Directors: Byron Howard (Tangled), Rich Moore (Wreck-It Ralph), Jared Bush (co-director)
Screenplay: Jared Bush, Phil Johnston
Rated: PG
Released: March 4th, 2016
The Hook: The preview was hilarious
Did you see the preview? If you didn’t, this is the one I’m talking about:
After seeing that I just had to check out the movie. And I wasn’t disappointed.
Recap!
Judy Hopps has always dreamed about being a cop. One problem. She is a bunny rabbit and there has never been a bunny on the police force before. And it seems like everyone is against the idea of a her trying for it, even her parents, with good intentions of course. Not discouraged at all, she heads over to the academy and after a rough start, she ends up passing the training at the top of her class. This gets her assigned to Zootopia District 1. She is ecstatic! It’s what she always dreamed of. Heading off to the city, she leaves her very nervous parents. Little does Judy know, she has yet to face her biggest challenge yet, proving she can actually be a cop.
Verdict!
The story …
is pretty cliche. The main character is told he/she can’t do something, he/she does it anyway and surpasses expectations yet they still have to prove the deserve whatever title/goal they were striving for. Cliche, but it was pretty good too. It was funny, engaging, and paced itself nicely. I think it has elements that appeal to both children and adults so if you’re thinking it’s just a children’s film, I don’t think you adults will be disappointed. The character development was done well. The story moved along at a good pace. The humor didn’t overshadow the story and vice versa. It was fun to watch, which I believe was the point. Not to be outdone, though, there is a sense of seriousness to the film in which the moral of the story is presented. The screen play for this one was awesome. Well done!
The acting … (well, voice overs)
were fantastic. Since acting isn’t really involved in a CG or animated film, I like to focus on dialogue which was another thing done well. There was enough wit to satisfy those who aren’t watching because it’s a cartoon. It was fun and funny. Ginnifer Goodwin (Judy Hopps) and Jason Bateman (Nick Wilde) did a great job with their banter and conversations. Other voice overs I loved was Idris Elba as Chief Bogo, Tommy Chong as Yax, and Jenny Slate (the doorbell girl from SNL–Loved her skit!) as Bellwether. They all did such a good job and did well for their characters.
The cinematography …
was put together nicely. It moved the story along and I was pleasing to the eye. Animation is pretty straightforward so there isn’t much to tell except I liked the way color was applied. The setting and backdrops were awesome, since Zootopia has 12 sub-climates. It was fun to see and the animators did a good job with the details and the expressions to convey feelings. Very good.
To buy or not to buy?
I would definitely add this to my collection. I could easily watch this a second and third time. It’s a good family film and good watch for everyone.