After 9 long years of waiting, we finally get to hop on the sequel we’ve all been waiting for. Zootopia 2 has finally arrived and all I can say is that this Disney sequel was worth the wait. Disney might be making a comeback with their movies, with this movie to be specific. Everything about Zootopia 2 was amazing: the animation, to the action, the storyline, and the music. Zootopia 2 was such a great movie, they even gave hints of a part 3 coming in the future, which I will definitely be looking forward to. I am here to talk about my favorite things, my thoughts, and my rating of Zootopia 2. Spoiler alert: Spoilers for Zootopia 2 follow.
From start to finish, Zootopia 2 managed to have a great story just like part one to get you interested in the movie. Zootopia 2 didn’t just continue to focus on the discrimination against certain species of animals, but they also added more by introducing the history of Zootopia overall: how it came to be, how snakes were wrongly accused of being dangerous villains, and how they were basically exiled from Zootopia. By doing this, it adds more meaning to the whole story of Zootopia within both movies and highlights the important message about making change for the better, for everyone, along with not judging and discriminating against certain groups just because of their background. In the beginning, you might think they are giving the same story from the first movie, but once you get deeper into this movie, you will see that it has many similarities from the first one, but it is a whole different story that makes sense and is a perfect way to follow up and add on to part one.
The main characters, Judy and Nick, definitely had lots of character growth within this movie due to the fact that we actually get to see how their partnership is going. Although there were ups and downs throughout their relationship, they learn to understand one another and to actually share with each other if they are feeling a certain way. They learn to use their differences to make a better team along with understanding what they are feeling because they made it very clear that they are more than just partners. They are really good friends and they shouldn’t be afraid to listen to each other when it comes to their friendship and working together as a team. Judy and Nick don’t only just grow as characters based on their relationship, but they grow to be better people, to not judge someone based on stories that they have been told, and to help one of the new main characters to fix a mistake and wrong that was done to his family and species many years ago. This adds so much to the story because from what it seems, animals that aren’t in the prey family will most likely be portrayed as a bad guy. With these story ideas in mind, Judy and Nick will always grow more when they learn the true hidden history and mysteries of Zootopia as they solve more cases to make the world better for all animals, no matter what species group an animal comes from.
The two new characters that are added to the movie, Gary and Nibbles, are such amazing additions to the story. Nibbles may come out as annoying to many, but she truly isn’t a bad character at all. She can be very smart in certain situations when it is needed most and she truly does care to help out her new friends. If it wasn’t for Nibbles, there would have been lots of times where Nick and Judy wouldn’t have been able to get very far with the case, not to mention she literally saved everyone’s butts in so many situations. Gary is one of my personal new favorite characters just because of how loveable and adorable he is. He is very brave to fight not only for his family, but for his whole species since they have all been forgotten due to his grandmother being accused of a crime that she didn’t commit. He truly shows that he isn’t what everyone thinks of him and that he cares about people even if they don’t deserve his kindness. When he meets Judy and Nick, he truly was kind and did whatever it took to not only help himself, but to help them too which shows that Gary is one of the best new characters to be added to a movie. He is a character that is definitely needed for any movie to show that you can be brave, hard-headed, loving, caring, and kind all at the same time.
Now, the villains of the story were pretty much introduced within the first 30 minutes of the movie. It was a rich family called the Lynxley’s that framed Gary’s grandmother of a crime that she didn’t commit so they could take credit for basically being the founders of Zootopia. This family was insane and definitely was very dangerous. They would stop at nothing to make sure that they keep their secret so that their family can stay successful no matter what it takes, even if it means framing other innocent people or even trying to hurt or kill them. Pawbert is another new character in the movie and he was basically the twist villain storyline. Pawbert is a part of the Lynxley and it was clear from the beginning that he was a disappointment in the family and he felt like he didn’t fit in. He pretends he’s against his family and teams up with Gary to help find the truth behind the history of Zootopia. Long story short, when he finally gets all of the answers he paralyzes Judy and tries to pretty much kill everyone who is trying to find the truth about Zootopia. His reason for doing all of this is to help his family so that they will finally be proud of him and he can finally feel like he belongs in the family. Although it was kinda obvious from the start that he was going to be a villain, it makes sense to why Disney made this choice because he does seem to be goofy and wants to be loved, but he is honestly crazy and obsessed with getting approval and love from his family which makes it understandable why he did all of this.
Last but not least, there is no Zootopia movie without Shakira being involved. Shakira came back to reprise her character Gazelle and she was just amazing. As a Latina woman myself, I loved that I got to see Sharkia come back and play this iconic Latina character. Although Gazelle wasn’t in the movie for that long, all of the parts that she had were amazing and glamorous because Gazelle definitely shows that she is an IT girl for sure. She was loving and talented and showed that she got her girl’s back no matter what. Of course, the best part of Gazelle was the end credits of the movie because how can you not have a Zootopia movie without an end credit of Gazelle having an iconic performance? The new song “Zoo” was such an amazing touch to the movie. I loved the song so much not just because it fits well with the movie’s story and that it’s catchy, but also because it honestly brings back so many memories of me being a child listening to such amazing music due to the fact that “Zoo” kind of sounds like Shakira’s memorable song “Waka Waka (This Time For Africa).”
Overall, Zootopia 2 was such an amazing movie, it adds so much more to the whole story since part one, and it’s just one of Disney’s best sequel movies that has come out in such a long time. I’d definitely rate this movie a 10/10. When you watch this movie, you definitely are not going to expect what is going to happen and you should get everything that you think is going to happen out of your head because it’s not going to happen. It will be better than what you think, trust and believe that. One more tip about the movie before you watch: make sure you watch the whole end credits to get a sneak peek of what you can expect for a future Zootopia 3 because nowadays, every movie will be getting many sequels even if they aren’t asked for. However, because of how great Zootopia 2 is and how much everyone is loving the movie, I expect and hope to get a Zootopia 3 in the future because I truly enjoyed and loved this movie and hope Disney becomes more successful with these sequels and live actions that are coming out. I hope many people will start to enjoy the sequels and live actions more. Until then, there is still some time to see Zootopia 2 is theaters, so try to hop on down to the world of Zootopia so you can see this amazing sequel on the big screen and if not, definitely take some time to get comfortable and watch Zootopia 2 when it goes on Disney+.