‘Zootopia’ review: Animal lessons

Oggs Cruz

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‘Zootopia’ review: Animal lessons
''Zootopia' is a contemporary fable that makes the most of modern pop culture to deliver a statement of paramount relevance,' writes movie critic Oggs Cruz.

Take away the anthropomorphic animals of Byron Howard and Rich Moore’s Zootopia and you’re left with just a standard-issue odd couple cop flick. This subgenre has persisted in Hollywood simply because it sells.

The films are comforting, especially with an overused narrative that has space for the levity of absurdist humor and the elementary moralizing of a crime procedural. Just over the past few years, films like Adam McKay’s The Other Guys (2010), Paul Feig’s The Heat (2013), and Phil Lord and Christopher Miller’s 21 Jump Street (2012) and 22 Jump Street (2014) had hilariously mismatched cops solve mysteries.

Zootopia, however, is more than its formulaic plot of disagreeing partners who are bent on successfully uncovering a dastardly scheme to wreak havoc. It is that and the wonderfully subversive conceit that joyfully wraps the entire thing, turning it into a spectacle of color, comedy and child-friendly charm.

All the film’s elements seamlessly converge to relay a timely message that is made even more relevant, given that it seems to be directed to those who will be inheriting a world that seems to foster a culture of hate.

Civilized animals

 

The world of Zootopia is one without humans. All sorts of animals of various species have evolved from being savage beasts and into civilized creatures who coexist in a society that no longer require them to kill each other for survival. It is this seemingly perfect society of enlightened animals that bred Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin), a rabbit who dreams of becoming a cop.

This is where it gets a tad complicated. While the animals have graduated from hunting each other, they have retained instincts, functions and limitations that are specific to their respective species. So, a rabbit wanting to become a cop in a world swimming with predators is a bit of a stretch.

Photo courtesy of Disney

This isn’t just a repeat of Brad Bird’s Ratatouille (2007), where a rodent aspires to become a classy chef. The biggest difference here is that Judy’s tale transpires in a world where utopian equality veils prejudice that stems from such rich diversity. The story perseveres from there, with Judy turning into a cop who starts out as a parking attendant before being assigned to the case of a missing otter.

Judy is forced to team up with Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman), a fox that is stuck swindling other mammals for the same reason Judy is stuck issuing parking tickets. Together, they discover that there is more to the missing otter than meets the eye.

Contemporary fable

 Photo courtesy of Disney

In an age where intolerance and bigotry are often presented with hasty comparisons to animals, a film that has animals learning a thing or two about the essence of humanity is startlingly subversive – even if the methods of doing so is as old as time.

Zootopia is a contemporary fable that makes the most of modern pop culture to deliver a statement of paramount relevance. The film is that rare work that has an innate understanding of both its audience and purpose.

It is funny without being obnoxiously crass. Its comical references to reality bring its fantastic setting closer to home, making the film’s many allegories easier to comprehend.

Its allusions to present-day phenomenon, such as gazelle pop stars parading as thought leaders and politicians with shady motivations, are all there to marry the absurd with the commonplace. This results in a work where visual wit is not just for laughs, but also for discourse. 

Definitely Disney

  Photo courtesy of Disney

In the end, Zootopia remains to be a Disney cartoon, in a way that it is sculpted precisely to be seen and enjoyed. It is safe, even teetering towards convenience, but it needs to be exactly that, in order to reach the widest and most wide-eyed of audiences.

The film needs to embrace Hollywood pomp and spectacle in order to reach the masses and direct them into a positive culture of love and acceptance – something our cynical selves have pointlessly drowned in high-brow rhetoric. – Rappler.com

Francis Joseph Cruz litigates for a living and writes about cinema for fun. The first Filipino movie he saw in the theaters was Carlo J. Caparas’ ‘Tirad Pass.’ Since then, he’s been on a mission to find better memories with Philippine cinema. Profile photo by Fatcat Studios

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