Movie Reviews from HMC
Read about films reviewed by HMC’s Station Operator, Will Hopper.
New reviews are published every Friday on our weekly newsletter.
2025 Year in Review
2026 Oscars Overview
Latest Review:
The Odyssey
—
Now playing in theaters
Directed by Christopher Nolan
[Rated R] 2hr 52min
Action/Adventure, Fantasy
★★★★
July 17th, 2026
Read Review | Watch Trailer
Watch the trailer below:
New Theatrical Releases:
Supergirl
Directed by Craig Gillespie
[Rated PG-13] 1hr 48min
Sci-fi, Action/Adventure
★★★
June 26th, 2026
Read Review | Watch Trailer
Toy Story 5
Directed by Andrew Stanton
[Rated PG] 1hr 42min
Family, Animation, Adv., Comedy
★★★
June 19th, 2026
Read Review | Watch Trailer
Disclosure Day
Directed by Steven Spielberg
[Rated PG-13] 2hr 25min
Sci-fi, Thriller
★★
June 12th, 2026
Read Review | Watch Trailer
All movie reviews sorted alphabetically.
Reviews for movies released in theaters in 2026.
Reviews for movies released in previous years.
Reviews for movies available on streaming services.
Read the latest Streaming Spotlight reviews below:
- Will’s Watchlist (7/17/26)
Hoppers (2026)
Directed by Daniel Chong
[Rated PG] 1hr 44min
Family, Animation, Sci-fi, Comedy
★★½
“It’s hard to be mad when you feel like you’re part of something big.”
When a corrupt mayor announces his plan to demolish a forest in order to build additional roadways, an environmentalist college student tries to do everything she can to stop the project from moving forward. After many failed attempts, she eventually discovers a device built by her professors that’s able to transmit her mind into a robotic beaver and allows her to communicate with the forest animals, which leads her to uncover the nefarious truth about the construction project.
This is an otherwise great film that’s really held back by its problematic themes. It starts off with excellent pro-environmental messages but ultimately advocates for something completely different and contradictory. Rather than maintaining the environmental focus that it perfectly nails at the beginning, the narrative eventually shifts to being about trying to stop an oppressed minority population from fighting back against those in power who want them displaced from their homes. This is made worse by the fact that the entire reason for this change in direction comes about by the protagonist’s desire for non-violence, but when there’s violence committed against the minority population, it’s played for laughs while the rest of the story hinges on protecting the people who perpetuate systematic violence against the oppressed. It’s also important to note that Pixar specifically required the filmmakers to “town down themes of environmentalism” in this film, according to The Hollywood Reporter (Source), which demonstrates how these problems extend far beyond this one film, as reactionary decisions are coming directly from the company’s executives themselves. It’s such a shame that the narrative ends up taking this disappointing turn because everything else about the film is consistently great. The animation is spectacular, the jokes are hysterical, and most of the characters are fantastic. The first half of the film is genuinely amazing, but its story completely falls apart in the second half. Overall, this film is a lot of fun on a moment to moment basis, and it goes all in on the absurdity of its premise, which makes it a blast to watch if you can ignore the messaging issues in the latter half of the narrative.
I recommend Hoppers to anyone who wants a simple, light, and easily enjoyable movie experience. The themes are its only major weakness, so it can still be very entertaining for the most part. Since this film offers the same core concepts as the Avatar franchise (which is also explicitly referenced at one point), I strongly encourage watching those films as they have significantly better thematic messaging that provides a far superior experience.
Hoppers is currently available to stream on Disney+. Click here to watch the Official Trailer.
The Harvard Public Library hosted a Family Movie Night featuring this film on July 16th. Click here to view future movie night screenings.
– Review by Will Hopper
- Will’s Watchlist (7/10/26)
The Hurt Locker (2009)
Directed by Kathryn Bigelow
[Rated R] 2hr 11min
War, Thriller
★★★½
“The rush of battle is often a potent and lethal addiction, for war is a drug” – Chris Hedges
The Hurt Locker opens with this quote that serves as the film’s primary thesis, which also describes a major aspect of America’s history that’s important to reflect on for the country’s 250th anniversary. The story follows a bomb defusing specialist in the US military during the Iraq War who loves the adrenaline rush of his job. Rather than carefully defusing bombs remotely with specialized equipment, he prefers doing it himself on his own and even takes off his protective clothing in order to increase the riskiness of the already dangerous situations he puts himself in.
Although this film mainly focuses on one specific team of soldiers, it stands to represent America’s attitude towards war in general. Our government continues to engage in wars like an addiction, which continues to subject both American citizens and foreign civilians to unnecessary hardships and devastation that could have been avoided entirely. The Hurt Locker reflects this terrible truth about our country from the personal perspective of soldiers, and it captures how certain people continue to be attracted to war even when they’re confronted with the horrific reality and destructive consequences of their decisions either on the battlefield or from the comfort of being far away from the fighting. As a result, the film is incredibly effective at displaying the pointless violence and death that both soldiers and civilians face during times of war while those in power who are responsible for these conflicts are nowhere to be seen and often have little understanding of how it actually effects people. This is further enhanced by excellent acting, especially Jeremy Renner and Anthony Mackie, as they brilliantly portray the emotional toll that war has on even the most unlikable of soldiers. In addition, the frequent use of shaky cinematography thrusts the audience directly into intense sequences and conveys the frantic anxiety that the characters are experiencing in that moment. This also greatly heightens the film’s realism by making it feel spontaneous and documentary-like.
Despite its important themes and strong technical elements, this film is still a bit lacking in some aspects of the overall experience. For example, it starts to become a little dull in parts of the middle and latter half of the film when the narrative moves away from bomb diffusing, and the tone of the ending seems to undercut the message that the film had been trying to convey up to that point. It also struggles at highlighting the larger context of the Iraq War, yet much of the narrative hinges on the background of it being a pointless war since the film wouldn’t be anywhere near as effective if it had used a generic war setting instead. This definitely hinders the overall impact of the story, but the inferred context alone still allows the audience to make those connections themselves. The film just isn’t as strong as it could be if the narrative did directly call attention to the war’s historical significance.
I recommend The Hurt Locker to everyone, as it showcases the harsh reality of wars that this country continues to wage against other nations. I also recommend Warfare (2025) as a great companion piece to this film that further deconstructs the heroic fantasies that many soldiers have about fighting in wars. It’s also worth noting that The Hurt Locker won six Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Director, which is especially significant because Kathryn Bigelow was the first woman to win Best Director, and this was the first film directed by a woman to win Best Picture. Overall, this is a timeless movie that continues to be relevant across decades, as it’s themes apply to the many senseless wars that the United States has been involved in throughout its 250 year history.
The Hurt Locker is currently available to stream on Prime Video. Click here to watch the Official Trailer.
– Review by Will Hopper
- Will’s Watchlist (5/8/26)
A Better Tomorrow (1986)
Directed by John Woo
[Not Rated] 1hr 35min
★★★★
A Better Tomorrow is a Hong Kong action crime drama about a gangster who tries to leave his days of counterfeiting money behind in order to be there for his younger bother, a rookie cop. However, when the cop discovers that his older brother is a criminal, he vows to personally arrest him in order to prove to the other police officers that he isn’t anything like him.
This is a great movie all around with its stylish action and dramatic performances. Although the action sequences don’t quite reach the insane level of some of John Woo’s later films, they’re still incredibly impressive and even feel more grounded at times. The use of practical effects are highly effective, as they make everything feel believable despite all the over-the-top elements. The story is also very compelling with its strong themes of brotherhood and friendship, which are further reinforced by the fantastic acting from Ti Lung and Chow Yun-fat. Overall, this simple story is told brilliantly through its authentic characters and spectacular action scenes that greatly enhance the emotional weight of the events as they unfold throughout the film.
I recommend A Better Tomorrow to anyone who enjoys action films with a strong emotional core. It’s very engaging and entertaining all the way through, so it’s a reliable movie to put on when wanting to watch something that offers an excellent overall experience.
A Better Tomorrow is currently available to stream for free on Pluto TV and PLEX. Click here to watch the Official Trailer.
– Review by Will Hopper