It’s going to sound like I hate it, but I don’t. It’s fine. It's a messy movie. Let's break it down.

The Good
- I really liked the score, oddly enough. Some really varied instrumentation, good remixes from the first movie.
- Pawbert. He's cute AF, obviously and immediately, but he is -another- obvious twist villain (which he had the nerve to quip about). At least he has most of the 3rd act to be a bad guy unlike Dawn who was revealed like seven minutes before the first movie ended. Mainly he's a handsome, and his handpaws are huge so he's good. I like that he's the right size to be a threat to Nick and Judy. A tiger or something would stomp them, but he's -just- intimidating enough. And because he's a cutie in a sweater you almost forget he's a predator until he takes his mask off. That's cool.
- Gazelle’s outfit at the Zootennial: 10/10. Gazelle’s outfit in the credits: 1,000/10 💕
- The Shining. Yeah yeah, "I clapped when I saw it!" but idk it's such a weird reference for this movie to make that I kind-of circle around to loving it.
- So many hand closeups of characters examining things. Maybe that's just a me thing :3
- The animation is noticeably better. Naturally given almost a decade. A little cleaner, nicer details and colors.

The Neutral
- They didn't explain how hoofers like Brian and the Zebros get anything done with full-on hooves. I'm mad >:V
- It gets pretty dark by the end. The kids in my theater were spooked when Pawbert started KOing people at least.
- The WildeHopps Meta. Almost in the Bad category. Maybe the creators of the 1st didn’t realize the gold they struck then, but they sure do now. This is basically Ship Tease The Movie and it’s so weird because Nick and Judy end up saying everything but “I love you” or kissing by the end. I know it’s Didney we’re talking about, but after The Bad Guys 2 made Wolf and Diane official in steamy fashion I felt a little cheated. It’s like “Didney we know that you know how fire this relationship is so why are you teasing us?” Well now they can string it along into the sequels. Will -this- be the one where they finally make it official?!
- Related to above, Nick and Judy feel like they’ve known each other for at least months when they only met each other A WEEK ago. Sure they went through a lot, but they have the kind of baggage reserved for a significant other. Almost like it’s a… ship tease.
- Gary feels like he’s barely in the movie compared to what the marketing showed. Nick spends like 15 total minutes with him in-universe.
- Bogo is still hot and has a Gazelle bobblehead on his desk.

The Bad
- The plot’s not nearly as fresh and interesting as Dawn’s attempted race war from the first movie.
- Too many characters. Almost every character from the 1st returns for a gag or two in addition to a lot of new sequel faces. It's too much and gets distracting like my next bullet point. The worst offenders were probably the little Clawhauser hacking scene or the Gazelle-Zebro revenge gag (which felt so thrown-in that I almost think Shakira requested more to do in exchange for coming back or something). They might not sound bad in isolation, but there are just so many characters showing up to do their shtick that it weighs down the whole experience.
- Too many callbacks. There are seriously like 30 direct references to the first movie. The opening Bogo office scene is shot almost exactly like the scene in the first movie. Another overbearing parents call for Judy. Another “Raymond! And is that Kevin?!” Leading to a sitdown with Mr. Big. Toot-toot. And on and on. It’s super distracting.
- Gary's "We shall succeed, Judy Hopps," is a weird, abortive little arc. He says it word-for-word like three scenes in a row and his meaning isn't really clear. It seems the point was to help Judy chill the hell out, but when he says the line it just sounds like a bland encouragement. If it was supposed to be revelatory for Judy he should have been more of a profound, zen guy, or have worded it more like "Enjoy the moment Judy Hopps, everything will work out." Know what I mean? It's a weird, contrived line.
- Papa Lynxley is shallow as hell. Everything out of his mouth is just “I am evil bad guy. Kill the snake and lie to your boss about it, nyaaah.” I get he thinks he’s above the law and all, but he’s just so on the nose I couldn’t take him seriously. It would have helped Pawbert’s story if Milton was more devious and scheming. Like if he actually got Pawbert to be evil by knowingly manipulating him with his affection (instead of just not giving a shit about him).
- Judy felt a little out-of-character to me in this one. To be fair she’s desperate, has a hero complex, and I think we’re meant to mostly be on Nick’s side, but Judy’s also super emotionally aware. I found it a little hard to believe she’d dismiss Nick’s feelings when he’s basically begging her to listen to him. She’s the one who got him to open up in the first place.
- Nibbles is kind of annoying and unnecessary? Are reptiles really so unheard of that someone like Judy couldn’t dig around and find one? Marine mammals surely know about them.

What I want from sequels
- A straightforward villain. Maybe in a Columbo-esque plot where we see him/her being evil in the beginning and we learn the context as Nick and Judy solve it.
- Make Nick and Judy official dammit. They don’t have to even kiss, just pull the trigger already. Drop the four-letter word (no not that one). Let them hold hands.
- No more underdogs. For these two movies sure, they have something to prove. But by now Nick and Judy should be almost-universally loved heroes. I want them and other law enforcement locked in and on the same page.
- I almost want to say take them out of Zootopia for a while, but that would be risky to market. In any case cool it with the callbacks.
- BIRDS