Alright! Today I'm reviewing Zootopia 2, which picks up directly where the first Zootopia left off in 2016: Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde, the ZPD's first rabbit-fox team, find themselves in dire circumstances, and their partnership's functionality is questioned while investigating the appearance of a snake and the true origin of Zootopia.
In general, you will like Zootopia 2. It's competently made, beautifully animated, has solid emotional moments that aren't undercut by humour, and the leads are likable. It truly feels like a continuation of the first one, a great "the next adventure begins," or maybe an episode of DuckTales. It's also surprisingly dedicated to the caper aspect of the detective story, perhaps even more so than the first one. Judy is gathering evidence, connecting dots, making a board with red twine connecting pictures; it's all very cool to see the pieces come together.
However, with that, there's also something to be said for repetition. If you saw the first Zootopia, you might recognize a few similar plot points: Judy Hopps feels the need to prove herself to the world, Nick Wilde is completely apathetic, they visit an underground establishment to meet an informant, there's a twist villain, there's an emotional beat recording by a carrot - it's definitely playing on the same tropes as the first one. It doesn't feel derivative, though, but more like Phineas and Ferb - There's a set order to things, and now the job of Zootopia 2 is to mix those around and subvert them for humorous effect. It's the name of the game for kids' detective stuff, so I can't knock it.
I also really liked that the movie took the Judy/Nick pairing very seriously. The first movie ends on a happy note, with Nick joining the ZPD and becoming Judy's partner. Zootopia 2 doesn't throw that away, but it does recognize that these two are completely different and that their partnership honestly doesn't make sense in hindsight. Judy is a hard-working, overeager crowd pleaser, whilst Nick is a laid-back con man who wants to dance through life. It makes sense that they're dysfunctional, and Zootopia 2 does a great job of exploiting that for effective drama and for endless relationship jokes.
I also really liked the expansion of the Zootopia world - the underground marsh market where all the manatees, dolphins, sea lions, and reptiles hang out is honestly quite funny, and it made me notice just how many animals are missing from the actual Zootopia city (Which also includes birds and monkeys!!). All of the expansions of the Zootopia lore reminded me of Inside Out 2, which tossed in new characters and elements without detracting from what worked in the first one. I liked everything to do with the snakes, and I especially enjoyed Ke Huy Quan's performanccccceeee. The sympathetic soft-spoken underdog? Who better for the job!
The rest of the movie is mostly by the numbers and somewhat boring, all things considered; it's overlong at 108 minutes, surprisingly unfunny despite the plethora of animal puns ("Zebros" earned a genuine guffaw, however), and there are no emotional moments to be pondered, just blatant dialogue that tells us exactly what the characters are feeling, thinking, and doing at any given moment. Zootopia 2 also heavily builds up a future Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde romance, and since a Zootopia 3 seems inevitable, we should probably start bracing ourselves for the most awkward kiss since Rey and Kylo. They probably should have introduced some cross-species relationships beforehand, though, just to break the audience in on how that would look and function.
I also wasn't a big fan of the beaver, a podcaster who's on the money conspiracies lead Judy from setpiece to setpiece with zero problems. I think "fringe podcaster" is my least favorite trope the 2010s invented to push the plot along, with Ghostbusters: Afterlife, Godzilla x Kong, and now Zootopia 2 all taking grave offenses at trying to legitimize crazy fringe internet people. It never sends the right message and is always just a tool for lazy exposition.
There's also, once again, a twist villain. Whether or not they're better than assistant mayor Bellwether is up for debate; I will say, however, that as soon as he showed up on the screen, my brother and I turned to each other and said, "It's him." It's the rule of Scooby-Doo; the first person the gang interacts with is probably the villain. You can smell the twist coming from a mile away.
Zootopia 2 is thoroughly entertaining and sure to give everyone a good time. The heart, themes, and animation of the story are all great, even if the detective aspects and joke:runtime ratio leave much to be desired. It’s something that everyone involved can feel proud about having on their resumé; however, it’s not as groundbreaking or as memorable as the first, and I doubt many remember it a week after watching.
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