Hoppers (2026)

Posted on March 6, 2026April 23, 2026 by Martin: Through the Silver Screen

© Pixar Animation Studios and Walt Disney Studios

Hoppers – Film Review

Cast: Piper Curda, Bobby Moynihan, Jon Hamm, Kathy Najimy, Dave Franco, Meryl Streep, Isiah Whitlock Jr.

Director: Daniel Chong

Synopsis: A nature-loving teenager hatches a plan to save a deeply meaningful spot of land by using technology that transfers a human consciousness into robotic animals…

Review: For more than 30 years across their distinguished filmography, Pixar Animation Studios have never failed to find innovative ways to tell stories that tug on our heartstrings. Toys that come to life, an overprotective fish forced to embark on a perilous journey across the ocean to find his son, a final adventure for one man to keep the promise he made to his beloved wife, the emotional struggles of the emotions in our minds, and the importance of family, tradition, and the everlasting power of music. Whatever they turn their hands to, chances are they will find a way to charm us with characters and moving storytelling that audiences won’t forget in a hurry. They do all this and more with their 30th film, which is one of their funniest in years.

Mabel Tanaka (Curda) is a free-spirited animal-loving college student who lives in the town of Beaverton. Thanks to her grandmother, Mabel grew up with a deep appreciation for nature and, in particular, for a forest glade and all the animals that call it home. Thus, she is left furious when the town’s smarmy mayor, Jerry Generazzo (Hamm having a ball), announces plans to build a freeway straight through the glade, since all the other animals have left. With her options limited, Mabel hatches a plan to utilise technology developed by her college professors, known as the Hoppers programme, to transport her consciousness into the body of a robot beaver and convince the other animals in the glade to return before the mayor’s urban expansion project irrevocably destroys it.

“It’s like Avatar!” Mabel exclaims after being told by her college professors how the Hoppers programme works. The inherent similarities between the technology on display here and that of the Avatar programme in James Cameron’s behemoth franchise are undeniable. However, director Daniel Chong and screenwriter Jesse Andrews choose to use these similarities as a funny, self-aware joke rather than emulation. Having also been inspired by nature documentaries where a robotic animal is deployed with a camera to observe animals in their natural habitat, the film gleefully combines elements of science fiction, a coming-of-age story, a spy/heist movie and comedy, and the result is a riotous blast of furry energy that delivers laughs by the dam load throughout its 104-minute run time.

Hoppers wears its animal zaniness firmly on its sleeve, or should that be fur? But like all the greatest films the studio has produced, it packs a deeper meaning. You only need to burrow beneath the surface of the humour and the truly wild set pieces that shall not be spoiled here, as it bears an important message about the value of nature and the environment, and how humanity would be wise to cherish these spaces for the benefits they bring us and the wildlife that calls them home. Furthermore, it underscores how urbanisation at the expense of rural land can be catastrophic for the survival of certain species, and humanity would be wise to heed this warning.

Pixar have given us plenty of likeable protagonists over the years, and Mabel is no exception. An animal lover to her core, having tried to rescue and set free the classroom pets when she was a child (spot the Finding Nemo reference), she becomes determined to take a stand against the mayor’s urbanisation expansion, especially since no one else seems willing to do so. As a species, it would be fair to say humanity is fixated on its own survival needs, and that in doing so, we forget that millions upon millions of others also call this planet home. Allowing Mabel to venture into the animal kingdom offers a witty interpretation of how animal societies might function, and absolute hilarity ensues when the human and animal worlds collide, with one moment in particular a hilarious standout moment. You will know it when you see it.

Through all the humour, spectacular animation, stellar voice work across its entire cast, and animal-related shenanigans, the case could be made that Pixar has somewhat faltered in its ability to consistently hit the audience on an emotional level as it has in the past. However, let their 30th feature film bear witness to the fact that they remain very much at the top of their game and can still beaver away to bring delightfully wacky and heartfelt adventures for the whole family to gnaw on and enjoy.

Delightfully and gloriously absurd in concept, Hoppers holds nothing back with its fuzzy swings and hits it out of the glade to deliver a flurry of furry laughs and heart in equal measure. This is a walk on the wild side you’ll want to take again and again.

2010-2019, Film Review

If Beale Street Could Talk (2019)

Posted on February 11, 2019February 11, 2019 by Martin: Through the Silver Screen

**Image is property of AnnaPurna Pictures and Plan B**

If Beale Street Could Talk – Film Review

Cast: KiKi Layne, Stephan James, Regina King, Ed Skrein, Brian Tyree Henry, Colman Domingo, Teyonah Parris, Michael Beach, Dave Franco, Diego Luna
Pedro Pascal

Director: Barry Jenkins

Synopsis: After finding out she is expecting a baby with her partner, a young woman and her family seek to clear her lover’s name after he is arrested for a crime he did not commit…

Review: What do you do when only your second feature length directorial feature wins you an Academy Award for its screenplay, as well as (eventually) the Academy Award for Best Picture? This was the quandary for Barry Jenkins, the writer/director of Moonlight, having been catapulted him into the spotlight by the film’s incredible success. The answer to that question, is to make something that’s cut from a similar cloth as Moonlight, a story that tells a very human, emotional journey.

Adapted from the novel of the same name by James Baldwin, we are taken back to 1970s Harlem, where we meet Tish (Layne) and Alfonso (or Fonny as Tish affectionately calls him), two beautiful young people who, having been very close as children, have since become a blossoming couple, seemingly made for one another. However, their romantic bubble is burst when when Fonny is arrested and charged with a horrific crime that Tish insists he is innocent of, and Tish and her family must do whatever they can to clear Fonny of these charges.

On the surface, this would appear to be a simple story about the love that two young people have for each other, and the desperate bid to prove her husband-to-be innocent of the crime he is being accused of. And while it is undeniably beautiful and romantic to watch these two fall in love with each other, much like his work with Moonlight Jenkins’s screenplay goes much deeper than that exploring a variety of themes such as racism, family and the brutal horrors of the justice system that can bring such an unfair injustices to Black communities and devastate these families across America, even when people may be innocent of the crimes they are being accused of.

As the main couple, KiKi Layne and Stephan James are both excellent. Their chemistry is just so honest and authentic that you completely buy them as a couple. You revel in their moments of love and affection for one another, and are equally devastated when they are torn away from one another. As Tish’s mother Sharon, Regina King is just utterly marvellous as she leads the fight to win her prospective son-in-law’s freedom, even in the face of extremely long and difficult odds, and indifference from some members of Fonny’s family to Tish’s plight.

The cinematography from James Laxton is once again sumptuous to look out, even when the circumstances may be extremely bleak, his cinematography shines a hopeful light on the situation of this couple. Nicholas Britell also returns to provide the score, and once again, the work he does to add to the romanticism and by contrast, the heartbreak of this story is remarkable. For those who might have had issues with Moonlight’s pacing, they could well run into some issues again here as Jenkins does take his time to slowly build up Tish and Fonny’s relationship. Though some scenes do feel necessary, others do drag on perhaps for a tad longer than they really need to.

For characters depicted in the 1970s, Jenkins’s characters feel very contemporary and the story and the themes are very topical, but the film never gets preachy with the events depicted on screen. It is above all else, a very sweet story about the love two people have for one another, and the challenge that the human spirit faces when facing the going up against the cruel nature of the world and its institutions, Barry Jenkins has once again crafted something that, in these very emotionally charged times, he has made a film that will speak something to everyone who sees it.

Beautiful and melancholic,sometimes in the same shot, with a fantastic ensemble of well realised characters, Jenkins once again crafts a moving tale of love and hope in the face of terrible adversity.

2010-2019, Film Review

The Disaster Artist (2017)

Posted on May 20, 2018October 8, 2018 by Martin: Through the Silver Screen

Image is property of Warner Bros. Pictures, New Line Cinema and A24

The Disaster Artist – Film Review

Cast: James Franco, Dave Franco, Seth Rogen

Director: James Franco

Synopsis: When aspiring actors Greg Sistero and Tommy Wiseau meet in an acting class, they both have dreams of making it in Hollywood. When no one gives them a chance, they decide to make their own movie, with hilarious results…

Review: There is a lot that is subjective when it comes to discussions about best and worst films of all time. There are a few usual suspects at both ends of the spectrum, but it is next to impossible to lock down one film as the absolute best, and worst respectively. Yet in the case of the latter, one film that many would argue deserves its place as the worst of the worst, is of course The Room. Yet for all that film’s many faults, no one can deny it has garnered an enormous cult following, which has helped it become perhaps the greatest worst film ever made. But how did such a monstrosity come into existence?

The answer can be found courtesy of Greg Sistero and Tom Bissell’s book of the same name, charting his journey that led him to be a part of the project that was the brainchild of Tommy Wiseau. A man of several unexplained mysteries, and a seemingly bottomless pit of money, made it all happen. The film explores Greg and Tommy’s friendship and how that led them to the adventure (or should that be misadventure?) of the making of The Room and the ensuing chaos that surrounded the production of the film. Most people will have big dreams for what they would like to do in life, and though this isn’t exactly anything new in Hollywood, The Disaster Artist is nonetheless a thoroughly amusing and at times very heartfelt story about two guys trying to make their dreams happen, even if the end result is not the type of film that would be even remotely worthy of any Oscars.

**Watching in bewilderment /amusement /amazement…**

As the two leading performances, the Franco brothers are both on excellent form with James taking the role of Tommy and Dave as Greg. There is a genuine almost brotherly like connection between the two of them, which is probably due to the fact that they are real life brothers! However you buy into their friendship and it makes you want both of them to succeed, which to a certain extent they do. The only thing is, it doesn’t quite go as they would have hoped. James is particularly excellent as he has the look and the mysterious accent of Wiseau almost down to a T. Dave also does an excellent job as he is the one who strives to complete the goal when things start to go spectacularly wrong for their project. There is humour to be found in the screenplay, which is no small part due to Tommy’s peculiar mannerisms, but it gets to a point where even though you hope they make their dreams come to fruition, that Tommy’s behaviour starts to become REALLY annoying. One can only begin to imagine how annoying it would have been for the crew.

It is clear that through his eccentric performance, and his direction, that Franco has a real passion for The Room, as they capture scenes from the film right down to the tiniest details. It might naht have enjoyed the success that Wiseau probably would have wanted it to upon its release. However, though it has perhaps become famous for all the wrong reasons, it has nevertheless endured the test of time. With an enormous cult following and screenings aplenty to this day, the film has even made a profit on its 6 million dollar budget. Everyone has dreams, and though the pursuit of one’s dreams might not always lead to success, it is important to never lose sight of those aspirations, as you just never know what kind of legacy you might leave behind.