Wednesday 21 September 2016

Review: Zootropolis/Zootopia (2016)

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Before I kick off this post, I have to address the elephant in the room. No, not you Francine, but Happy Birthday. What I mean is the fact that in the UK, this movie is called Zootropolis. Despite being a menace to type without thinking about it, it’s just a ridiculous name. It’s not that uncommon for movies to have different titles in the UK, but there’s normally a sensible reason behind it. For example, Neighbors is called Bad Neighbours here, I’m guessing because of a popular soap opera by the same name. A bit of internet research shows that Denmark are opening a zoo called Zootopia in 2019, but I’m not convinced that’s the reason.

Anyway! Zootropolis/Zootopia is the latest animated movie from Disney, and it’s one of the great ones. Following from The Good Dinosaur (which I still haven’t seen) meant that something half decent would have been applauded, but this time round Disney have done what they do best - pack in a current, serious issue in a way that children and adults alike understand and relate to. Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin) has dreamt of becoming a police officer, and against all odds, makes it as the first bunny in ZPD history.

Put straight onto Meter Maid duty, Judy is desperate to prove that she has what it takes to become a real cop, which leads her to follow a sly fox by the name of Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman) as he runs an ice lolly scam. Fate brings the two together as Judy blackmails Nick into helping her look for a missing animal, and so Nick helps in the most unhelpful way he can, leading her to the DMV, a government office ran by sloths. A stroke of genius, there!

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Obviously the movie is filled with laughs, but it’s Flash the sloth that wins the real comedy prize. It doesn’t matter how many times I watch that scene, it’s equal parts hilarious and painful every time. He speaks and types excruciatingly slow, and the act of him tearing off a receipt from it’s printer is making my hairs stand on edge just thinking about it. If you’ve ever had to visit an office like this, you’ll relate. It’s brilliant.

Essentially, the movie is a crime case that leaves you guessing as it goes along. For a children’s movie, it’s surprisingly in-depth and surprised me along the whole trail. There are some great references to look out for as well, for all ages. Chief Bogo (Idris Elba) pokes fun at Frozen, and there’s a glaringly obvious Breaking Bad (or should it be Breaking Baa’d?) reference in there, too. As always, the detail demands several rewatches, especially if you’re on the hunt for all those easter eggs.

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The final third of the movie really drills home the message, that I swear, just like last year’s Inside Out is more for the adults rather than the children. Kids these days don’t notice things like race, nor do they judge each other on their family’s religion, it’s the adults. All too often we’re told that our gender or our age means that we can’t do certain things, which is wrong. I felt so pumped at the end of this movie, like I really could do whatever I wanted to. Okay, that feeling ended as soon as I got to work the next day, but still.






Bonus/Bragging Rights: We got to meet the adorable Nick and Judy in Disneyland for our Honeymoon! Nick was ever the sly ol' fox, after this photo he linked his arm with mine and marched me off down the road! The cast members had to chase us down!

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8 comments:

  1. I loved Zootopia, it's my favorite animated film of the year. (And you're right, Zootropolis is a stupid name)

    Cute photo at the end!

    And skip The Good Dinosaur, it was pretty bad. The short in front of it, Sanjay's Super Team is amazing though.

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    1. I so wish I was still in Disneyland!
      Still hoping I can track down a copy of Sanjay's Super Team, I remember reading your post on it last year and it's slipped from my mind until now.
      - Allie

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  2. Nice review, Allie, really glad that you liked this one! I personally love it, myself. Though one thing I'll say, while I do agree that this movie's corest message does appear to be almost more aimed at adults than kids (at least, in that adults will probably be able to understand and appreciate it on a far greater level than kids), one aspect brought up early on in the movie is in how our upbringing largely plays a role in developing what sort of people we grow to become when we're older, and where those discriminant tendencies may originally manifest. So with that in mind, I do think that expressing such a powerful message in a movie largely aimed at younger audiences is definitely intentional, and that the message is there for them as well, to perhaps educate them and broaden their perspective, maybe even open a conversation for them to have with their parents after the fact as it regards some of the movie's deeper meanings and how they may relate to life in the real world. :)

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    1. Oh I absolutely agree with you! It's hard to know for sure without any little ones in my family right now to quiz but I feel the same way about Zootopia that I do with Inside Out, there are such important messages blended in for the younger ones, and yet, they have such a big impact on us grown ups to!
      - Allie

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  3. Awesome Allie, glad you love this too. I was surprised how good this was, definitely a level above just a silly animated flick. Fun photo too, I definitely would take a picture w/ Nick and Judy :D

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    1. Oh definitely! It's rare that I don't enjoy a Disney movie to be honest but the trailer didn't excite me at all when it was first released. So glad I listened to all the glowing reviews!
      - Allie

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  4. Ah what a sweet photo! I must say the UK title change thing is more intriguing to me than the actual movie :)

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    1. Ha! I spent a good hour reading into the whole thing. You're in the law business aren't you? Perhaps you can explain it all to me!
      - Allie

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