Right off the bat, I’ll just say that Hoppers is a million times better than Elio. It offers a few thrills and some laughs, but far from the high standards we expect from Pixar. Unlike the company’s earlier works, such as Toy Story, Coco, and Wall-E, which were family movies, this is a kids’ movie. I found nothing profound or noteworthy in the story. From start to finish, I was mildly amused but never in love with the lead character. The animals are like pencil drawings from a children’s book. In the opening moments at the Beaver Pond, the background felt two-dimensional, as if it were painted backdrops instead of a fully realized 3-D world. While I’m on a Pixar-used-to-be-great rant, let me add this. The storytelling is very surface-level. A girl who wants to save the pond and goes on wacky adventures as an Avatar-beaver. The so-called animal kingdom was interesting but rarely profound, unlike the way A Bug’s Life handled its world-building.
“…the studio has lost its dominance as the gold standard of computer animation…”
Lastly, the comedy is what I call first-pass jokes. Someone thought of a joke on the spot, and it made it into the movie. In the old days at Pixar, jokes were allowed to marinate for weeks, maybe months, until the perfect joke was formulated. Watch any of the documentaries on those old Pixar DVDs, and you’ll know what I mean. We covered this a lot in the D-Files, but Pixar is in this place where it’s lost its shine. Even worst is that the studio has lost its dominance as the gold standard of computer animation and storytelling. I’d rather watch a Minions movie at this point.
Kudos to Hoppers for making the lead Asian. Pixar is the only place in Hollywood where Asians get to shine. I mean, at least the lead wasn’t played by Jack Black. But mediocre storytelling does us Asians no favors. In the end, the film and its storytelling is meh.
"…offers a few thrills and some laughs, but far from the high standards we expect from Pixar."
