Movie Review: Hoppers

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The Plot: The story of a character named Mabel is a refreshing spin on the "save the forest" trope. Instead of just protesting, she literally "hops" her consciousness into a hyper-realistic robotic beaver through the help of her nutty Science teacher and assistant. It’s that clever "Hopper" technology that allows her to communicate with the animal kingdom to stop Mayor Jerry’s highway project.

The kids film manages to be an "eco-warrior" story without feeling too preachy. It teaches kids about habitat preservation and empathy through the eyes of the animals themselves.

The Humour: The "Pond Rules" (like "When you gotta eat, eat") and the character of King George (the beaver monarch) provide the kind of laughs that clearly earned 10/10 from one of our children.

The Action: The third act gets surprisingly wild. Between the "squishing" plots from the animals and the high-stakes chase to stop the bulldozers, it keeps the energy high for the full 104 minutes.

A Note for Parents:

While it’s a blast, some other reviews have noted that the villain, Titus (the robotic assassin shark/body-swapper), can be a little "Terminator-esque" and spooky for the very little ones. This might be why one of our other children gave it an 8/10 it has some "black comedy" and slightly darker sci-fi moments that feel a bit more mature than your average talking-animal flick.

Overall a fun film with lots of funny moments - 8/10