Zootopia 2

This weekend, Zootopia 2, the newest Disney animated movie, releases in theaters. Zootopia 2 continues the story of partners Nick Wilde and Judy Hopps as they take on a new case involving a mysterious snake. The first Zootopia movie is one of my favorite Disney movies, so I was pretty interested in the second film.

I am happy to say that I found Zootopia 2 to be just as good as the original film. This movie felt a lot like a classic buddy cop action movie, but for kids. Since the characters are already established, we can jump right into the action with a new case. The movie is full of investigations, car chases, and twists that fans of the cop genre will love. While the movie is primarily for kids, I think it is very engaging for adults too. Aside from pulling from a popular adult genre, the movie also throws in a lot of adult references that audiences will laugh at. Similar to Mr. Big being a play on The Godfather from the first film, this movie has a lot more references like that. The movie is also full of zoo puns, which I just thought were hilarious, though they did miss the most obvious pun of naming the movie ZooTWOpia. I also liked how the movie adds to this animal world by adding a marshland and a world for reptiles. The movie also brings themes of the importance of communication and understanding each other, instead of going all in on a rehash of prejudice like in the first film. I had a lot of fun with this movie and feel it can be entertaining for both kids and adults.

I only had one small issue with this film. While it introduced fresh ideas about communication, at times it reverted to themes of prejudice between animal groups, which felt repetitive, since that was the main focus of the first film.

Overall, this is a great animated film for the whole family. It entertains kids while also feeling like a classic buddy cop action film.

Score: 8.5/10 Grade: A- Recommendation: This is a must-see film for the whole family.