Film: Hoppers

A film about how much we love animals. Is that enough to make you go and see a Pixar film?

Add a sci-fi element, and a kid who has so much respect and love for animals that not even her parents understand her — and suddenly, yes. After one too many liberations of school animals kept in cages, Mabel is suspended and dropped off at her grandmother's remote country cottage. There she learns how nature has a calming influence, and this inspires everything that follows.

Mainly: how she happens upon a lab looking to understand animals more deeply, and shortly after, discovers that a beloved local nature spot is being taken over by the popular local mayor, who wants to build a bridge across the waterways. Mabel uses technology from the lab that allows a human consciousness to "hop" into a robotic animal — going deep undercover in ways no human ever could.

I found myself entirely on Mabel's side, of course, and willed her on every step of the way. I loved Hoppers..

8/10