Zootopia (2016) – Review

It’s always exciting when a studio releases a new movie which isn’t a sequel. Releasing such a movie can be a risk (Gods of Egypt is a good example), because making films is not cheap, especially when they are completely computer generated. Disney has been on a roll lately with Wreck-it-Ralph, Frozen and Big Hero 6 (and of course the Pixar movies), so it was exciting to see what they would bring with Zootopia.

The plot of the movie revolves about a little bunny named Judy Hopps, who wants to move away from living in the country in a family of farmers. She wants to become the first rabbit police officer. In the world of Zootopia animals have evolved, no longer following their primal instincts. They now live together in cities and Hopps wants to move there to uphold the law. She manages to make her dream a reality, but once there police chief Bogo (Idris Elba) assign her as a meter maid. As this isn’t exactly what she wants to do she decides to start investigating suspicious behaviour and meets Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman), a fox who has been a conman for years. The two end up together and end up investigating the disappearance of an otter, a case which turns out to be bigger than they expected.

 At its heart Zootopia is a buddy cop/detective story which has been realised exquisitely. Its world is very imaginative with its city consisting out of various parts. There is an ice district, a jungle district and a desert district and these all come into play. It’s a place you want to spend more time at because it is so alive and interesting that I already wouldn’t mind a sequel. The story itself is gripping, but also filled with comedy. The references to other movies are plentiful (real movie buffs will recognise quite a few) and it really is a fun watch. But it is also a movie about race and terrorism, which might sound out of place in a movie like this and there are moments when it’s a bit too much on the nose, but it tries to show that treating others differently might result in a situation where fear rules and society gets worse because of it. Zootopia is another solid movie from Disney that is sure to entertain both old and young.