"Hoppers" movie poster
This weekend brought the release of Pixar’s new movie “Hoppers," and while I waited a few days to watch it at the local De Pere Cinema, I got acquainted with what to expect by reading review titles. It’s nice to see the De Pere Cinema is getting first releases of a movie instead of waiting a few weeks to show it. Here is my review of "Hoppers;" small spoilers ahead for parts of the movie.
"Hoppers" is about a girl named Mabel, who discovers that there is a way to talk to animals through the body of a beaver. Using hopper technology, she transforms into a beaver. It seems like a pretty standard premise, with the movie itself being aware of how it's like "Avatar." I haven’t watched Avatar besides the singular clip of Jake becoming Na’avi, but the sequence is at least different in that regard.
In online reviews, many people had divided opinions. I think that the film was enjoyable enough and less hyper than the trailers made it appear. The movie was also very funny, but got different reactions from me depending on the joke. I think it benefitted from not showing some of the better jokes in the trailer.
Near the end of the film, it got very creepy very fast. It utilized the setup made previously for the antagonist to almost win. The movie did not let us underestimate the characters.
What really stuck with me was the ending. Not only did it connect to the man vs. nature theme, but it also kept that separation. Mabel could hop into the body of a beaver, but the film denied her that possibility by the end, encouraging further research into human communication with animals instead. It also added to the confirmation that every Pixar movie is in the same universe with a nod to a childhood movie.
I think that the storyline, while obviously fictional, still had believable characters. The main character Mabel is spirited, but she’s much more than that and even has a foil with the mayor, Jerry. Those two bounce off each other and have many conflicts, but by the end they open up the possibility of working together. Mabel and the king beaver, George, also had a good friendship. I enjoyed the dynamics of the characters and how they played off each other.
One thing I can appreciate about the movie, specifically from an environmental science major standpoint, is the accuracy. Mabel becomes a beaver, and the movie mentions how they’re a keystone species. Anyone who has gone through Bio 121 would know this to be a fact. In the very first scene, we are introduced to Mabel rescuing school pets after witnessing kids handle a turtle very poorly. They showcased how a turtle being flipped is very dangerous for them.
While Mabel's heart is in the right place, she could’ve introduced species that do not thrive in Beaverton to that environment had she succeeded in her plans, which is an issue that wasn't fully addressed in the film.
I don’t think "Hoppers" is a flop. It was a very enjoyable movie. The movie is not without its flaws (it's pretty corny), and the fact that there’s only one bear in the whole pond kingdom realm is unrealistic. While some scenes, like the council meeting, can be understood due to the fictional nature of the film, it was wild how they fit all those animals in there together. I do appreciate how they categorized animals, and there was some fun wordplay. I would recommend seeing "Hoppers," if not in theaters then at least once in your life for a cute story about man vs. nature.