I was a big fan of the original “Zootopia” when it came out back in 2016 from Disney Animation. It was directed by Rich Moore and Bryon Howard. This sequel is not directed by both of them. This time around, Jared Bush steps in to work with Howard. And writes the script for the sequel. With “Zootopia” being an animal metropolis, it was nice to see the communities that the writers and directors set up in the first film. This time around, they explore some new seedier sides of “Zootopia”. There are also some new characters that join Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman) and Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin) in their adventure. One thing’s for sure wherever these two intrepid police investigators go, trouble is not far behind. 

Nick Wilde and Judy Hopps have been paired up at the ZPD after saving “Zootopia” in the first film from Mayor Bellwether (Jenny Slate). They are heroes but still have to do their jobs. That leaves them to investigate an illegal customs officer who is dealing in creatures that are banned from “Zootopia”. They were told to stand down by the police Chief Bogo (Idris Elba), but they tend to do things their own way. The investigation led them on a city wide chase, damaging many landmarks and disrupting a city wide celebration. The rest of the police force wasn’t happy with them, neither was the new mayor Winddancer (Patrick Warburton) or their boss. He put them on a leave of absence and assigned them to partners’ therapy. He also forbade them to do any police work of any kind. The two friends and partners don’t listen to authority, so they end up investigating a few of the clues they found at the last crime scene, which led them on a whole new adventure.

I’m a big proponent of pairings, whether it be boyfriend, girlfriend, husband and wife, co-workers, or just friends. I think these kinds of pairings in films work very well. I love the two main characters in “Zootopia” because they were different from each other but eventually saw they had more in common than they originally thought because one was a rabbit and the other was a fox. Creatures, in the case of these movies, can co-exist despite their differences. That’s the main theme of this new sequel. Just because people or creatures are different doesn’t mean they can’t be friends, married, co-workers or even authority figures.The two leads Bateman and Goodwin do a great job working together in this second film showing that sometimes our differences can be strengths if you use them the right way. No matter what race, creed, or religion you may be. Or where you come from, for that matter.

One of my favorite things about the last “Zootopia” was the world  the filmmakers created. I was totally enthralled by this city that was made up of so many creatures and various habits. They also infused modern-day real technology into the world as well. This new film gives viewers more to explore. The new various Ares and hidden parts of the city were pretty interesting to me. It just shows that even in an animal “Zootopia” there are seedier sides. A darker underbelly was also exposed to a water area as well. With each subsequent new film in a series, you have to give audiences something new to chew on. I liked the places this sequel went to and the kinds of creatures that were brought to light because of that.

I mentioned the two main characters already, so now it’s time to shed some light on a few of the newer characters in the picture. This time around there is a rich holier than though family of Lynx’s led by the matriarch of the family Milton Lynxley (David Strathairn) Kitty Lynxley (Brenda Song) Cattack Lynxley (McCauley Calkin) and Pawbert Lynxley (Andy Sanberg). These cats have a shady side to them I won’t reveal here, but let’s put it simply. Their claws come very fiercely. Also, there is a snake Gary (Ke-We Kwan) and a beaver nibbles (Fortune Feimster) who help officers Hopps and Wilde in their investigation to uncover the truth behind the conspiracy of “Zootopia”. The voices cast in these movies are fantastic. It’s always cool to see different characters pop up on screen and try to guess who’s playing them. Of course, without looking them up on Google or IMDB. I also liked seeing the old characters appear again in cameos or even easter eggs from other Disney movies. Those were pretty cool to see.

One of the things I’ve been noticing more and more in films, whether they be animated or otherwise, is that writers are putting more political messages in their scripts and screenplays. That’s no different here with a message about gentrification and displacement of communities. Going back to the 70s and 80s, this was a big thing in cities. Curtain underrepresented communities were being displaced because of the color of their skin or race, sex or other undesirable characteristics. This film tackles this subject very well. The screenplay uses snakes and other cold-blooded animals as its example, but we all know what the story is getting at. I was glad to see a writer/ director tackle such a good topic as this, along with the friendship angle. I don’t think kids will see this aspect of the story, but hopefully, their parents will and explain it to them in years to come. I’m proud of Disney for stepping up with great storytelling in their films going on years now.

Another thing with Disney Animated movies and other studios is that they put songs sung by their characters in the film. Singing songs add another element to the storytelling and the viewers’ enjoyment of said film. Once again, a “Zootopia” film uses the character of Gazelle (Shakira) to sing and perform the movie’s main song, and that’s “Zoo” referring to the world that is a zoo. She does a great job once again with this song. It plays twice in the picture, once in the middle and once in the credits. I was moving back and forth in my seat listening to this song. It was very infectious to move along with during the movie. Hopefully, it’ll get nominated for the best song come next year’s Academy Awards for Best Original Song for Shakira and others.

“Zootopia” 2 was a good follow-up to the original film. It gave me a lot of what I got from the first movie and mixed in some new stuff as well. The expanding of the world, new characters, and the important themes all came together quite nicely. The animation is always on par with the best in the industry, and Shakira’s new song was very enjoyable. The two leads, Bateman and Goodwin, were once again fantastic. I loved following along with them on their latest adventure. They make a great voice-over duo. The main message wasn’t too heavy-handed at all, either. Some people might say that, but it’s how Disney has been doing things lately. Regarding their storytelling. Adults and kids alike need to have a reason for enjoying these films. I quite liked this follow-up to the original one. If it does good, hopefully, there will be a third down the road.

4 stars

Dan Skip Allen