Zootopia 2 Movie Review
Nathan Swank
November 25th, 2025
In 2016, ZOOTOPIA was released to critical and audience acclaim alike, even winning Best Animated Film over my beloved MOANA at the Academy Awards. The long awaited sequel, brings our beloved characters back needing to solve a new case. ZOOTOPIA 2 is a success, delivering a hilarious buddy cop sequel in a family friendly version of LETHAL WEAPON. With this type of funny, case-solving, animated buddy genre, I foresee a long, healthy ZOOTOPIA franchise.
ZOOTOPIA 2 brings our favorite bunny, rookie cop Judy Hopps (voiced by Ginnifer Goodwin), paired up again with a sarcastic fox, Nick Wilde (voiced by Jason Bateman). Nick has also become a cop and the two unlikely friends are now partners. In typical buddy cop fashion, Hopps and Wilde tend to go rogue chasing bad guys and don’t always listen to their commanding officer, Chief Bogo (voiced by Idris Elba). Much like the first film involved a stereotype toward predators and prey, ZOOTOPIA 2 involves the outcasts of the animal world through the unfounded mistrust and fear of reptiles. Our two heroes go undercover, infiltrate interesting habitats, dress in playful disguises, and eventually become suspects themselves as they try to solve one of their most difficult cases yet. This is probably a phrase that will be uttered for each future sequel as well.
ZOOTOPIA 2 introduces a few new characters in Gary De’ Snake (voiced by Ke Huy Quan), Pawbert Lynxley (voiced by Andy Samberg), Milton Lynxley (voiced by David Straitharn), Mayor Winddancer (voiced by Patrick Warburton), and Nibbles Mablestick (voiced by Fortune Feimster), But many of the scene stealing moments involve the return of fan favorites characters such as mob boss Mr. Big and his adorable granddaughter or super slow sloth Flash leading an exciting chase scene.
My children and the children in the screening clearly loved the film with lots of laughter. However, at 1 hour and 48 minutes, ZOOTOPIA 2 could be slightly shorter, The last act of the film unnecessarily stretches some of the slower moments explaining exposition or delaying answers the audience already knows. Those extra 6 or 7 minutes begin to lose some of the family audience who doesn’t need that extra drama building effort.
With that said, ZOOTOPIA 2 might be one of the funniest films of the year. The adults were laughing as much as the kids and not because of some inappropriate innuendos, but rather witty references to recognizable life situations. Judy Hopps receives a text from her dad that is identical to what I receive on a daily basis from my supportive, aging parents. Background jokes of cleverly named animal themed versions of popular movies, the same pig character getting drinks spilled on him at a party, or a simple yo mama joke keeps everyone engaged and laughing. ZOOTOPIA 2 proves that the old adult-geared, comedic buddy cop formula can easily transition toward the PG-family friendly crowd to great success.
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