After almost a decade after the first one, Zootopia 2 released last month on November 26th.
With how much I love Zootopia (it is one of my all-time favorite movies), I was initially nervous that Zootopia 2 wouldn’t live up to the original. Suffice to say, after seeing it with my wife and fellow Fandom Spotlite writer, Gabby, it blew all of our expectations out of the water. The fast-paced action is full of the cheeky humor from the first one, adorable animal behaviors, and affection.
Check out my short review below (99% spoiler free!).
Zootopia 2 has 7.7/10 on IMDb, 92% on Rotten Tomatoes, and 3.8/5 on Letterboxd. It follows bunny cop Judy Hopps and her street-criminal-turned-cop fox friend, Nick Wilde, as they navigate a new case and partnership. These detectives go undercover and on the run to discover the reason behind a snake’s appearance in the mammal metropolis of Zootopia. Ginnifer Goodwin and Jason Bateman return to voice Judy and Nick, while new voices like Ke Huy Quan, Fortune Feimster, and Andy Samberg join the cast. Idris Elba, Shakira, Nate Torrence, Bonnie Hunt, and Don Lake reprise their roles as well.
Though the plot was similar to the first movie—i.e. the two main characters solving a case—it was excellently fun and fresh with expanded Zootopia biomes and new characters. I loved seeing more animal species represented in the movie, like lynxes, wild pigs, horses, beavers, koalas, and, of course, a variety of reptiles. Not only did we get these new species, but they also gave them unique voices and behaviors specific to their types and histories. I definitely have a new few favorites.
Viewers also get to see some lands more in depth with appearances of Tundratown, Marsh Market, and Sahara Square. The world expanding beyond what we knew from Zootopia was perfect.
The overall plot was phenomenal, too. The mystery had good suspense, nothing was too easy for our heroes, and the plot twist was so well-placed, I gasped. It was nearly two hours packed full of chaos, wit, and adult-innuendos for parents. I think it better streamlines the idea that people should stand up for what is right and be allies to those that need it.
One of my favorite bits of this movie was the amount of pop culture and Disney movie references made. I can’t tell you how many times myself and the people I went with laughed in surprise and looked at each other every time one appeared on screen (or in the music, wink wink).
I don’t care what Disney or the producers or anyone says, Nick and Judy are obviously in love and should be together. They gave plenty of shoves, not nudges, shoves, towards them caring deeply for each other; how much of a stretch would it be for them to be an official couple? Regardless, the warmth and affection in their relationship is part of why I fell for this fox and bunny in the first place, so I was happy to see it expanded on.
Some fans were anxious from the trailer that the duo weren’t working together effectively, but to me it made complete sense. They’re both still growing as individuals and in their partnership. Of course they’re going to have some growing pains. What matters most is how they are still there for each other!
I only have two small negatives for the whole movie. To start, I feel like a lot of it is overstimulating, mainly the first half. The background changes and chase scenes were very fast-paced with loud effects and quick character switches. Now, the theater we went to did seem to have the volume cranked up to 100, but I still feel like the action was sometimes on 1000. I’m not totally knocking this though. It means I can rewatch the movie and find new details every time!
As for the other con… Why did they make a joke of or even mention Nick being racist (or “scared”/”uncomfortable” as the movie seemed to put it) against reptiles? Was it just a “ha-ha he’s scared of snakes/reptiles like humans can be,” or was it intended to represent something deeper? It only came up once in the movie and then was never mentioned again. If it was meant to be an attitude for Nick to unlearn, it should have come back up instead of just being a gimmick for his character in that scene.
Now, if you didn’t know already, make sure you wait for the post-credits scene when watching! It appears Zootopia 3 is not out of the question, and a hint was given as to where it is headed. With how well Zootopia 2 is performing at the box office, I guarantee we’ll get another sequel. I only hope it comes quicker than this one did.
