- Rating: 3.5/5 stars
- Verdict: "Hoppers" is a delightful time at the movies. It's a simple premise on its face, but if you dive into it a bit deeper, it's clear that this is more than just a zany animated adventure that appears to be ripping off "Avatar." Plus, Dave Franco makes a surprisingly scary yet enjoyable villain. It's not the next "Toy Story," but it's better than getting yet another sequel.
- Where to watch: "Hoppers" premieres in theaters on March
"Hoppers" was not a movie I expected to see this year. Sure, I have a two-year-old, but they sometimes struggle to make it through an episode of "Bluey," so a 104-minute-long movie is out of the question. But this is a Disney Pixar movie, so it has the potential to be the biggest movie of the year. I owed it to the people to see this movie, even if I'm not the target demographic.
Basically "Avatar," but better.
Surprisingly, the one audience this movie might not be suitable for is the youngest of viewers, like my two-year-old. That's because the main villain of this movie, Titus (Dave Franco), is surprisingly terrifying. Like, Terminator-level terrifying. It's played for comedic effect and executed well, but it might just spook your littlest ones. For everyone else, though, it'll make you laugh, and you'll have a good time.
Malcolm has been with Tom's Guide since 2022. His top 3 Pixar movies (in order) are: "Finding Nemo," "Wall-E" and "Up."
Dave Franco's Titus is the highlight of 'Hoppers'
As I mentioned already, "Hoppers" starts out feeling very much like "Avatar" for kids. Our protagonist, Mabel (Piper Curda), is a college student currently in a showdown with Mayor Jerry (Jon Hamm) over a beltway that will cut through a glade, killing any possibility of it remaining a viable habitat for the local animals. There's just one problem: there are no local animals.
It turns out, all the wildlife has disappeared from the glade, clearing the way for Mayor Jerry to bulldoze it into infinity and beyond. But when Mabel learns that her professor, Dr. Sam, has created "hopping," a technology that allows human minds to hop into robot avatars that can then blend in and communicate with animals, she hops into a robot beaver and makes her way into the forest.
Once there, she discovers the animals have a society: They have kings but have been driven from the glade by shady tactics from the evil Mayor Jerry. So, Mabel asks the mammal king, a beaver named George (Bobby Moynihan), to summon the other kings so they can take on Jerry and take back the glade.
That backfires spectacularly, in no small part due to Titus, who is a villain so bloodthirsty he makes Mayor Jerry's brand of evil look like child's play. Voiced mostly by Franco, he's truly unhinged. Think Danerys Targaryen when she finally snaps in "Game of Thrones." In fact, I'm not sure that we've ever had quite so dangerous and unhinged a villain in a Pixar movie before, though rarely are the lives of humans on the line in a Pixar movie.
But the villainous turn works. Titus is creepy, he's scary, and he's willing to take down the humans at all costs. Had he been the villain of "Avatar," maybe I'd have enjoyed that movie more, because his motivation for revenge, while a base emotion, is logical if you think about it. The humans squish them; why not squish the humans back?
Verdict: 'Hoppers' proves Disney needs original movies
The originality of "Hoppers" is what makes it work. If it were just a movie about joining with the animals to defend the environment, it wouldn't be as memorable. We've seen that concept before, or at least something in the same vein.
But I'll remember Titus. I'll remember a villain so twisted that he wants to destroy humanity, something that really isn't a theme of kids' movies, and certainly not Pixar movies. I'll remember how he turns humanity's own tools against them as weapons, and how deranged he looked when he's finally unmasked. He's a genuinely compelling villain, making this a genuinely compelling movie.
We only get this, though, if Disney is willing to make more original movies. I get the logic behind sticking to sequels; this movie is not as good as "Toy Story 2." It won't make as much money as "Zootopia 2." It's logical for Disney to conclude that, if it's neither better nor more profitable than a sequel to a beloved property, then it's not worth making. But you'll never get those beloved properties if you don't take chances on original ideas. And while "Hoppers" may not be as good as some of the Pixar sequels, I'd still rather take it than a fifth "Toy Story."
"Hoppers" opens in theaters on March 6
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