A movie I like slightly less each time I see it, and now I’m up to four times, I think.
There’s no one fatal flaw, but there are so many little-to-medium things that bother me that it adds up to some pretty big reservations and caps the film at “merely good.” The comedy is horribly inconsistent, the tone is a whiplash, the racism parable had good intentions but is misguided and bizarre, the worldbuilding fairly incoherent, the copaganda aspect is off-putting, the pacing very scattershot, etc. Sloppiness and mediocre writing all over the place.
I do like that a Disney movie is this visually dark and scary its tensest moments, and that the mystery is taken pretty seriously. Most kids animation — even good ones, like HTTYD2 — pepper in comic relief to defuse the tension, where Zootopia is not afraid to ratchet it up.
The characters are well-designed, and the animation has held up better than several other mid-2010s features to my eyes. And I have miraculously few voice acting complaints.
But for a movie that got absolutely rapturous reviews upon release, Zootopia feels oddly inessential and uneven.
Is It Good?
Good (5/8)
Note: This review was published early in The Goods' history and is a candidate for an expanded review in the future. Please excuse brevity or inconsistencies in style.
Dan is the founder and head critic of The Goods. Follow Dan on Letterboxd. Join the Discord for updates and discussion.