Though not nearly as narratively complex as its 2016 predecessor—and filled with far too many cheap and easy references to other movies—Zootopia 2 nevertheless manages to provide passable entertainment. If this seems like damnation via faint phrase, it is, but the truth is that there’s nothing wrong with the movie beyond a general corporate-Disney failure of imagination. With an inoffensive message about coming together despite our differences, plus enjoyable performances, the film is watchable, if hardly novel.
All the returning roles are voiced by the same actors, with Ginnifer Goodwin and Jason Bateman as Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde, the bunny cop and fox petty criminal who now work as partners following Nick’s enlistment at the end of Zootopia. In case you don’t remember what happened last time, have no fear, for this movie opens with a recap of the original’s finale (unfortunately, that doesn’t help set us at ease that anything innovative in the storytelling is about to take place). We then jump straight into a wild chase sequence where Hopps and Wilde nearly destroy Zootopia to catch a suspect. Predictable consequences follow.
While the partners are forced into group therapy to deal with their ostensible differences (a script conceit that feels forced rather than organic), that opening bad guy—a slithery fellow named Gary De’Snake (Ke Huy Quan, Everything Everywhere All at Once)—remains on the loose, the usual bureaucratic forces, such as Police Chief Bogo (Idris Elba, back for more), preventing our protagonists from solving the crime. Except that here, the villain is not as obvious as all that. Snakes may be banned from Zootopia (for reasons we soon learn), but they may not be the Machiavellian malefactors that everyone thinks they are.
If you missed it, we are in a universe populated by anthropomorphized animals. In Part 1, the plot revolved around the question of whether or not DNA was stronger than civilization. In Part 2, the plot revolves around the question of whether or not DNA is stronger than civilization. OK, that’s not entirely fair. There are differences. But the central thrust of the screenplay still examines the nature of an individual species’ instincts.
This being a Disney movie, the argument lands squarely on the side of nurture (and choice) over nature, though perhaps lynxes remain the deadly predators we always knew them to be. Along the way to expected cinematic outcomes, however, Zootopia 2 treats us to colorful animation (some of which, in the dance sequences, looks unfortunately AI-generated) and the occasional exciting action sequence. If you can keep your needs simple, you’ll probably have a good-enough time.
Christopher Llewellyn Reed
Chris Reed is the editor of Film Festival Today. A member of both the Online Film Critics Society (OFCS) and the Washington DC Area Film Critics Association (WAFCA), and a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic, Chris is, in addition, lead film critic at Hammer to Nail and the author of Film Editing: Theory and Practice.