by TheLionPrince » March 13th, 2016, 7:30 pm
I saw Zootopia last Friday, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
First things first, the art direction and production design from David Goetz and his visual artists was splendid to watch, and there hasn't been a scale of this world-building since Wreck-It Ralph. Computer animation continues to outdo itself with the layer of fur on Nick Wilde and Judy Hopps that feels realistic when wet, dry, or blowing in the breeze.
Admittedly, the story felt more like it came from Pixar than Disney animation. It has the common elements of a buddy comedy (which Disney is no stranger to with The Emperor's New Groove and even their last three princess films had the female protagonist paired with a male love interest as they go on an adventure) and a crime mystery with noirist themes. There were a lot of pop culture references to The Godfather and Breaking Bad that made it even more enjoyable. However, I felt the movie was really preachy about its message (and it was a good one), but it was so blatantly and forcefully told to us in the first twenty minutes rather than have it told with subtlety. It also uses well-known characteristics of animals to represent human stereotypes and not to make false assumptions of others based on it. Like in Aladdin, "things are not always what they seem". With that said, I knew there was going to be a twist villain to enforce the idea and I correctly guess it before the reveal, which took me out of the movie for awhile. This is the fourth Disney animated film in a row to have a twist villain, and if they keep this up, it will grow creatively stale that it makes me long for the days when the villains were obvious from the beginning.
Concerning the message, it's almost self-contradictory for the movie to discourage prejudice, but still explain in context that in the past, the predators killed other animals for food because of their biology, and still carry the instinct to kill despite the advancements made to live in harmony with prey animals. In other words, the predators are peaceful creatures, but have a heritage of savagery and violence which is allegorical of certain groups of people have descended from savages.
Returning back to the good stuff, the voice cast was spectacular. Gennifer Goodwin has a delightful, upbeat voice for Judy that reminded me of Anna from Frozen. Jason Bateman had a sly, sarcastic, and even cynical voice for Nick Wilde. Together, they had a well-written chemistry. Idris Elba and J.K. Simmons had a booming baritone in their voice for Chief Bogo and Mayor Lionheart. Clawhauser sounded like Josh Gad and even Jonah Hill, although he was voiced by Nate Torrence. Bellwether sounded like Jennifer Tilly, although she was voiced by Jenny Slate. Maurice LaMarche nearly stole the show as Mr. Big. I don't remember a lot of Michael Giacchino's score, but Shakira's song "Try Everything" was very uplifting and will likely be a contender for the Academy Award for Best Original Song.
8/10