JacobsonCinemas

Lizard…..lilzard…..lizard……lizard……lizard

We Bare Bears is one of my favorite Cartoon Network shows that was created by Pixar storyboarder Daniel Chong. I’m saying this because he has returned to Pixar to direct his own Pixar film. Hoppers is about a college girl named Mabel who is trying to stop the greedy Mayor Jerry from building a highway over a special part of the forest called the Glade. She comes across technology invented by her biology teacher that gives humans the ability to hop into robotic animal minds (it is nothing like Avatar). Mabel uses it to hop into the mind of a robotic beaver to bring back the animals and save the Glade.

Hoppers is one of Pixar’s funniest films. SPOILER WARNING: One of the biggest laughs when I saw this was when Mabel accidently squishes the Insect Queen. That alone is funny but then Mabel wipes what’s left of her on the wall and that adds an extra layer of comedy to an already hilarious moment. It sort of reminds me of the comedy from the Wild Robot. The film’s zanier animation also helps make the comedy great. One of the things Pixar is great at is hair/fur animation, examples being Sully’s fur and Merida’s hair. The animation of beaver Mabel’s fur in this film is very impressive and a cute little detail I like is that her fur or hair gets fizzled up when she gets angered. It really helps add a lot to her personality.

The voice acting in this film is great. Mabel is a very likable protagonist thanks to Piper Curdas’s performance and great character design. Her relationship with her grandmother is also sweet. The other actors such as Bobby Moynihan as King Geroge, John Hamm as mayor Jerry, and Kathy Najimy as Dr. Sam Fairfax all give tremendous performances that both funny and full of heart. Even Meryl Streep as the Insect Queen who isn’t in the film that long does a great job. The best performance however doesn’t even show up until the last third of the film. SPOILER WARNING: After Mabel accidentally squishes the insect queen, her son Titus takes over and forces the scientists to make a mayor Jerry robot so he can squish all the human. Dave Franco absolutely hams it every moment he is on screen as Titus and the animation and facial expression when he’s in the Jerry robot feels so enjoyably deranged.

You can tell this has the same charm, humor and heart that Daniel Chong’s other show We Bare Bears had. Hoppers is one Pixar’s most entertaining and craziest films and the best film the studio has made since Luca. People will say that this is exactly like Avatar but I say it’s way better than any of the Avatar films.

Verdict:

+Mabel

+Titus

+The animation

+The comedy

+The voice acting

Score: A