Personally, I haven't been impressed by any Disney animation since Wreck-It Ralph. That's not to say any of the movies that came out in that after Wreck-It Ralph was bad - it was just that nothing was hitting the bar for me. And now, Disney's put out another animated feature to try to maintain their current good run of form, and that is Zootopia. Is it good?
No, it isn't.
It's f***ing great, that's what it is.
So, Zootopia was directed by Byron Howard, Rich Moore, and Jared Bush, and is perhaps the most fun I've had in a Disney animation since, like I mentioned earlier, Wreck-It Ralph. And it's great!
I have to say, I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. There were so many things about it that I loved, and the movie has so much personality to it. It's pretty hard to not like.
Zootopia follows this rabbit named Judy Hopps, who, against all odds, becomes a police officer and is assigned to the big city that is Zootopia. She ends up being handed this really important missing persons - or is it mammals, since they're all... She ends up being handed this really important missing mammals case and blackmails this con artist into helping her, and now... we have our adventure.
Right out the gate, this movie establishes that it's a lot heavier in tone than a lot of other Disney movies of its kind. If you thought the plot seemed pretty dark to be in a family movie, that's because it is really dark. And it also revolves around a lot of really mature and heavy themes, because, ultimately, this is a movie about discrimination and not being dicks to other people based on their race or what they look like.
I liked that they really established that without beating it over your head. It was a lot like Wreck-It Ralph in that sense (in fact, if you think about it, the messages in both movies are pretty similar) and you probably guessed by now that I love me some Wreck-It Ralph. But that's where the similarities end, really, because Zootopia is moreso a mystery movie than it is an action-packed adventure.
And the movie really excelled at being a mystery movie because it was a really good mystery. It had a story that both kids and adults could understand and it should be a pretty fruitful watch for all ages. But I think this movie had a lot more for adults in store than one might've expected.
I think a lot of the jokes in this movie are gonna fly over kids' heads - or, at least, those belonging to anyone under the age of 10. And that wasn't because they were sexual or anything (though there might be exceptions, depending on how you look at them), it was because the content was pretty mature, like I said earlier. They have an actual crime lord and an active underworld in this movie.
Fun fact: this movie is rated PG over here in Philly.
This movie made me laugh, a lot, and I ended up laughing pretty hard because of some of the jokes. Do you ever rewatch 90's cartoons and ask yourself, "Oh my God, did they really just get away with that?!" It's kinda like that in Zootopia, and it was really refreshing to see. And this movie hits a lot of emotions, too. Like I said, this movie is heavy. I can sincerely say I teared up in some parts.
Another thing this movie really had going for it was its cast of characters. They were all really well thought-out; they were well-written, nicely rounded out, well-acted, even. I'm gonna give a big shoutout to two people specifically: Ginnifer Goodwin and Jason Bateman, who played Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde (the con artist), respectively. You could hear it in the way they voiced their characters out - these people had chemistry.
I like seeing characters have these kinds of relationships. I mean, you have Judy Hopps, she's this really upstanding and goal-oriented individual and she's just so positive that you can't help but think, "Hey, you know what? I like you, I like your positivity." And then you have Nick Wilde, he's in-the-know about how the world works, and he's a bit of an asshole, but he's a likeable asshole. And seeing these two polar opposites interact with one another really entertained me. I wanted to see more of that.
And the other characters in the movie were really good, too. Idris Elba's character - his name is Chief Bogo - is badass. And there's this one dude in the story who'll surprise you big time. As far as being a character-driven movie goes, it's a pretty good one.
The animation in this movie was fantastic, as well. The art direction was great and, while the characters are cute, the movie doesn't bank on the cuteness. In fact, it's almost as if the characters' cuteness are just an added bonus for the people watching the movie.
I can't really think of anything particularly negative to say about the movie other than the climax didn't hit as hard as I would've liked and it felt like it wrapped up a bit too quickly. When the climax happens, it's just... there. You're left feelig a bit like, "hey, that happened." But in the end, that doesn't take any of the enjoyment out of the movie.
In fact, the movie is still great even with its flaws and Zootopia is deserving of a Big George.
Also, the movie has Shakira in it, so that's an automatic bonus.
Perfection.
Like I said, I haven't enjoyed a Disney animation as much Wreck-It Ralph before watching this. This is the movie you should be taking your kids to. So, Zootopia - have you seen it? What did you think about it? Leave a comment, let me know! (I mean, seriously, I wanna know) As always, this has been Rafa. Stay classy.
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