With near identical budgets (150 mill) and near identical creatives (from directors Jared Bush/ Byron Howard down thru cast & crew), this animated sequel nearly doubled the billion dollar gross of the 2016 original. And if hardly twice as good (indeed a modest fall off), it’s good enough to justify blockbuster numbers. This time out, Judy Rabbit and Nick Fox are no longer adversaries, but junior cop partners on the hunt for the long suppressed truth behind Zootopia’s origin story. Is it possible those forked-tongued snakes got a raw deal in the legend of Zootopia’s beginnings? They’ll go to the ends of the ‘safe’ territory behind the transformative wall of intra-species cooperation to find the truth. Less straightforward than the earlier film’s police procedural format, which may explain why the film is over-produced, trying too hard to top themselves with (very impressive) spectacle. But this soon drops away as their main mission clicks into place; along with expected character turns from various animals new and returned. Less understandable are a pair of self-revelatory/self-justifying soliloquies for Nick & Judy. Talk in place of clarifying action . . . in an animated film?! The film quickly recovers movement and momentum, but an odd glitch from these guys.
DOUBLE-BILL/LINK: No doubt, you’ve seen the original, yes? https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2016/10/zootopia-2016.html
SCREWY THOUGHT OF THE DAY: Stick with the end credits not just for the tag surprise, but also to note the international line-up of names & nationalities. A veritable cornucopia of D.E.I. in the film’s D.N.A.
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