Movie Review: ‘Zootopia 2’ is a cuddlier, tamer sequel

The original Zootopia was a minor miracle Here was a Disney animated film that took themes of race and prejudice and managed to make a sensitive-to-all-sides tale anthropomorphize it and as a bonus sneak in a Department of Motor Vehicles sloth gag that the DMV is still wincing from A sequel coming almost a decade later Zootopia isn t as good It s a more timid and tame movie that leans largely on the still winning duo of Judy Hopps Ginnifer Goodwin and the small-time hustler fox Nick Wilde Jason Bateman Both are now out-to-prove-themselves rookies on the police force nicknamed the fuzz Nobody would call the original Zootopia an especially biting satire But still the sequel is a little toothless not just Nick s move from con man to cop but throughout the metropolis Nick s baby-posing partner in crime the fennec fox Finnick Tommy Lister Jr who died in is only briefly seen Missing entirely is anyone like Tommy Chong s nudist stoner yak A hint of gentrification you might say has swept over Zootopia So Zootopia directed by Jared Bush and Byron Howard both veterans from the first film is like a multitude of long-in-coming sequels a slightly watered down version of what came before But the central relationship of Judy and Nick a team-up with specific echoes of Hours remains a compelling one and the primary reason that Zootopia will be plenty satisfying to families seeking more cartoony lions and tigers and bears oh my this November It looks great it s mildly funny and animal cities are fun That s particularly because of Bateman s fox For an actor with a long list of credits it might sound odd to say but Nick Wilde is Bateman s best movie role A sly sarcastic but secretly sweet canine in a loose tie is so squarely in Bateman s wheelhouse No one can better draw out a line about making a rug from the fur off a skunk s butt and I mean that as a high compliment Out to prove themselves as detectives Judy and Nick cause widespread damage through the city chasing a criminal leading Idris Elba s surly cape buffalo Police Chief Bogo to order them into a therapy session for dysfunctional partners Other members include an elephant and mouse duo Acknowledging and talking through differences is the running theme which dovetails with a plot that goes to the roots of Zootopia Snakes we learn aren t allowed in the city As Zootopia prepares for its centennial celebration Judy uncovers particular clues that suggest a snake infiltration But when one turns up a cloying Ke Huy Quan as Gary De Snake Judy and Nick realize that snakes aren t so bad They follow a deepening conspiracy to keep out snakes that goes back to the founding of Zootopia Chinatown -like A family of Lynxes the Lynxleys has invariably taken ownership for the weather walls that divide the city into variously accommodating climates But even one of their own Pawbert Lynxley Andy Samberg individuals foul play which I m sorry to assessment doesn t include a single fowl But there are to be sure plenty of puns Gnu Jersey Burning Mammal to be revealed as well as a Shining reference and a quick nod to Ratatouille a sequel to which is also reportedly in progress In Zootopia this stuff is like shooting fish in a barrel Back is Shakira as a pop-star gazelle named Gazelle New characters include a beaver podcaster named Nibbles Maplestick Fortune Feimster and a long-maned stallion mayor Patrick Warburton Judy and Nick s adventures take them to a New Orleans-like reptile-friendly enclave and a snowy Tundatown For a movie that was in so countless techniques about a country mouse bunny coming to the big city and finding endless varieties of wildlife both upright and shady the Zootopia sequel spends too much of its time away from its mammalian metropolis Even Nick Wilde no longer scheming more in touch with his feelings doesn t feel quite so wild now The fun caper spirit of the first movie is alive enough to carry Bush and Howard s film but you can t help feel like sequel-ization also means domestication Zootopia a Walt Disney Co release is rated PG by the Motion Picture Association for action violence and rude humor Running time minutes Two and a half stars out of four Source