Back together: Nick Wilde and Judy Hopps return for ‘Zootopia 2’.
ZOOTOPIA 2 *** (108 minutes) PG
The law of diminishing returns applies much more gently with Zootopia 2 than it usually does with sequels to animated hits – we are still recovering from Cars 2 – as rabbit Judy Hopps and fox Nick Wilde embark on a sufficiently enjoyable, if unremarkable, lark as they try to keep their police chief from splitting them up by trying to solve a big case.
Working extra-hard to maintain the odd-couple chemistry that sizzled so effortlessly in the 2016 film – which, by the way, took a neat $1B+ at the box office (safely double that for the home market) – this belated follow-up is essentially a standard follow-the-clues police procedural as the pair strive to discover the truth behind Zootopia’s creation and success as an inclusive community.
The marvellous animation has all the elasticity and kinetic energy we have long come to expect from Disney and the jaunt speeds along at a snappy pace, driven by action, Nick’s wisecracking and a nicely cobbled, if formulaic, plot.
Replete with a host of well-disposed, with-it themes about prejudice, togetherness, vilification and abuse of power, the main gist involves uncovering the spurious claims by a dominant and amusingly odious cat family it was responsible for the technology that made pleasant co-existence between all the species possible.
The big novelty with the first film was, of course, the whole concept of the city and how it operated. With that done, the action moves largely off-piste as our heroes go rogue in their quest for justice, pursued the whole time by their former colleagues.
All up, Zootopia 2 chimes in as a diligently stamped-out studio sequel designed by slide rule to please the family demo, even if nine years is a bit too big a pause between drinks.
FOOTNOTE: The stellar voice cast includes Ginnifer Goodwin, Jason Bateman, David Strathairn, Patrick Warburton, Idris Elba, Shakira, Danny Trejo, Bonnie Hunt, Macaulay Culkin, John Leguizamo, Michael J Fox, Robert Irwin, Dwayne Johnson and Tommy Chong, plus many others.
Impressive, to be sure, but a question: do famous voices really draw people to animated films? The names might look swell on the poster and help with publicity and promotion but do filmgoers watching an animated film really care that the voicework comes from noted actors? If you didn’t know beforehand it’s often hard to tell.
The work Tom Hanks and Tim Allen did on Toy Story probably serve as the best examples of the value-add that well-known actors can bring to a film, but ultimately one wonders if, at the end of the day, it makes all that much difference. Just thinking out loud.
DEAD OF WINTER 1/2 (98 minutes) MA
Lovers of engrossing, taut mystery crime thrillers are advised to walk – nay – run from any temptation to see Emma Thompson flail about in this remarkably sloppy, lazy genre piece.
With an accent sounding like she’s channeling Marge from Fargo, Thompson – usually so good in anything she touches – plays Barb, an elderly widow living in a remote, snow-covered corner of Minnesota who stumbles upon a kidnapping.
Urgh. The plotting and direction (by Brian Kirk) here are poor as heck, an early warning sign the film is a dud hitting in the opening few minutes.
Unfortunately, this is followed by a long series of excruciating narrative lapses and imbecilic turns, leading to a climactic scene that is laughably ludicrous.
Dead of Winter? Dead on Arrival, more like.
Avoid.