Zootopia 2

The best part of this movie is the visual jokes and puns. Some of them are genuinely laugh-out-loud funny. And some of the verbal jokes hit the mark as well. But a lot of the rest of this film comes across as very boilerplate animated feature: not especially clever, not particularly innovative in terms of its visuals, and built too much around presenting bland homilies at the end of the story. You get the sense throughout the running time that the point of this exercise from the start was to preach to the audience, and to make the sermon more palatable by wrapping it up in a number of revved up action sequences. In that sense, it’s kind of like how you give a pill to an animal (appropriately enough): you stick the pill into some squishy treat and hope the creature will swallow it whole. To be sure, the film is not boring or without entertainment value; you can watch the movie and stay mostly engaged from start to finish. You might find yourself straying a bit here and there, and you might consider the plot to be low stakes and slightly nonsensical—but most of those watching it will be children anyway, and we all know how uncritical they can be. So it’s mostly harmless amusement, though hardly anything more than that, and certainly nothing particularly memorable. It’s not all happening at this zoo, but I do believe there’s just enough here to make do. 

Zootopia

One can see the clear outlines of the political themes that sit just below the surface of this movie, particularly with regards to the issue of identity politics. (Or should that be identity paw-litics? Couldn’t resist.) But I think it’s best to let that slide and judge the work on its merits as a movie; that is, as a vehicle for telling a story. And this piece earns high marks on that basis: the story is engaging right from the start, it sets up its premise—really, its world—in crisp, neat fashion, and it runs through its narrative with a minimum of missteps and a great deal of smart, funny panache. And, as a bonus, this is one animated film that avoids the pitfall of Familiar Voice Syndrome;  there are some major names in the cast—Jason Bateman, J.K. Simmons, Idris Elba—but none have a voice so distinctive that they are too recognizable. That makes for a more effective cast of characters, which always makes for more effective storytelling—and thus a more effective movie. Finally, it should go without saying, the animation is top notch; that’s standard for the industry these days. All in all, this is a strong effort and well worth the viewer’s time and attention.