“Zootopia” Review

March 27, 2016

*WARNING: SPOILERS ARE INCLUDED IN THE PLOT SUMMARY BELOW*

Opening with a school presentation of how society used to be divided into predator and prey, but now, everyone lives in harmony, in a sort of utopia world (hence the title, Zootopia). Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin), a young bunny, has a desire to become the first bunny cop at the major city, Zootopia, where “anyone can be anything.” After being ridiculed by her schoolmates and parents, Judy pushes on to pursue her dreams. Several years later, the audience sees Judy graduating from the police academy at the top of her class, and while listening to the uplifting song titled “Try Everything” by pop-star Gazelle (Shakira), Judy travels to the city, experiencing all four different climate zones in just the train window.

After settling into her tiny apartment with loud neighbors, Hopps is ready to begin her first day on the job, and is assigned to write parking tickets. She goes out and writes 200 tickets, and meets a fox with his young son, who is being refused service by an elephant working at an ice-cream shop. With a quick analysis, Officer Hopps points out several health violations, persuading the elephant to make the ice cream. The fox then says he forgot his wallet, and Judy kindly pays and tips the worker.

Officer Hopps then finds out that the fox is a con artist, and his baby son is actually a grown Fennec fox. Judy tries to stop the fox, but everything is apparently legal, and morals alone do not persuade the fox or his partner. Later, Judy sees a weasel stealing from a store, and she abandons her shift to go and arrest him. After a long chase, Judy catches Duke Weaselton and arrests him. Her boss, Chief Bogo (Idris Elba), is furious at Judy for disobeying commands, and on the brink of unemployment, Mrs. Otterton (Octavia Spencer), an otter, comes into the police station asking about her husband, who went missing. Chief Bogo dismisses the lady, but Judy jumps up and claims she will solve the case and return Mr. Otterton to his wife. Chief Bogo, still upset, tells Judy she only has 48 hours to find Mr. Otterton, and will have to resign if she fails.

Judy goes home, and after a small pity party, regains her stamina and returns the next day to Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman), the fox, asking how his business works, and everything he owns. With an estimation of how much he owes in taxes that he never filed, Judy claims she will gladly arrest him, and has the evidence in her carrot pen- a secret recording device. Pushed to follow her demands, Nick answers Judy’s questions of the whereabouts of Mr. Otterton. They find some evidence together, including the last limousine he was seen in, which is filled with scratch marks. After an encounter with Mr. Big, a tiny Arctic Shrew, the two are on their way to finding out what happened to Mr. Otterton.

After a large amount of investigating and bonding, Nick and Judy finally find Mr. Otterton, along with several other missing animals. While hiding, the two hear the mayor of Zootopia talking with a nurse, saying the animals must be kept secret, for the good of the public. They then spread the news, and the mayor is out of office, while his assistant, Bellwether (Jenny Slate), is promoted to the position. The whole city in chaos when the news is released that the predators that were missing had turned savage. Nick and Judy go out to find why the animals are returning to their “natural state.”

Everything seems to be going quite well, until the evidence Nick and Judy find tries to be taken by Bellwether, and they soon realize she is the true mastermind behind the crimes. After pretending to attack Judy, Nick is able to record Bellwether’s confession on the carrot pen, and the hunt is over. Nick decides to join the police force, and becomes the first ever fox cop, and Judy’s partner.

Overall, this Disney film was outrageously entertaining and heart-warming. Some parts, specifically the very beginning and the scene with the black jaguar, where he goes savage in front of Judy and Nick, could either scare small children or make them unhappy (one of the first scenes is a young fox bullying Judy and her friend at the school carnival). Although those parts can be slightly frightening, most children really should be fine.

Throughout the movie, there were several scenes where the entire audience was laughing, and my favorite was at the very end. The newly assigned partners Officer Hopps and Wilde get news of a speed racer, driving through the streets of town. When the speeder is caught, Officer Wilde finds it his good buddy, Flash (Raymond S. Persi), a sloth, who was seen earlier in the film at the DMV. For someone who moves quite slowly, Flash can surely drive.

I would certainly recommend this movie to anyone, no matter what age, because it is entertaining for both the young and the old. Even though movie prices can seem a little outrageous, with the student discount and dollar store candy, this movie is worth seeing on the big screen.

Rating: A+

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