ZOOTOPIA:
ANOTHER WIN FOR DISNEY WITH
BEAUTIFUL ANIMATION, STRONG CHARACTERS, AND AN OVERALL SATISFYING ANIMATED
ADVENTURE WITH TALKING ANIMALS AND CLEVER JOKES!
By Nico Beland
Movie Review: **** out of 4
DISNEY
Sly
fox, Nick, bunny police officer, Judy Hopps, and the citizens of Zootopia
Walt
Disney Animation Studios, the studio that brought us Tangled, Wreck-It Ralph, Frozen, and Big Hero 6 strikes again with their latest animated film, Zootopia, under direction by previous Disney film directors, Byron Howard (Tangled) and Rich Moore (Wreck-It Ralph). I’m going to be honest,
when I first saw the trailer for Zootopia,
I thought it seemed like a step backwards from Disney’s other movies, especially after big hits like Frozen.
I
thought it looked like a straight up kids’ movie and nothing else, it didn’t
look bad or anything but I felt it wouldn’t be able to top Tangled, Wreck-It Ralph,
or Frozen in terms of audience
engagement. Not to mention I was worried it was going to end up like the
critically panned 2005 Disney film, Chicken Little, which also focused on
talking animals living in suburbia, and the Sloth trailer certainly didn’t
change anything.
But with the film opening to
critical acclaim and believe it or not, even more critical acclaim than Frozen, I decided to give the film a
watch. And I loved it, a lot actually, which is really odd because the plot isn’t
all that original and the characters are pretty standard cop movie stereotypes,
but what made the film so good was its creativity and animation.
It’s a perfect example of a movie
that totally takes full advantage of what’s given to them, much like Wreck-It Ralph, the movie is filled with
different varieties of animation, sizes, and constantly throws jokes at you all
throughout the movie and the majority of them hit bull’s-eye. Also the
characters are very engaging and well-developed, and most of it comes from the
hard work of the voice cast, and they get some of the best people to match
these characters.
The story is set in the city of
Zootopia, where animals of all shapes and sizes live in harmony, what once was
a game of survival between predator and prey is now a peaceful world where
animals are accepted among each other. The film follows a young rabbit named
Judy Hopps (voiced by Ginnifer Goodwin-Walk
the Line, A Single Man, Tinker Bell and the Legend of the NeverBeast)
who ever since she was a little bunny dreamt of becoming the first rabbit
police officer in hopes of making the world a better place.
After countless training exercises
and being mocked for her size, she becomes…a parking validator (Yeah, I’m not
making this up!). She then comes across a fast-talking scam artist fox named
Nick Wilde (voiced by Jason Bateman-Arrested
Development, Juno, Horrible Bosses) who gets roped into
helping her solve a big case to prove to everyone that she is a real cop.
Apparently citizens of Zootopia are
mysteriously becoming savages under unknown circumstances and it’s up to Judy
and Nick to join forces and solve the mystery as well as save their city from
maximum animalist carnage. From running a car plate number in a DMV being
managed by sloths to interrogating a vicious crime boss that resembles a
certain famous movie character.
The film also features the voices of
J.K. Simmons (Spider-Man trilogy, Whiplash, Terminator: Genisys) as Leodore Lionhart, the lion mayor of
Zootopia and an obvious jab at the MGM
lion, Idris Elba (Thor, Prometheus, Pacific Rim) as Chief Bogo, a cape buffalo chief of the Zootopia
Police Department, Jenny Slate (Obvious
Child, Bob’s Burgers, The Secret Life of Pets) as Dawn
Bellwether, assistant mayor of Zootopia, Bonnie Hunt (Jumanji, The Green Mile, Cars) and Don Lake (American Dragon: Jake Long, Curb
Your Enthusiasm, How I Met Your
Mother) as Judy’s parents, Tommy Chong (Cheech
& Chong) as Yax, a laidback yak who manages a naturist club (And yes it’s
exactly what you think it is!), and singer, Shakira as gazelle pop star, Gazelle.
Overall,
Zootopia is a well-made animated adventure
for the entire family, and I don’t mean that as a marketing statement, it
really is a great movie to watch as a family, whether you got little kids or
not. The movie is smart and very well written, the characters are fun, the humor
ranges from being funny to downright hilarious (even the Sloth scene is funnier
here than in the trailer!).
The animation is gorgeous here, especially
the design of the Zootopia city and the lighting, whether it’s colorful or
moody, I can’t get enough of it.
But
those don’t come close to my praise on the film’s variety of the shapes and
sizes of the Zootopia city. The best part of the movie in my opinion is a scene
where Judy is chasing a weasel crook through the city and they end up in the
mouse part of town where everything is small and they’re like the size of a Godzilla monster, these are really clever
and funny ideas and I loved seeing these different ideas explored in the film.
What also makes the film so
enjoyable is the chemistry between Judy and Nick, yes they go through the whole
hate each other at first tradition and they make a lot of Smart-Alecky remarks
at one another, but in time they become oddball partners and want to help each
other out. It’s an odd team-up, seeing how rabbits are seen as the prey for
foxes, but it’s kind of a similar relationship to Shrek and Donkey or Woody and
Buzz from Toy Story.
It’s hard to say if it’s as great as
Disney films like The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, or The
Lion King, but I can certainly consider it to be one of their best CG films
alongside Wreck-It Ralph, Frozen, and some of those other films,
and it beats Chicken Little by a long
shot. It’s a world of animals that needs to be seen to believe.
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