Film Review: Zootopia – 8/10

‘I am not a dumb bunny...’

Because life is uniformly terrible and Monday mornings become more unbearable by the week, my wife and I have started watching heart-warming family films of a Sunday evening with the intention of staving off the inevitable Monday blues. And do you know what? The whole endeavour has actually been a lot of fun. Zootopia was the latest addition, and there is nothing quite like a talking fox to soften the blow of another impending week at work…

In a world populated exclusively by predators and prey, Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin) has a dream. And that dream is to join the Zootopia Police Department. The problems are two fold. First off, Judy lives miles away from the city on a carrot farm with her parents. And secondly, she is a bunny rabbit. And bunny rabbits are not renowned for their ability to catch criminals. Unless that criminal is a carrot. And that’s only the start of the story.

Because yes, Zootopia has a lot going on. It’s a crime caper, it’s a bunny buddy cop movie, it’s a social commentary on prejudice and racism and on a surface level, it’s a nice film about bunnies and foxes living together in harmony. On top of that, it’s a meditation on corruption and power. But one thing it never is is too convoluted or complicated or indeed preachy. The directing trio of Byron Howard, Rich Moore and Jared Bush strike just the right balance between youthful hi-jinks and a more serious advocacy for a harmonious society and crucially, there are plenty of laughs along the way. Goodwin is great as the protagonist, but it is Jason Bateman that really sells this movie as her fox sidekick Nick Wilde. A talking fox who isn’t quite as awesome as the talking fox from Disney’s Robin Hood, but who is a million times more wonderful than the talking fox from Antichrist.

Packed full of easter eggs and pop culture references, Zootopia has something for everyone. And it has no singing in it. The perfect Disney movie.