The Mosley Review: Hoppers
We all know the renowned pedigree of Pixar Animation's impressive visuals and storytelling. Even when their weaker films come along, they still manage to find an audience. What this film did that I haven't seen in a long time, especially from Pixar, was not give you a hugely adult minded story, but just a fun one. This film harkens back to the level of fun, somewhat emotional depth and the right amount of darkness that resonates from the opening scene to the final frame. You can definitely see the influences of classic environmental films like FernGully: The Last Rainforest or the one that is referenced, Avatar. All of it comes together to be a charming adventure into the wilderness that was genuinely hilarious.
Piper Curda wonderfully leads this energetic adventure as Mabel Tanaka. Her love for nature is overstated from the beginning and I loved her tenacity throughout. She had a great heart and I loved her comedic timing. When she eventually becomes the beaver version of herself, she truly comes alive. Piper delivers such infectious energy and authentic charm that also rang true the most in the more emotional moments of the film. Kathy Najimy was fantastic as Dr. Samantha "Sam" Fairfax and I loved her manic scientific brain. She was persistent in her research and almost was a antagonist as she would constantly try and stop Mabel's discovery into the animal kingdom. Bobby Moynihan was so warm, kind and just loveable as the beaver monarch, King George. He was so welcoming and such a great leader. The chemistry he had with every animal and eventually with Mabel was astounding. Bobby is so good at being the best man in the room to befriend and he was no different here. Jon Hamm was fantastic as the greedy mayor and rival of Mabel, Jerry Generazzo. Hamm brought to life the dirty politician that had a nasty trick up his sleeve to get what he wanted. The character does go on a somewhat scary adventure that was hilarious, but shows that he wasn't all that bad. Meryl Streep brings her trademark regalness as the Insect Queen. There is a darkness to her that was intense and I loved how decisive she was. Dave Franco was insane as her son, Titus the Insect King. That man knows how to deliver crazy and he was so vengeful and power hungry. I loved that he was uncompromising and it made him a great and insufferable villain.
The score by Mark Mothersbaugh was the perfect mix of jovial, epic and intense as the film went along. The first few minutes of the film carry the heart of the film and as the finale approaches, Mark treats us with some truly epic and fun themes. The car chase scene was the perfect balance of comedy and danger as Mark channels a bit of John Williams. Visually, the film was great to look at and the action in the film was well executed. I genuinely had alot of fun with this film and like all Pixar films, there's one joke that truly got a belly laugh out of me. This one involves spiders that I will not spoil here. Do stick around to the very end credit scene for a touching payoff to a plot point. Let me know what you thought of the film or my review in the comments below. Thanks for reading!
