HOP Movie Pre-Screening

I was so excited when SocialMoms gave me the opportunity to take my boys to see a pre-screening of the upcoming movie Hop from Universal Pictures. I had only seen a couple previews and it looked really cute. So Saturday morning we woke up early and headed down to the Mall of America to join other families going to see it.

We rarely get to see movies in the theater and typically only go to the MOA when there’s an event. I didn’t tell my boys what we were doing until we got there! I love surprises!

First of all, the CGI in this movie was fantastic! The way the actors interacted with E.B. was top notch! It is so amazing what they can do these days. E.B. really came to life on the big screen! I’m pretty sure at some point I didn’t realize he was computer generated any more. The details in E.B. were out of this world.

As for the movie itself, I had one major issue that showed up at the very beginning of the movie. Being that E.B. doesn’t want to be the Easter Bunny he heads of to Hollywood to fulfill his dream. He believes he’s found the place to start with the Playboy mansion.

Playboy mansion and children’s movie do NOT go together in my book. I am going to have some restraint because I could make an entire post about how ridiculous, unnecessary, and irresponsible it is to have this in the movie, but I won’t. Suffice it to say, this part should be cut before it goes out to theaters everywhere.

E.B. doesn't go into the mansion or interact with any Bunnies, but stands at the gate talking to Hugh Hefner. They show the gate with the Playboy Bunny emblem. Maybe I'm too strict when it comes to what's included in the movies my kids see, I don't know.

Yes, some adults will think it’s amusing, but I think many parents won’t be very happy having to find a way to explain it to children who are old enough to wonder about it. Trust me, my son was asking me various questions throughout the movie and he’s 11.

E.B. was also quite the ladies, er, bunny. He talked a couple times about the ladies and was seriously loving on Fred’s sister. They actually show a clip of that at the end of this video. Maybe they were trying to make E.B. seem like your “average” 20-something bunny?

Alright, with that out of the way, let me tell you what I did enjoy. The music was fun and my boys were rocking out in their seats. I wish I would’ve brought a pen and paper to take notes because there were some hilarious moments throughout the movie! Of course if I could’ve had my phone on I could’ve used my notes app. LOL

I liked the storyline because it’s so important for us as parents not to push our hopes and dreams for our children’s lives onto them. If they’ve found something they’re passionate about then we should do our best to encourage them.

Carlos, the mean head chick, was out to steal the leadership of Easter. What surprised me was there were no consequences in the end for all the chicks who decided to go against the Easter Bunny. Carlos did get a position that made him inferior to others, but aside from that no one else was punished or reprimanded for almost killing the Easter Bunny, Fred, and E.B. I like it when characters, even cartoon characters, have consequences for their choices.

Admittedly, I think I laughed more during the movie than pretty much everyone, and I’m an out loud laugher! I did try to contain myself when I realized no one else was laughing with me.

I’m not sure that this movie is really for kids as much as it would be for tweens and adults. The dialogue goes so fast sometimes, the exchange between the characters goes so quickly, your mind has to process what they said and then it’s funny. Not all the time mind you, but enough that if I feel like I couldn’t keep up, I’m sure my boys didn’t either.

There were plenty of crude moments that my boys found hilarious! A lot of comments or jokes kind of went over their heads, but you could tell the adults got them. Seeing this a 2nd time to catch all the jokes I missed might be a good idea. I have a feeling my boys are going to be spending a lot of time on YouTube watching the trailers and any videos that include E.B.My boys walked away really liking this movie and my 7yo old danced his way out of the theater. He also said, “coup d'état is French for coup d'état”. I was surprised that he caught that and repeated it correctly. I know they’ll want to add this to their movie collection, no doubt.

I’m not a movie critic, just a mom who went to enjoy a movie with her boys. Overall I thought this was a good movie with a few hiccups, being that it’s promoted to kids. I think out of 5 stars I’d give it a 3 1/2.

I want to thank SocialMoms for providing the tickets to see this movie. I was not asked to write a post for them or the movie and was not compensated in any way.