Ironically,
it is very easy to look at Zootopia and immediately judge it as just another
animated animal movie with a (possibly cliched) message about predjudice. But the
great thing about this film is that it takes all of the things that should drag
it down and turns them into it’s greatest truimphs. The primary aspects I am
referring to here are the film’s premise and it’s message.
A
film about a Fox and a Rabbit solving crimes in a world populated by animals
doesn’t sound particularly interesting on paper. But the brilliantly creative
ways that all of the animals are intergrated into one city not only saves it,
but makes an outstanding film as a whole. The various ways in which the concept
at the heart of the film is executed are so intricatley detailed that it
elevates the film into the category of brilliance. This is also helped by the often
beautiful animation, making it visually appealing on more than one level.
This
sense of cleverness also makes it’s way into the humour of the movie, as all of
the jokes feel intelligent, in addition to being hilarious. As I previously
mentioned, stories about prejudice, whilst important and well intentioned, can
often feel old hat if handled badly. But this film explores the issue so deeply
that the message comes across very effectivley. In addition, the way in which
the story twists and turns really messes with the audience’s expectations on
how the story will go, whilst making the story all the more effective.
Any
issues I have with this movie are minor nitpicks, one being the way in which
Shakira’s cameo is shoehorned in. However, issues such as this are tiny
annoyances in an overall fantastic film.
