“AW MAH GAWD! DISNEY FINALLY MAKING A COMEBACK!!!! :O”

No, they aren’t.

But this is a good start.

RATING: 8/10


Honestly this isn’t gonna be a traditional review as opposed to just rambling about a bunch of stuff, so here we go! :D

Plot is that Nick and Judy have been reprimanded again after botching a case. Judy discovers a secret involving a snake character that may lead to a conspiracy. And it does! So Judy drags Nick along with her so the two can go find said snake and figure out what the hell’s going on. Movie go!

All right, so right off the bat, you need to go into this movie knowing that the plot is a bit of a backdrop to reinforce Nick and Judy’s relationship. The whole reptile conspiracy is important, yeah, but overall this movie is mostly about Judy being way too determined to prove herself in the ZPD, even if it means endangering her life, while Nick is desperately trying to tell her and show her that she shouldn’t be blinding pursing dangerous cases at the cost of her life. The first half of the movie is…not annoying, but very rinse and repeat. Judy has a bold idea to solve this case. Nick disagrees. They do the idea anyway. Shit goes sideways. Nick and Judy start arguing. It gets to a point where I was sitting there going “Okay, I get it. I get it. Please move on or raise the stakes at least.”

And then the scene happens (y’all know which one) and the movie actually gets better and puts the plot front and center! I’m not gonna spoil what happens or why it’s impactful, but if you saw the first movie, you’ll get it. And ultimately, by the end of the film, in spite of some of my annoyances, I did love how it all concluded. Because it showcased how friendships (relationships, what have you) work. Sure, yeah, something broke, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be fixed. And most importantly, the cracks are still there, so you can see that some damage was done, and hopefully, you’ll know what to not do to prevent this relationship from breaking again. This especially hit me personally considering I came close to having a falling out with a very close friend of mine early this year.

There’s a bunch of references. There’s a bunch of puns. Some of them were clever, but it reached a point where I was going “All right, this a bit much now. It’s cute, but a bit much.”

No, Chief Bogo and Clawhauser don’t get more screentime, sadly. Honestly though…their screentime matched about how much they had in the first film. And I’m kind of okay with that. This movie has a few too many characters clogging up the plot, and neither Bogo nor Clawhauser (except for one scene) were necessary to progress the plot anyway. So I was fine with that.


REPTILES! AND DANNY TREJO!

That’s it. That’s the comment.


Pawbert and Gary are cute. Pawbert and Gary are adorable. I do like how both of them are the “funny side characters” at first, and then you realize that Pawbert is actually a well-meaning person trying to help out this snake from the injustice he suffered, and Gary is just a slithery companion who wants to show the world that reptiles aren’t as bad as they seem. The whole prejudice angle is back once again—it’s not as overt as the first film, but it’s definitely still there. And it plays a big part of Gary’s backstory—and the reptiles as a whole. There’s this other heavy subject matter the movie goes into, but I feel like if I say what it is, that’s gonna spoil what the big villains’ plans are.


The villains are a bunch of snooty rich bitch lynxes. They hate reptiles and anyone poor and beneath them. They use money to manipulate the government and the police. So you know. Basic evil rich people doing basic evil things because rich. They’re not subtle; they’re not fleshed out; they’re not special. But what they do and what they represent is, and it very clearly mirrors real life politicians and corporate executives who do this type of stuff to get what they want and it’s a little disturbing how easily they manage to do it.


Um, I didn’t like the climax? Or rather the climax after the climax? Basically the movie reaches a point where it feels like it ends. Nick and Judy reconcile. Plot is exposed. Villains are exposed. MacGuffin location is exposed. I thought the movie was gonna wrap up then and there with a nice resolution. …And then it goes on for another ten minutes. Which I don’t understand why, because at that point, most of the danger is gone. A couple more action sequences happen, but they’re resolved so quickly and easily, it could’ve been cut out entirely. The scene where Gary does the thing at the place was very nice and sweet—that absolutely could’ve stayed. But all the other…for lack of no spoilers, “nonsense” that happened—I feel like they could’ve cut all that out.

They brought back Flash, and did it in a way that wasn’t for just a very long (but very hilarious) gag this time around. I still think what he did in the original movie was better (and funnier), but Flash is one of the side characters they brought back who also helped advance the plot and he contributed to the heroes’ quest. So that was great.

Don’t like Nibbles. Nibbles irritated me. >__> It wasn’t even because of her whole quirky attitude or being a conspiracy theorist or anything like that. Because like Flash, she helps Nick and Judy with their journey and she was paramount to the plot. …But then she isn’t. And she’s still in the movie. There were a couple moments where I forgot she was still around—to the point where Nibbles herself teleports into a scene and says “Yup. I’m still here.” And I was like “Nooooooooooo, go away.” It detracted from some of the other prominent characters of the film—the biggest one being Gary! Gary is the plot. Gary is the whole reason why Nick and Judy go on this adventure. Gary is the only thing that can stop the bad guys’ plans from succeeding. Gary is the only one who can decipher a particular MacGuffin. And Gary (and his ancestors) is very important to the whole prejudice against reptile angle this movie is pushing. And yet, I feel like Gary is a bit underdeveloped. He doesn’t start having a huge personal role in the movie until halfway in, and by that point, there’s a bunch of other stuff happening so it felt like he kept getting pushed off to the side. Even Pawbert got more screentime and characterization, even though they’re both equally important to the plot.


ZEEBROS!

That’s it. That’s the comment.

So yeah, those are my thoughts. Overall, not as good as the original, but still a worthy successor to the first—

AW SHIT! POLITICS INCOMING! POLITICS INCOMING! AW SHIT! AWWWWWWWWWWW SSSSSHHHHHHIIIIIIITTTT!!!!!!! :O


Look I’m sick and tired of seeing political shit everywhere online and it’s a very large reason why I kind of don’t do shit on social media anymore and why I’ve distanced myself from some websites. But seeing as this shit has now bled over to Zootopia of all things, may as well give my thoughts on it.

COPAGANDA

This didn’t bother me. Now, I’m not going to say that I didn’t see it. Because I did. But the reason why I feel like it wasn’t a problem for me is because both movies do address this kind of thing. Someone pointed out this bit right here:

“Oh, but Judy endangered dozens of rodents chasing after Duke Weaselton and she’s still hailed as the hero in the first movie!”

Um, no she wasn’t. Judy almost got fired, specifically for that reason! Chief Bogo chewed her out for this very reason—because she almost destroyed an entire community over “a bunch of moldy onions.” They straight-up address that! Now yes, Chief Bogo was trying to get rid of Judy because he was being prejudiced against her, but this is a clear-cut case of right for the wrong reasons. If Judy hadn’t promised Mrs. Otterton that she would find her husband and Bellwether hadn’t (conveniently) shown up to save her career, Judy would’ve been gone right then and there.

“BUT JT! DA PRESS CONFERENCE!”

Yeah, that was also a fucked-up scene. And guess what? We see the ramifications of that press conference. And so does Judy. And what does she do? Turn in her badge and temporarily resign. Because she realized she didn’t do the right thing, even after Chief Bogo and Bellwether try to tell her otherwise.

“BUT JT! SHE DOES THE SAME THING AGAIN AT THE BEGINNING OF THE SEQUEL!”

And surprise, surprise, she got punished again. The ZPD work force treated her and Nick as a laughing stock and Chief Bogo forced both of them to attend “partnership therapy” for a while, which was his way of politely saying “you two are on suspension indefinitely.”

“BUT JT! CHIEF BOGO!”

Imma be real with y’all? I rewatched the first movie hours before seeing the sequel, and I kinda didn’t like Chief Bogo. And it’s not because of the whole copaganda thing. It’s because he was doing his damndest to get Judy fired because he was being prejudiced against her, even though his entire department couldn’t find fourteen missing mammals in two weeks whilst Judy did it in two days. Sure, yeah, he got nicer by the end, but it irritated me a bit that he basically suffered no consequences for how he treated Judy short of being humbled. It’s not uncommon for incompetent leaders to blame the weak link in their group and throw them under the bus, then later take all the glory and fame whenever they do have victories. Which, again, I do like that Chief Bogo had hidden depths and became kinder later, but it still irked me.


“BUT JT! NICK ALSO DID SOMETHING RECKLESS IN THE SEQUEL AND DIDN’T GET PUNISHED FOR IT!”


I know what scene you’re talking about. And that annoyed the shit out of me. Again, not because of copaganda, but because the movie did such a good job of showcasing how Judy’s fuck-ups have been having a negative effect on her relationship with Nick, but then Nick does something that’s…being bluntly honestly, capable of endangering residents in Zootopia, and the movie plays it off as a joke. Then later goes like “WELP! Nick did that thing in that one scene, so now we have a reason to make dozens of sequels we know you’re gonna see!”

And I’m like “I hate you, Disney. I’m gonna watch all those sequels, but I hate you. >:(”


“BUT JT! WHAT ABOUT THE OTHER POLICE OFFICERS?!”


See, now that’s an interesting discussion to have. A couple of side character police officers end up doing some…morally questionable stuff not knowing that their superior (not Chief Bogo; the lynxes) are corrupt politicians. They almost get the protagonists killed. But then later on, they realize what they did was wrong, reform, and they’re on good terms again. Thing is though…they don’t really get punished for being complicit in the lynxes crimes. Sure, yeah, they were following orders, but all of them got off scot-free. And it’s very interesting to think about. Because Nick and Judy get punished (mostly) for the stuff they do, but these guys didn’t. Like Nick and Judy, they’re very flawed characters. And they recognize these flaws and correct them.

I’ve seen multiple people (particularly on Bluesky) say this is still copaganda manipulation. Which is very funny, because Commissioner Luggins from The Bad Guys 2 kinda had a similar arc—it was done much better though. I think that movie did it better because Commissioner Luggins chose to do what she did; she wasn’t ordered to. And later on, she chose to do the right thing in the end because her instincts told her she had to. She felt like she had more agency there. Here, the cops are ordered to do the thing, then realize “Oh shit, maybe we’re going too far?” And then they’re good again. And while I do see how that’s problematic, I do think it’s interesting that when a fictional police officer makes a mistake and tries to redeem themselves, it’s copaganda, but when a criminal makes a mistake (or multiple mistakes) and tries to reform, it’s not perceived as glorifying villains. There’s a part of me that wants to go to these people and bluntly ask them:

“Do you hate Zootopia, or do you hate Zootopia now because of all the shit happening in the American government since November 2016 and all the shit the police have done since May 2020?”


RACISM


So these movies—


PREJUDICE


These movies are not about racism. They are about prejudice. I’ve heard people say the first movie is a poor representation of racism—and it’s not. It is about prejudice. If the movie is about racism, why the hell was Chief Bogo being prejudiced against Judy then? They’re both prey animals! If the movie is about “black people and white people,” why the fuck is “the white person” being prejudiced to the other equally “white person”? Explain that to me.


IT IS PREJUDICE.

Also the sequel throws this whole “prey are white people and predators are black people” out the window. Because this movie introduces reptiles—many of whom, Gary included, are predators. And guess what? The mammal-laden residents of Zootopia hate them and are scared of them! Including the predators and especially the lynx antagonists! Lynxes are predators! Snakes are predators! Why are “the black people” being racist to “the other black people” if the predators as a whole are collectively seen as “the black people”? Do you see why this comparison makes no damn sense—especially now with the sequel being out?


Even Pawbert is a victim of this! He’s part of the same family of lynxes and all of them treat him with disdain and like he’s a joke! Why?! Because he doesn’t dress fancy like you do and because he’s clumsy and because he doesn’t flaunt around his money in everyone’s faces like you uppity twats do? You can’t even sit there and tell me something like “Oh, but the reptiles are mixed people and the mammals are black people and that’s why everyone hates them!” when Pawbert himself is the same damn species of predators and from the same damn family as the other lynxes!


“I CAN FIX HIM/HER!” VILLAIN BIAS

Okay, so last thing. To nobody’s surprise, there’s a buttload of fanart (aka porn) of this movie’s main villain. You probably know who it is. You probably guessed. You’ve probably been spoiled on it. But in case you haven’t, I’m not gonna say who. That being said, you probably already saw this character in porn, might’ve gotten aroused, might’ve even masturbated to it. And it brings up questions…because, see, here’s the thing. I love this villain. I love his motivation. He was done far better than the movie’s previous villain and had much more character and much more screentime, so it actually upset me to find out what he was doing. Because I didn’t want him to do the stuff he did. That being said I don’t really care about him porn-wise and it always amazes me when a villain like this comes along, everyone immediately goes like “Oh! Oh! I can fix him/her! We can repair them! We can love them!”

Meanwhile I ain’t seen shit in regards to the villain of the first movie.

And part of me is rubbing my chin going “If this character was this…I dunno. A morbidly obese, revolting pig, y’all would not care. Y’all would probably not be drawing this much porn. Y’all would probably hate this character.”


Now I’m not saying there isn’t fanart (porn) of the previous movie’s villain and I’m not saying it’s wrong to make Rule 34. But I always find it funny that fans of certain films or games or TV shows tend to idolize the sexy villainous characters, even if they’re not well-written. And I’m not gonna say I’m better than y’all; sometimes I do the same thing. Greeghan from Jupiter Ascending has maybe five minutes of screentime and is a very generic one-dimensional side villain. He’s also a giant sexy winged lizard man, so by default I love him and he’s the best character in the movie. The thing about Zootopia 2’s villain is that he’s very well-written and likable (at first) and even after you find out why he’s doing the bad shit he does, you at least understand why, even if you don’t support it. But the thing is, if this same well-written, likable, understandable villain was butt-ugly, I don’t think anyone (or at least, not this many people) would give a shit and wouldn’t appreciate how he was written.

I’m also bringing this up because there was (and still is) so much porn of this character that some people spoiled he was the villain in the porn. A friend of mine got wind of it, and it pissed him right off. And he’s usually the one who enjoys when Rule 34 is spooged across the Internet. Some people’s enjoyment and/or anticipation of this film is being marred by porn, of all things.


All right. Well now.

Was not expecting to cover all this.

I feel like I needed to though. A lot of this shit has been building up for a while and both of these movies were a laxative I needed to ingest. Like I said earlier, I’ve been keeping my distance from the Internet as a whole; there’s just a lot of crap I keep getting exposed to that’s not been helping me mentally. So of course I was excited to see this film. And it’s good! But nope—can’t enjoy it either. If you do, you’re advocating copaganda. You don’t support ACAB. You’re part of the problem. Blah blah blah blah. And I’m just sitting here like:

“Let me watch the movie. Let me watch the fucking movie please.”

Something to keep in mind is that sometimes, a lot of what you see online is not how the people around you feel in real life. Sometimes people just go see a movie, say it’s good or bad, and that’s it. And that’s kind of how I feel about Zootopia 2. Is it as good as the first one? Nah. But it’s still very good, it doesn’t butcher its legacy (like many other sequels do—I SEE YOU STAR WARS), and it expands its world very well. And if they make a third one (hopefully sooner than later), I’m gonna see that in theaters too. As for everything around the movie…well. I don’t really have much else to say. Except I wish more people as a whole followed Judy’s advice from the first film.


“Look inside yourself and recognize that change starts with you. It starts with me. It starts with all of us.