The anthropomorphic sequel is more of the same, but that’s not a bad thing.
Apologies for being overly obvious, but we can cut right to the chase on this one: if you liked Zootopia you’ll like Zootopia 2.
Scrappy rookie cop Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin) and her odd-coupled sly fox pal Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman) return in the fast and funny sequel to the hit 2016 animated film (which I maintain is a stealth remake of the 1977 drug-culture horror film Blue Sunshine).
Nick is now also a member of the police force and officially Judy’s partner, cementing a working relationship that found the pair moving from natural enemies to best pals in the prior movie, even successfully cracking a major mystery that threatened all of Zootopia, the animal megacity with multiple ecosystem buroughs (burrows?) serving different sizes and classes of animals.
Some viewers might have noticed in the first movie that while Zootopia is a city of animals, that mostly has meant mammals. Zootopia 2 expands on that thread, exploring the city’s secret history and specifically the question, What happened to the reptiles?
Discovering a patch of scales at a crime scene, Judy suspects there is a snake or other reptile involved in their latest mystery. But before they can investigate further, Judy and Nick are busted down – reprimand for their recent fiasco of a chase which resulted in costly property damage.
Never one to back down, Judy doggedly follows through against the Captain (Idris Elba)’s orders, dragging along a reluctant Nick.
At a plot level the story digs into the historical mystery around Zootopia’s origins and the absence of reptiles, but it’s also about Judy’s obsessive drive for excellence and need to prove herself, juxtaposed with Nick’s more casual acceptance of life’s circumstances. When they can work together, their differences help temper each other, but at other times their philosophical divide threatens to fracture their friendship.
New characters Gary De’Snake (Ke Huy Quan), Nibbles Maplestick (Fortune Feimster), a beaver, Mayor Winddancer (Patrick Warburton), a horse, and Pawbert Lynxley (Andy Samberg), a lynx connected to a major crime family, round out the primary cast.
Like Zootopia, the movie’s a noirish mystery at heart, but filtered through a fun and zany family-friendly animation. There’s plenty of jokes, gags, and fun stuff, including the return of fan-favorite character Flash the Sloth (Raymond Persi) in a fun twist, and a ton of supporting cameos I missed, that I’ll be trying to catch later on the second watch.
A/V Out
