I’ll be honest, when I first heard that ‘Zootropolis’ (AKA: Zootopia) was going to be a thing, I didn’t think much at all. In fact, my cynicism got the better of me and I assumed it was going to be another formulaic, uninspired, cookie-cutter kids film that would be overblown purely because of the Disney branding. The trailers weren’t great and it just seemed kind of bland. You can imagine how surprised I was to hear that both audiences and critics alike were offering high praise. So I thought I take a chance and go see it.
I may be a twenty two year old adult man, but, hey, a good film is a good film. And what a good film this turned out to be!
The story revolves around Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin), a rural bunny hoping to become the first bunny police officer ever in the sprawling mega-city of Zootropolis. During her slow climb to the top, she encounters the sly con-artist fox, Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman), eventually teaming up to uncover a mystery involving missing animals turned into savage beasts.
Family orientated animation flicks often suffer from a lack of consistent gags, either relying too heavily on slapstick or having jokes that only appeal to the core demographic of young children. However, ‘Zootropolis’ keeps the jokes coming thick and fast in new and in some cases, unexpected (the ‘naturist’ scene, anyone?) ways. The film is constantly entertaining and each comedic set-piece just works; nothing drags or feels misplaced. In fact, you’d have a hard time trying to find this many genuine belly laughs in a typical comedy film. That’s when you know you’re definitely on to a winner.
Tonally, it works very well too. It manages to balance humour and drama so that no scene feels out of place. The covertly serious message involving the dangers of societal paranoia is pulled off in a way that isn’t forced and doesn’t patronise the audience, and it’s unexpectedly poignant. The story feels organic and the writing allows for both drama and fun to flourish in a fully realised world. At times, it almost feels like a story that takes place in an ultimate universe of sorts – somehow in a fantastical world, the story is believable and remarkably grounded. It’s odd but it certainly works.
Speaking of the world, the landscape that the animators have created is utterly gorgeous and supremely captivating. There is a moment near the beginning of the film that follows Judy’s train ride through the cities districts, with each specific one having their own tell-tale climate and inner working system. It’s a breath-taking sequence that had me wanting to get up from my seat and dive into the cinema projection just to explore the beautiful setting. The work and effort that went into the architecture for the entire city is impressive alone and it’s unfortunately something that gets overlooked in animation (and certainly in video games) far too often. It might not quite have the photorealistic look that Pixar does, but the small details are there in every scene and are always interesting to discover.
The voice work is slick and as the story progresses, the actors do a better and better job of making their characters come to life. Goodwin and Bateman in particular do fantastic work of breathing life into their characters. They feel lived in, as if they have tangible pasts and that is difficult to convey in a vocal performance. There are nice cameo roles sprinkled here and there, in particular Police Chief Bogo (Idris Elba) and Mayor Lionheart (J.K. Simmons), but the real praise goes to the great chemistry between the two protagonists. I wouldn’t mind watching these two interact with each other in any number of different stories. If there is a sequel to come and these two are involved, I’m sold.
The only issue I could point out from ‘Zootropolis’ is the lack of climatic build up toward the end. Although the story unravels into an interesting plot-twist, the film soon ends afterwards. It just feels as if it ends rather abruptly especially after the pace slows down at the beginning of the third act, only to ramp up again with little exciting payoff. However, this certainly isn’t enough to ruin the overall flow of the film.
Some of the coverage you find on Cultured Vultures contains affiliate links, which provide us with small commissions based on purchases made from visiting our site. We cover gaming news, movie reviews, wrestling and much more.
