Zootopia 2 Review
Still a heap of fun, even if it can’t quite touch the heights of the original.
Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin) and Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman) are keen to keep solving crimes after the events of the first film catapulted them into the Police Department, but a string of failures has them forced into therapy and sidelined. But when Judy gets a lead on a reptile in Zootopia - reptiles not being seen for 100 years since a fabled murder - she can’t help but jump in with two feet alongside a reluctant Nick.
This follow-up to the original has many of the same things that you loved about the first film, in a familiar enough package to make it just as thrilling and engaging for young and older viewers alike.
The film has a plot that once again touches on racial and classist biases, and packages it all up in the cute, cuddly animalia of the world of Zootopia. Judy Hops and Nick Wilde are again thrust through a range of interactions with the various critters of this society, and some of the highlight moments come from them exploring new types of animal pals - in particular a swamp area where they meet walruses, seal lions and a range of reptiles.
It’s also a bright and rollicking adventure. There is plenty of colour on display here, and the design team goes to work with wonderful settings and set pieces across a gala in Tundra Land, a pipeline transport system, and a mountainous shack, among many others.
The heart of this movie remains the wonderful relationship between Judy and Nick, and both characters continue to be written and performed spectacularly. The relationship between the two never quite crosses into romance, but has those undertones and that expectation, and the fact that the filmmakers refrain from that easy low hanging fruit to keep us a little more in suspense should be applauded, because it brings a real frisson to their friendship.
There’s a little bit that feels too crowded, and perhaps a little too insular, in this film that mars its otherwise spectacular nature. We get introduced to quite a few interesting side characters - the mountain goats and the reptiles are particularly cool - but it feels like the story rushes by these as interesting story areas to hammer in on a story more closely aligned with the original. Perhaps that avoids a worse fate - a sequel that goes too far from what made the original great - but also it’s tough not to be enthralled by these other little threads.
Ultimately, Zootopia 2 is more of the same, but good more of the same. One the kids will love, and funny and enthralling enough for the adults to enjoy as well.
