Seeing Zootopia 2 on Black Friday was admittedly an impulse. I meant to purchase gifts for friends, but hardly anything was on sale, and I found little for myself and co. So why not see a movie instead to pass the time?
The theater? The AMC Orchard 12. The line to the refreshment stand? Long. The showing? 1 PM – after the man at the stand handed me my stub. The theater was fairly packed, though not all the seats that were shown to be reserved were taken and when the employees told me they’d had 300 show up for the same film I was seeing within the space of an hour. Still, the theater was at least half capacity from what I could tell.
And if that says anything about the anticipation of Walt Disney Animation’s latest film, I don’t know what would. Fortunately, Zootopia 2 is quite a decent film. I personally did not find it incredibly ground-breaking, but it was a good romp to be had for the first time I’ve sat in a theater for over a year. It certainly at least was worth the $14 for admission.
Zootopia 2 – or what should have been Zootwopia, but I digress – follows the next steps of Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde, two Zootopia Police Department (ZPD) recruits fresh off the heels of a prey-supremacy case involving the previous mayor have a new case to crack.
Judy and Nick are cited by Chief Bogo for insubordination, and their punishment is to relearn being partners… or be separated. Meanwhile, Judy makes progress in an altogether new case, which involves a reptile – the likes of which have not been seen in Zootopia for 100 years, and which goes against their agenda.
The Associated Press may call this a cuddlier, tamer sequel, but I personally would disagree with that notion. It’s cuddlier, yes, but pretty enjoyable for that. Perhaps me being a sucker for most things animal-related has to do with that. Tamer: I’d say that Zootopia 2 is much the same as the first in terms of intensity.
Both films contain obvious social commentary, and both have the same impact in either film. Yet I personally feel that the commentary didn’t have its entire potential explored. For example, Nick Wilde throughout the film plays Judy’s voice line of “I’m just a dumb bunny” on their carrot recorder, but that’s not touched on too much outside of using it to prove her wrong. (It could have been used to touch on stereotypes bunnies face, which could connect to stereotypes everyone experiences, but that’s simply an example.)
It is a Disney film, so perhaps I can’t fault the megacorporation for playing it safe. But at the same time, the social commentary elevates both films above standard Disney fare. It just could have been a masterpiece were the world explored just a little more, just a bit deeper. This criticism is also one I have of the first Zootopia.
The plot also takes a bit too many beats from the first film, but I can’t and won’t delve into that aspect of things without spoiling it. Aside from that, those are really the only criticisms I really have of the film, and I admit the safety of the whole approach takes a large wedge of enjoyment out of the picture for me.
The film is very well-animated with an extreme attention to detail – as the vast majority of animated films have, and there are plenty of funny gags throughout. There were some particular gags I found to be pretty hilarious and out of left-field, but I won’t spoil those. Even the soundtrack, which is standard for Disney, has twinges of funk to it all, evoking 1970’s urban films and giving a personality to Judy and Nick’s radically differing approaches to policework.
The film is fast-paced and never once made me doze off as I watched it. It rarely becomes distracted with new environments so as to detract from the film, and it leaves the mind thinking, or passively watching, if that is your style of watching film. It is both a film that can leave you thinking, or simply entertained. Neither approach really detracts from the experience.
Ginnifer Goodwin (Hopps), Jason Bateman (Wilde), Shakira (Gazelle), and Idris Elba (Chief Bogo) all return from the first film, with some major new faces. Ke Huy Quan plays Gary De’Snake, a pit viper; Fortune Feimster plays Nibbles Maplestick, a beaver podcaster who leans on the side of conspiracy theory in her beliefs; and Andy Samberg plays Pawbert Lynxley, the youngest son of the incredibly wealthy Lynxley family.
As to be expected from Disney’s usual voiceover work, it’s fantastic, needless to say. It hits all the major emotions, never feels jokey, just right even. Patrick Warburton (who plays new Zootopia mayor Brian Winddancer) was an odd delight to me, given I don’t experience his work in film incredibly often; and yet he is the voice behind Kronk in the New Groove films by Disney, and one of Elaine’s boyfriends on Seinfeld.
Considering Zootopia 2 has already grossed over $550 million dollars and on its first weekend, there’s clearly a certain appeal to the film. I’m inclined to agree. In fact, I might even say I’m excited for a third film later down the line. At the very least, my criticisms made me dwell on ways to better the concept down the line. No matter what kind of viewer you are – child, a young FRCC student, an older person looking for something to break up their Christmas shopping at the mall, you’d at least have an entertaining time with the film.
My final verdict: 7 out of 10!
