ZOOTOPIA | Movie Review

NOTE: This was originally posted in March 2016, but has been heavily edited.

I'd like to give a special shoutout to a company that I've had a strong affinity for a long time. Walt Disney Animation Studios, you've been my favorite animation company for probably the past seven years, rooting all of the way back to late 2009. Your animated films, specifically your animated movies about animals, have awarded me so much joy and so much inspiration to become confident in my own artwork. You've been an outstanding studio ever since your beginnings in the 1920's, and you have consistently throughout the years found new and innovative ways to improve upon the animation world, even after a few eras that seemed dark and macabre. Recently, you've found a new era of relevance, which was predated by films such as "Bolt", "The Princess And The Frog", and even "Tangled". Ever since then, this new generation of today, even though it is certainly fast-paced and accepting towards the lesser quality, has gravitated towards films that have become favorites in your filmography, even though some of your films of this revival have not been met with nearly as good reception from me as much as the collective community. But, with the release of your latest film, "Zootopia", you really desire to take everything to the next level. 

This is a film I've been watching the production of for about 2 1/2 years, ever since it was first announced at that year's D23 event, and have since awaited its arrival. And throughout all of the trailers that were dropped on the Internet, throughout all of the hints at what this film was becoming, anticipation has been rapidly spreading like a wildfire. It's something where a lot of people were not quite sure about this movie in the first place. We've seen the idea of talking anthropomorphic animals before, and we've also seen talking animals before in many pieces of media. But, it's something where ambition, evolution, and development must be taken in and breathed out amongst the public. And I feel like "Zootopia" has done just that, even in the weeks and months leading up to its release and its unveiling. 

Of course "Zootopia" was a movie I was looking forward to highly. After all of the years of wondering if the talking animal idea was ever going to come out of dormancy, "Zootopia" was obviously the one movie I gravitated towards, especially because of what it was, but also because it was very interesting to me if Disney could construct a movie in this modern world of CGI with talking animals even though there still is a thirst for the medium that got them into the gates of reverance. Apparently, the critics have this opinion of the film, and it's been universally praised much like a Pixar movie has. With a near 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, and people seeing this movie saying it was the best film they've seen in a long time, "Zootopia" is truthfully becoming a movie that will be discussed in great length for generations to come and rewatched constantly. And count me as one of those individuals.

But, before I actually go crazy about this movie and speak of my opinion, let's talk about the concept of this movie. We have a bunny cop named Judy Hopps (who is played by Ginnifer Goodwin), who dreams of becoming the first rabbit cop in a police force of mainly tough animals. And through some hard training, she graduates at the top of her class. But, when she arrives on the force, she is assigned to be a meter maid, which is basically an individual who gives out tickets to cars that are breaking the law. However, she meets Nick Wilde (voiced by Jason Bateman), and gets him to help her solve a case of a missing otter, but only has 48 hours to do so. And yet this is a great opportunity for them to reveal that even prey and predator can have a relationship, though it's not one where it's all puppy love and romantic dinners at a fancy buffet. It's more of a friendship type relationship than an actual romantic one. 

First off, if there is one thing that will be praised early on in the review, "Zootopia" is probably the most original animated film I've seen in years. This concept of animals being stereotyped much like in our modern world where racism is a big issue, mixed with the movie's expansive universe, makes this easily not only one of the most original out of any animated film past to present, but also in film in general. There are some very creative movies out there that have surfaced in the past. Honestly, and this comparison might shock a lot of people, I honestly think "Zootopia" has the same level of creativity as a film like "Inception". Two very different films with two different premises aimed at two different demographics, but both are exceptionally original and flawlessly creative, and that's even though "Zootopia" certainly has details that we've seen before. Not to mention, its views on serious issues such as racism as well as the degradation of our police system are spot on. 

Really, if there are any films that "Zootopia" borrowed elements from, it has borrowed the elements of "Robin Hood", "Who Framed Roger Rabbit", "The Jungle Book", "Die Hard", "Chinatown", "48 Hrs", "The Godfather", and many other movies out there, put them in a special batter, mixed them in very carefully and calculatedly and without going too hard or too slow, made sure that nothing went bad in the process, and the end result is perfection. The references to other movies in this film are everywhere. They even resort to making inside jokes at films in their own filmography. There are references to "Frozen" in a couple of scenes, and at the end, there is an interesting and comedic scene where a character is selling a bunch of pirated DVDs, and they're all parodies of films from the Disney revival, including their two upcoming features "Moana" and "Gigantic". I have not seen that before in any movie, but it's worked in so well that it makes it impossible not to love. 

And there's another aspect I love about this film. The humor. The sense of humor that this film has is absolutely genius, and honestly it may be one of the funniest movies ever. Of course, everyone knows about that sloth at the DMV (which was the scene that got the biggest laugh at my screening), but there's also other things about the movie. A character named Finnick that hangs out with Nick is a character you would think is a young little fellow, but he's actually his counterpart played by Tom Lister Jr. That has some good laughs attached to it, including a scene where he drives off while blaring rap music, which also got the audience good. And this is a movie where there are so many things that happen that I can describe are comedic scenes that work. No comedic scene in this movie is ruined or only existant to get people to roll their eyes. It's all well incorporated into the film. 

The characters are another thing that makes this movie work. Not one character in this film is just simply "good". The entire cast of the movie is enjoyable and likable. Right down to even Judy Hopp's drill instructor polar bear being a well-rounded character. In fact the whole scene where Judy Hopps is training in the academy is well incorporated in the film, and it's not one where they focus on it for too long, like many movies with training sequences like in this movie. And it's also a good piece of exposition in the film. But, back to the characters of the film. We need to talk about the two main characters of this film right now before anything else. Honestly, after this movie, Ginnifer Goodwin is going to become a huge name in this industry. I have the complete and utter confidence that it will happen. Not just because Judy Hopps is a cute little bunny character that I am in love with. Not just because she is well-animated and has a good character design. It's because her character arc is so well written into this story, and her personality is so believable, that it without a doubt makes her the best character I've seen in years. At least a total of 15 years. 

Nick Wilde, her partner, is also utterly fantastic. Jason Bateman has always been an actor that I've loved, but this could be the best performance I've seen him give. This is his first voice-over role, and if this is an avenue he is checking out, I certainly hope he finds more roles in it, even if it's from a company that doesn't have the same talent as Disney. I think Nick Wilde will also become a character that becomes one of my most beloved and favorite of all time. But, the real meat of the two does come from the character of Judy Hopps, and it is honestly my favorite thing about the movie. We also have actors in this film such as Nate Torrence, Idris Elba, Jenny Slate, Octavia Spencer, JK Simmons, and a plethora of other names, who take part in this project, and their voices only help make this movie better. This is a movie where every actor sounds very natural working together behind the recording booth, and that's something that is rare to find. Heck, Kath Soucie even shows up at one point as the voice of Young Nick in a flashback scene, and I loved that! 

Let's talk about this movie's impact. Honestly, this movie had me in tears a multitude of times. And for the unaware, I'm so not a guy who cries at movies. I will not even shed a tear at scenes from other movies that I've watched, not even "The Lion King". I've had a case of the lumpy throat when watching a movie before, but it's never escalated into crocodile tears. Because this story is put together so well, and the scenes that require you to feel work so fantastically, that it's hard not to feel for these characters. There are several scenes in the film that have raw emotional impact, with the biggest gut punches including the scene in the film where Judy is crying to Nick Wilde about being a "dumb bunny", the flashback scene where Young Nick gets bullied by his scout ranger group, and the ending where Nick Wilde becomes a cop. If a movie makes you cry, and it's genuinely trying to make you feel something, THAT is more of an accomplishment than sucking you into its world. Which this film already did a good job at. 

I think the only flaws I can find about this movie are only personal issues. Which I've tried to separate from the actual good things about the movie. So, honestly, this film is perfect. I cannot find a single flaw in the story, in the characters, in the writing, and just about anywhere else. "Zootopia" will go down in history as an animated film that not only had a massive opening weekend which will lead into an unexpected high final gross, and not only a film that children and adults can watch together and love, and it definitely will not only be a movie that addresses the furries, but it will be the one film of Disney's filmography that people will constantly cite as an innovative and original work. I have a feeling that "Zootopia" will inspire many other animators and studios to follow in its footsteps to create interesting movies. And not only that, but it will be a film that will be brought up in 2016 and in the long years of relevance it is about to have, as a film that is not scared to cross its uncharted islands, and a film that speaks so boldly about its social issues that it may even inspire problems to change in our own world come a few years in time. Not a lot of films in recent memory have that power and desire, but "Zootopia" is a film that will move many, will certainly please many, and will be very eloquently remembered as a masterpiece. 

RATING: 10/10