Zootopia Review

Zootopia

When all is said and done, Zootopia is a pretty heavy-handed story about racism, but it actually works. Considering how humans with different skin color can’t get along, it makes perfect sense that different animal species would have the same issues. So while the movie’s message may be obvious, it’s also earned. For instance, everyone in the movie thinks that rabbits can’t be cops, because they’re too small and cute. And this is portrayed really well as Judy interacts with her co-workers that literally tower over her. I’m glad the studio didn’t take the easy way out and make all of the animals relatively the same size. It’s a lot of fun to see “to-scale” giraffes and mice populating the same city space.

Much of the humor in Zootopia, then, is derived from the animal-based visual gags. The DMV/sloth sequence particularly stands out, though Disney’s marketing probably already spoiled it for everyone. I also enjoyed the story for the most part with Judy, the rabbit, teaming up with a fox (voiced by the always delightful Jason Bateman) to solve a missing persons case. Unfortunately, they crack the case about 3/4 into the movie, and the cliched fallout that happens afterwards is kind of obnoxious. My other gripe with the movie is how hard they tried to shoehorn in Shakira as a character (pop idol Gazelle) and her new song, “Try Everything.” If the movie didn’t end on a gratuitous dance number, I would have walked away with a more favorable opinion.

Reviewer

Clark
I love gaming so much, I wrote a book about it.

Published by

Clark

I love gaming so much, I wrote a book about it.