Review of Zootopia (2016) by Maksim B — 02 Sep 2016

Zootopia is a sweet, hyper-energetic and fast-paced cartoon which wonderfully blends good humor for both kids and adults. It successfully tackles serious topics such as racism, sexism and inclusiveness while it still remains extremely compelling to the youngest audiences thanks to its old-school story-telling, simple family friendly messages and brilliant animation. A blend of a crime mystery and a buddy cop comedy, Zootopia offers much more meaningful content than multiple other non-animated Hollywood buddy-cop mysteries.

Juddy Hopps ( Ginnifer Goodwin) is a young rabbit who aspires to be a police officer. When she goes through all the difficulties in the police academy and finally graduates from it she faces the hars reality of being discriminated because of her sex and origin. She gets a chance to prove herself by solving a mystery that troubles the whole metropolis of Zootopia. Her determination leads her to a co-operation with the witty, opportunistic and fast-talking petty Nick (Jason Bateman) and together they embark on an adventure to crack a case much bigger than anyone could have thought.

Very often, cartoons such as Zootopia rely on the overly energetic story-development and the fast pacing in order to cover up for weaker plot. This time, however, the Disney's delivery is so intriguing that some might even find the pacing too hectic and the story even breath-taking. This is probably the biggest asset of Zootopia. Behind the overall cartoon and walking/talking-animals attractiveness, there is a very solid neo-noir mystery which could have been turned in to a real movie.

As a whole, Zootopia is not as inventive as Inside Out or as heart-warming as Frozen (if we compare it to recent Disney/Pixar's classics), but its old-school approach, compelling story and surprisingly smooth voice performance of Nick the fox (Jason Bateman) make Zootopia the current favorite for a Best Animated Movie at this year's Oscars.