Zootopia (Chris Stuckmann)

(Chris Stuckmann Movie Reviews intro plays)

Chris Stuckmann: Zootopia tells the tale of a young bunny named Judy Hopps, who really dreams of being a police officer. This is not something in common. In fact...

(Images of Judy Hopps are shown, as well as an image of Zootopia and an image of Judy with Nick Wilde)

Chris (vo): ...if she were to become an officer, she would be the very first rabbit to ever do it, and she does. And when she gets on a case that involves some missing mammals in Zootopia, a place where predators and prey all get along, she teams up with a sly fox named Nick Wilde to help solve the case.

Chris: The trailers for Zootopia are marketing it as a fun, cute movie for kids that has little animal people in it. I was legitimately floored throughout this movie. This movie is fantastic. This is so much deeper and so much more mature than I expected it to be. This is a fully-realized, well-rounded film.

(An image of Judy and Nick at the DMV is shown)

Chris (vo): This isn't just a fun little movie that kids can enjoy that's passable. This is actually an extremely layered movie...

Chris: ...with far more to say than I ever anticipated. And it's also relentlessly entertaining. It is so much fun. This is a very enjoyable movie that is actually more focused on its story than making you laugh. And that's something I loved about it. Watching Zootopia, it generally felt like a movie made for adults, just with bunnies and foxes and rhinos and lions. And if this reaction is surprising you right now, trust me, the movie itself surprised me.

(A poster of Judy and Nick is shown)

Chris (vo): This movie is extremely emotional. It has a lot to say about racial stereotypes, about gender stereotypes...

Chris: ...about friendships, relationships...drugs. Seriously, this movie's a lot deeper than I thought it was gonna be. But it didn't feel heavy-handed, it felt important, it felt necessary, it felt very timely. And it was also just extremely entertaining and fun.

(Another image of Judy and Nick is shown)

Chris (vo): These two lead characters, Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde, so great! I love these characters, I want to see more of these characters.

Chris: Ginnifer Goodwin was great as Judy Hopps, Jason Bateman was fantastic as Nick Wilde. I loved the voice work in this movie.

(An image of Chief Bogo is shown)

Chris (vo): I loved Idris Elba as the cliched angry chief. Really great stuff, he was such a cool character.

Chris: The only issues I have with this movie are an opening exposition dump that just pours all this information on you you need to know, that you don't really need to know, but it was sort of like they were letting the kids know information that you need to have this sort of awareness of, but then, eventually, the real movie starts. It's almost like they were like, "Hey, kids. This is gonna be fun. Here's all this stuff. Oh, by the way, this movie's actually about racisim and drugs." And the other small nitpick that I had was right between Act 2 and 3. There's a lull there. It's not bad, it's just kind of like, "All right, I know the plot's gonna kick in here, so let's go." And then it goes, and it's just, like, it's great. The music by Michael Giacchino, who seems to be doing every great score ever nowadays, is also amazing.

(An image of Judy and Nick at Mr. Big's house is shown)

Chris (vo): The action sequences were also terrific. We have well-realized characters, well-realized action...

Chris: ...a great score, great animation, and a good message. This movie is awesome.

(An image of Judy in her meter maid car is shown)

Chris (vo): Zootopia gets an A.

Chris: Don't miss this one. This is a movie not just for kids, but also for adults. In fact, I can actually see adults enjoying this movie even more possibly. Guys, thank you so much as always for watching. I greatly appreciate it. Look forward to this Sunday, my Retro Rewind of Superman 64. I'm actually going to sit down...and try to play it...and I'll...I'll film it. (Long pause) Sunday. Guys, thank you so much as always for watching. If you like this, you can click right here and get Stuckmannized.