Monday 14 March 2016

Zootopia - Movie Review

We'd been creeping on the positive Rotten Tomato reviews and hearing news of box office record smashing for nearly a week when we decided Sunday afternoon was a good time to check out Zootopia with the minions.

Disney Zootopia promotion courtesy of Forbes

Movie Review: Zootopia 

What's in it for the Kids?
An engaging story about determination, sticktoitiveness and fighting prejudice (both of others and your own).  Animal character Judy tries to navigate her new life in the big city, Zootopia, as the first ever rabbit police officer, finding help in an unlikely ally, a fox named Nick.

What's in it for the Adults?
This is another "cool" concept movie.  Essentially imagine a world with no humans, where animals (both predators and prey) live together in a modern North Americanish way. Some homage is paid to film classic The Godfather, and the choice of sloths as DMV employees will entertain the adults throughout the movie.  The movie features the voice talents of Ginnifer Goodwin, Jason Bateman, Idris Elba, J.K. Simmons, and Shakira.

Best Parts of the Movie
There is relatable messaging about getting along, preconceived notions, and some good teachable moments you can talk to your kids about afterwards.  In looking around the theatre I'd say the kids that were most engaged by the film were around ages six to nine, so there's a bit of a sweet spot there. I can see this movie becoming a part of school curriculum.

Worst Parts of the Movie
Maybe I read too many amazing reviews before we saw this movie and it spoiled it for me, but I was disappointed in this film.  It was looonggg for a children's movie (1 hour and 48 minutes) and did not hold either Molly and Jack's attention all the way through (granted they've both said they enjoyed it). An adult we attended with admitedly fell asleep for a few minutes in the middle where the movie dragged.  There are certain plot points and moments during the movie where Molly got really scared and hid under a sweater, whereas Jack remained unconcerned about "bad guys and scariness, through the entire flick.  I know this is irrelevant to the plot of the movie, especially when I'm already complaining about length, but so much thought was put into the Zootopia world, yet couldn't they address what the meat eaters consume instead of other animals, are they all vegan?

Overall Rating
I would rate this movie 3.5/5.  It's watchable, particularly if you have kids aged six to nine or ten, but I don't think it's quite worthy of the Frozen record smashing we're seeing here. All of that being said, seeing a slightly longer movie on a rainy March Break week might not be the worst thing to entertain.

To read my review of Kung Fu Panda 3 click here.

To read my review of Good Dinosaur click here.

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