between the initial draft and the final product, other than Peter Dinklage leaving the project and being replaced by Sudeikis. Unfortunately, Hitpig is incomplete and it’s hard to imagine that even children would be laughing out loud due to the strange and unimaginative dialogue.

Hitpig had more potential

Some grace must be given to the fact that the studio that made the film is a rather small UK operation, Aniventure. To date, one of the studio’s biggest successes has been Klauswhich was released on Netflix for the 2019 holiday season. However, although the film had a unique animation style, a unique approach, and an imaginative seasonal story, Hitpig misses the mark on all these fronts.

Instead of expanding on their previous success and establishing a style of their own that makes them stand out, the film appears to have an animation style that is incredibly similar to the Dreamworks animated films. It’s a shame that more time wasn’t spent refining and building the characters, the style, and the script because, at its core, Hitpig has a good heart and a genuinely intriguing concept to build a film around.

Instead, the film feels like a poor imitation of something that would have been made at one of the bigger studios. There was room to improve this film, and if Aniventure decides to duplicate this title, which they shouldn’t, there is still time and means to improve it in the future. However, as Hitpig is today, the film probably won’t get many laughs from kids and probably won’t catch the attention of the adults who watch it.

Hitpig will be released in cinemas from November 1st. The film is 86 minutes long and rated PG for action/danger, crude humor and some thematic elements.