Zootopia (2016) Review

“Hey Flash, want to hear a joke?”

THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.

It can be easy to point out one's difference, but oddly a challenge to find similarities.


PLOT


2016's Zootopia takes place in a fictional world where animals have evolved to be anthropomorphic. Judy Hopps, who grew up in the rural Bunnyburrow has become the first bunny to be a police officer in the titular city. She does get assigned to parking duty and gets hustled by fox con artists Nick Wilde & Finnick (Tom Lister Jr.), but proves her worth when stopping Duke Weaselton (Alan Tudyk) from stealing a bag of crocus bulbs. She then volunteers to hear the pleas of Mrs. Otterton (Octavia Spencer) as her husband Emmitt has gone missing for some time. Her superior Chief Bogo considers reprimanding her for insubordination until assistant mayor Dawn Bellwether praised her work ethics, he gives her only 48 hours to find the missing otter or he'll officially take her badge. With the use of blackmail, Judy gets Nick to help him due to how he was the one who last seen Emmitt. Thanks to oasis host Yax (Tommy Chong), they get the license plate of what he drove. And after tracking the vehicle at a DMV visit, they track a limousine that picked him up and belonged to Arctic shrew crime boss Mr. Big (Maurice LaMarche). From his recollect, Emmitt savagely attacked his chauffeur Manchas (Jesse Corti) as he was on the way to discuss something important. Both animals confront the black jaguar who only shares the otter was talking about 'Night Howlers' before he attacked him. Whatever infection he got from him causes the other predator to attack Hopps & Wilde. The rabbit does try to trap him, but he escapes before ZPD backup arrives. Despite the dead end, Wilde defends her when Bogo threatens to take her badge before the deadline. When Dawn gives them access to all the cameras in the city, they discover Emmitt was abducted by timberwolves that Judy suspects to be the Night Howlers. She and Nick would follow said wolves to an asylum where not only Emmitt, but other predatory animals are confined for their savagery. They do see Mayor Lionheart (JK Simmons) present trying to figure out the source as he abducted them all, but Judy suspects him to be the perpetrator, resulting in his arrest. Judy would be praised for solving the case, but her friendship with Nick ends when she claims in a press conference that the epidemic comes from past physiology predators possess. Not only did her words offend him, but also caused inspiration to discriminate against all predators in Zootopia. The backlash makes her so guilty that she returns home to Bunnyburrow. At a vegetable stand, she makes amends with childhood bully Gideon Grey (co-writer Phil Johnston) but dsicovers the Night Howlers to be Midnicampum flowers that cause psychotropic effects if ingested. Knowing this has her deduce the flowers are what turns the predators to savagery. As she returns to Zootopia and makes amends with Nick, they get assist from Mr. Big again to track down Weaselton who reveals he was hired by a ram named Doug to take the bulbs. Judy & Nick do find Doug's lab to be hidden in a subway and although they take a serum gun from him during a lengthy chase, they get cornered by Bellwether who reveals to be the mastermind, as part of a prey-supremacist. She almost succeeds in defeating them by taking the serum gun from them and corrupts Nick, but that backfires when she discovers the serum was switched with blueberries. With Judy recording her confession, the sheep and her accomplices would be arrested. As Lionheart would deny knowing what she was doing, he claimed to have been trying to do the right thing. Once the predators get rehabilitated, Judy gets reinstated in the ZPD and the film ends with Nick becoming her official partner after graduating from the police academy.


THOUGHTS


With 2016 being the year I was turning 18, I was asking myself how exactly does an animated studio like Walt Disney still impact an audience that has grown up. The directing duo of Byron Moore & Rich Howard and the writing team led by Johnston & Jared Bush answered this personal question by showing me the magic hits different. I honestly choked up with the overall animation because I could not how beautiful the landscape of this fictional dystopia looks. Frame by frame and detail by another, you can believe this setting to work if possible. Apart from that, I think this is the most well written script we've gotten in a long time. Part of that goes to how well timed the humor is. Whether it was the sloths like Flash (Raymond S Persi) being slow at the DMV, the timberwolves forcing themselves to howl together, the oasis hosted by Yax being a nudist resort, young Judy making an overuse of fake blood in her opening play, Judy’s antelope neighbors being obnoxiously loud without regret or Mr. Big being a parody to The Godfather. And Doug’s partners being Woolter and Jesse are a dead on nod to Breaking Bad, which you can’t deny once you see the ram in the hazmat suit. You can pick your poison and you'd be laughing all day to it. The other part goes to its bold approach in discussing the ongoing problem today that is racism & sexism. Using predators & prey as an allegory to it was so smart because it teaches kids to not hate someone just because they're different, bringing it full circle that teamwork is part of what can make a better world than what we already got. ‘Try Everything’, performed by Shakira’s animal equivalent character Gazelle was even a great reminder to give chance to every possibility because failure is only part of the journey. And with a great voice ensemble, you're already onboard with what's being displayed. From the get go, we’re hooked with Judy’s arc because Ginnifer Goodwin is able to portray her as quite optimistic and passionate when it comes to making a difference. She has this motive because her parents grew up afraid of everything and she wanted to prove she can do more than what others would look at as average. She did not have to go out of her way to Emmitt, but she did so anyway because it was the right thing to help no matter the stakes. She didn’t expect such a setback that would effect everyone around her, which in turn taught her to be careful with her words, but it also had her learn she doesn’t need to be defined by her mistakes. With that, she got to set things right and maintain the friendships she made. Nate Torrance made Benjamin Clawhauser a relatable work friend due to his over-enthusiasm in general and Idris Elba made an ideal boss out of Bogo due to his authoritative presence he has to bring to the table. He’s gotta be as strict as possible due to being a realist but seeing Judy exceed expectations reminded him leaving things alone doesn’t solve the problem. The true friend Judy gained however was Nick because Jason Bateman proved to be smarter than expected and used it for the right reasons compared to other criminals. You definitely felt for him due to how he grew up being discriminated since his own youth and while that starts out being the reason he & Judy get on the same page, it also became what drifted them apart. Because Judy was quietly intimidated of foxes due to Gideon bullying her in her own childhood, it was easy for her to also be skeptical. And once she saw that way of thinking she was wrong, they were able to move on together. Their bond definitely taught her to not judge a book by the cover, but it didn’t apply to just him. Dawn Bellwether was a great choice to be a secret villain due to Jenny Slate pulling off the character’s deception as a disguise for her hidden anger of feeling oppressed. Because animals like Lionheart never saw her as an equal, she felt playing fire with fire would solve her problems. That is where she differs from Judy because she let all the negativity get to her. Had she opened up sooner about her feelings, she would never have made such an irrational decision. Since a sequel proves she’s not the only one to feel such, it won’t change the fact it will be dealt with as long as strong willed protagonists like Judy & Nick are still around. This movie was a blast to get through, but even great stuff like this have its handful of confusing moments. For instance, if predators don’t eat prey anymore, are all of them vegan/vegetarian? Since there are no birds and skunks can be rugs, I’m gonna scratching my head about this until the sequel answers this question. And how has the elephant ice cream shop been productive by zero customers before Judy noticing the employees not using their trunks. I mean if they’re looking away while waiting and no one is telling them to, that’s just ridiculous. Also, howcome Judy ain’t in the ZPD system yet? Meter maid or not, she’s still an officer and should’ve been in immediately after graduating from the academy. The same can be said with her not having a flashlight since she ended up using her cellphone to light the way. Other than that, this movie still rocks. In conclusion, Zootopia is up there as one of Disney’s best films of the 2010s for having one of the biggest hearts to express with its important message. If you’re a Disney fan and want to see more exciting stories, this one will do the trick.