Directed By Jared Bush and Byron Howard

Starring – Jason Bateman, Ginnifer Goodwin, Ke Huy Quan

The Plot – Detectives Judy Hopps (Goodwin) and Nick Wilde (Bateman) find themselves on the twisting trail of a mysterious reptile who arrives in Zootopia and turns the mammal metropolis upside down. To crack the case, Judy and Nick must go undercover to unexpected new parts of town, where their growing partnership is tested like never before.

Rated PG for action/violence and rude humor.

Zootopia 2 | Trailer

POSITIVES

Disney’s well-documented inability to effectively muster an entertainingly satisfying sequel of equal or noteworthy value to its predecessor has manufactured a preconceived pessimism in the public eye, picking up where their variety of straight-to-video sequels left off in the 90’s, and while “Zootopia 2” doesn’t quite reach the heights of its beautifully vibrant and thematically profound original, it does seem to be the exception to the aforementioned rule, gifting a highly entertaining successor that proves every second of the nine year wait between films was put towards crafting a noble effort to the standards of its audience. It starts with the same kind of thorough world-building and ample social commentary that seamlessly blended the fantastically animated to the everyday realities of the real world, this time with a narrative and enveloping conflict pertaining to the gentrification, media manipulation, and cultural eradicating of founding tribes that toes just close enough to naturalized progression to blend seamlessly with the original film’s exploits of racial prejudice, but in ways that are executed entirely unique, this time around. The subversive insights littered meticulously in the material certainly allow for more psychologically complex and challenging observations than we’re typically used to in a kid-friendly Disney film, offering just as much mental stimulation for adult audiences as their adolescent counterparts, all the while endearing us to the tremendous detail in the illustrious animation that offers so many clever sight gags and exceeding reach to the many ongoing backdrop activity that make this feel like a fully realized setting. One such sequence involves a jaw-dropping homage to a legendary horror movie that I truly never expected in a Disney movie, let alone an animated one, and with the production even securing the rights to a legendary composer’s score during such a scene, in order to leave no mistakes about the channeling, proves that the prominent personality extends well beyond the magnetism of its characters, connecting personally to me in ways that no other animated movie has achieved, this year, even by using its own screentime to emulate another movie entirely. In addition, far beyond just being a colorfully illustrious upgrade to the familiar designs of character integrities, the textures equally convey far more exhilarating and expressive essence to the integrity and influence of so many excitingly urgent set pieces, gifting with them the kind of chaotically rampant atmospheres and effortless urgency that not only makes Zooptopia such a wildly unpredictable setting, but also helps burn ample minutes within the film’s ambitiously executed 105-minute runtime to transpire with the kind of vested ease to its pacing that almost never withers, making this every bit the consistently entertaining engagement that never came close to grating even momentarily to either my patience or my interpretation in the developing mystery. On top of spiritedly enriching animation and thought-provoking sociological insight, the film is also blessed tremendously by limitless energy and punctuating personality from its remarkably stacked ensemble, leading to a few noteworthy performances among the charismatic fray that stand out above the rest. For newcomers, the spotlight is temporarily stolen by Ke Huy Quan and Andy Samberg, with the former eliciting compassionate warmth and noble sincerity to a turn that is heartily cloaked in the sensitivities that we always expect from the Oscar-winning actor, and the latter, with an unforeseen character and emotional evolution of his own, opened my eyes to the kind of frantically resilient range and disappearing commitment that he has never been gifted in opportunity otherwise, proving how impeccably perfect that each of them are as decorated voice actors. However, it’s obviously the dynamic duo of Jason Bateman and Ginnifer Goodwin that still inflict such arresting chemistry and sweetly savory charm to Nick and Judy, respectively, appraising an endearing friendship that not only injects a heartfelt center to the conflict’s consistency for comedy and craziness, without the need to fully embrace a romance angle that simply isn’t needed, but also offers ample time for each to shine within an intended dynamic that still conveys opposites attract. For Goodwin, it’s the adventurous eagerness that drives Judy’s determination as a force for good, often serving as the metaphorical needle that pokes and prods at Nick’s own morality, and Bateman, while still conjuring the same sarcastic cynicism that effectively unloads dry deliveries as if they’re atom bombs against the opposition, also renders Nick with a suave cool factor that makes the character so infectiously investing, even when his stubbornness directly compromises Judy’s aforementioned will power, making it difficult to ever hear another actor in the role, especially considering Bateman’s vocal cadence lends itself so synonymously with the expressive emphasis of the movie’s animation.

NEGATIVES

If there’s one major difference, at least for me, in terms of this film’s inferiority from its predecessor, it’s in the consistency and effectiveness of the humor, which while producing a few decent laughs throughout my engagement, didn’t land as prominently as the first movie, especially with one newfound addition to the ensemble who grated on my nerves, every time they were given room to flex their comedic chops. While I understand immediately that comedy is subjective, based on the person, where someone else might get a tummy ache from laughing so much at something that I found only momentarily coy or clever, there were far too many moments where the comedy, which feels geared almost entirely to adults, didn’t generate a response out of me, and considering kids will make up an overwhelming majority of this movie’s audience, I think it’s a bit of a mistake to not cater to their needs, as much, if not more, than adults, especially considering my auditorium never had that defining moment involving such overwhelming laughter. On top of this, another problem that I had with the film was in the derivativeness of its structural outline, which bared more than a striking resemblance to its predecessor. While the script does take some uniquely compelling thematical directions that doesn’t make the material retread familiar territory, the sequencing of events within the script can certainly feel glaringly evident towards garnering a sense of deja vu to what transpires, making this film feel a bit safe at times, even despite so much entertaining value to a sequel that has no right to be as good as it is. Finally, while most of the engagement transpired fluidly with the kind of pacing ease that kept me faithfully invested, the ending does drag on a bit longer than I would’ve preferred, as a result of a conflict that resolves itself as many as three times, making it feel like Bush and Howard had a multitude of ideas and endings to wrap up the narrative, but never felt comfortable enough to simply leave it at just one of them. One of the things that I love about the world-building in the script is that it cleverly and subtly sets the motions in movement to build towards an inevitable third film to round out a trilogy, without taking away focus from the magnitude of this conflict, however a scene during the film’s closing moments, as well as another repetitiously excessive one during the post-credits sequence, hammered the intention home with a lack of subtlety that started bordering on tedious, with each stacked intention, and for my money, the film ends at just the right moment, before it started to become a commercial for the next installment.

OVERALL
“Zootopia 2” is rare territory for Disney, in that it crafts a visually stunning and thematically profound sequel that holds up to the integrity of its prominent predecessor, despite veering a bit too close structurally to completely improve upon it. With insatiable energy from an extensively decorated ensemble, as well as an adventure full of mystery and uncovered history, the film offers a reflective glance into the same conflicts plaguing our own world, offering insidious examples of how discrimination affects future, attempting to grab youthlike audiences while they’re still impressionable.

My Grade: 8.6 or A-