Hitswin! Review: Cheap Animated Comedy Is Exactly What You Expect

At your local movie theater, you may have seen a flashy poster for a generic, cheap animated film called Hitswin! If you’re wondering if it was any good, I’m here to tell you that it’s exactly what you’d expect: a dumb, annoying, and predictable animated comedy without really trying.

Hitswin! Review

Hitswin! is about a failed bounty hunting pig played by Jason Sudeikistasked with retrieving the elephant (Lilly Singh) for a million dollar salary. Fun ensues. Along the way, the two mismatched allies encounter a variety of enemies who threaten their mission and make it even more ridiculous.

With a script from three different writers and two directors, it’s no surprise that the story is very convoluted. We meet the titular Hitpig years after his caretaker was brutally killed by a crocodile. It’s a weird start, and it gets weirder as the film goes on. However, oddly enough, it ends up being a little charming in its madness. Even if it doesn’t make much sense, it’s at least interesting enough to be worth watching.

To see how mediocre Hitswin! is, look no further than the history of its production. In 2014, Dreamworks acquired the children’s book Berkeley Breathed. Pete and Pickles before being thrown into production hell for six years. In 2020, Aniventure took over and after several director changes, the film was hastily animated with a large cast and distributed by Viva Pictures. Never heard of them? It makes sense. It seems they are going to release cheap animated films all over the country without any noticeable marketing efforts. It’s a little funny.

However, it’s certainly a step above the usual cheesy animated film that a no-name studio throws out. Sudeikis is funny as the energetic lead pig. Rainn Wilson gives a funny performance as a ridiculous circus performer. Lilly Singh is funny as Pickles the elephant, but not very interesting. The rest of the cast is full of big names like RuPaul, Hannah Gadsby, Flavor Flav and Andy Serkis, who are all a little funny but not too special.

Considering the stated length of 86 minutes and the credits starting at 73 minutes, it’s ridiculous how short it is. It is clear that this film is not driven by passion, but by money. Every beat of the film seems mechanically designed to be as efficient as possible. A few jokes are told, music plays, and the scene moves on to the next one.

It’s no surprise that the animation is poor. It’s not exactly laughably bad, but it’s just embarrassing. The character designs are quite interesting, but it all looks quite cheap. The backgrounds look empty and the entire film looks like it’s a rough animation stage that needs another round to complete. Although, like everything else in the film, it’s clear that the studio was just trying to get this thing out as quickly as possible.

Is Hitswin! is it worth watching?

The final act is a mixture of the best and worst parts of the film. When the villain decides to send a bunch of people into space and abandon them, all for the sake of giving them “the coolest show of their lives,” it actually works pretty well. It’s silly, colorful and amazingly creative. Then it turns back into the typical stupidity you’re thinking about.

If you’re looking for a silly family movie, this could be some wholesome entertainment. This is the type of energetic content that may appeal to young children, but they deserve something more than complete nonsense. With a top-notch cast and nothing else, Hitswin! feels doomed to fall into the abyss of mediocre animated films.

Hitswin! opens in theaters November 1st.