Review of Zootopia (2016) by Brian B — 03 Apr 2017

Spoiler Warning: This Review Will Contain Spoilers.

When this movie was released, movie goers' jaws dropped over its long lasting 100% rating on RT. It has since lost it, but when it had it, I grew a great interest in checking it out. After reviews were starting to come out, I heard some people say that it was one of the best Disney animated films ever made. That's when my curiosity flew off the radar. I needed to watch it to see if it really was as good as some people were saying it was.

I think that it was a great movie. That's all I can really say for it.

After a bunny named Judy Hopps fulfills her dreams of becoming the first bunny police officer in a large city called Zootopia, she partners up with a fox named Nick Wilde to search for an Otter's missing husband. As they discover more info about what should be a normal case, their investigation quickly develops into something much, much more...

One thing that I really liked about this film was its comedy. A common complaint I have with animated films is that their jokes tend to be geared more towards younger kids. However, this film was actually very funny. This is probably the most I've laughed at an animated film in a long time. My parents and I were having a blast laughing at its jokes. My favorite scene from the film was the sloth scene. They did just about everything you could do with that scenes' set piece, and they made the most out of it. Also, I liked the scene where they made references to multiple Disney films by changing their titles slightly and putting in an animals name into it. If I get this on DVD, I'll make sure to pause it at that scene so I can read all of them. I also liked the gang scene with Mr. Big. The punchline wasn't exactly the most original one they could've used, but I still chuckled quite a bit at it. The only thing they could have done to improve it was by putting in a "The Godfather" reference.

I feel like this film went on for just the right length. It didn't seem too long, nor too short. At first, I thought that it was going to end too quickly and make the same mistake that "Big Hero 6" did. However, I was gladly proven wrong, and my concern was quickly nullified. The final half hour helped to make its pacing and length hit just the right note.

I feel like the most impressive aspect of the movie was its social commentary of today's racism involving Muslims. This was represented by how the animals discriminated against meat eaters. I can't think of a single animated film which has displayed social commentary before. I was pretty impressed with how they handled it. The symbolism was pretty creative. The reveal of meat eaters being targets resulting in a discrimination of meat eaters in the film can be a metaphor for how 9/11 led to the discrimination that Muslims face today. I really loved how it had the guts to hide such a horrifying day in it. Also, its racism was well hidden into the film. Racism is a pretty hard concept to symbolize without having it become obvious. However, they successfully did it without making it feel obvious. I thought about the film a lot to come up with my interpretation. I have to give the director a lot of credit for accomplishing that.

With all the praise I've given it, it seems like this is well deserving of a 10/10 rating. I can safely say that it could have easily been one, but a choice they made really bugged me a lot throughout the film. My complaint was that Judy's relationship with Nick was very predictable, and I was able to correctly predict what would happen concerning them. The very minute that Judy started working with Nick, someone who she was mad at near the beginning of the film, I was instantly able to predict that the movie was going to have them slowly become friends throughout the movie as they spend more time together. I was also able to predict that just as their friendship would about to become official and complete, Judy was going to do something that would get Nick mad at her, and their friendship would be temporarily destroyed, only for them to make up right before the final act. Unfortunately, my prediction was completely correct. As I continued to watch the film, my prediction kept on looking more and more valid, and I was taken out of the film a few times as a result of this. It's quite a shame too, because this film sure had the potential to be a masterpiece.

In conclusion, I thought that this was a pretty great movie. It definitely works very well in some aspects. In fact, it blew me away for doing some things differently or better than most animated films I've seen. It has quite a fair amount of originality to it. That could be a reason why some people love it so much. However, all I can say for it is that it was a great film. Nothing more. Nothing less. I would like Disney to use this film as a reference point though, and I think that they could make many better films in the future by taking a few pages out of this film. Is it one of the best Disney animated films ever made? No. However, is it a great film worth checking out? Yes.