Hoppers

Directed by Daniel Chong, Hoppers follows a rebellious young girl (Piper Curda’s Mabel Tanaka) as she infiltrates the animal world by shifting her consciousness into the body of a robotic beaver. It’s a larger-than-life premise that’s employed to watchable (albeit increasingly underwhelming) effect by Chong, as the filmmaker, armed with his and Jesse Andrews’ screenplay, delivers a briskly-paced comedy that fares best within its affable, funny opening stretch – with the promising vibe perpetuated by a recurring emphasis on the Mabel’s initial fish-out-of-water exploits. (And it doesn’t hurt, certainly, that Bobby Moynihan offers up a terrifically entertaining turn as the ruler of the animals, King George.) There’s little doubt, then, that Hoppers‘ overall impact is dulled significantly by a narrative that grows more and more frenetic as it unfolds, and it’s clear, ultimately, that the wildly over-the-top (and far too action-packed) climax ensures that the whole thing peters out to a fairly distressing extent – which does, in the final analysis, confirm the movie’s place as a passable endeavor that’ll fare best among small children (but not too small given the recurring inclusion of curiously scary bits and images).

**1/2 out of ****