Zootopia 2 Rambles!!

My rating:

I went into watching this movie with cautious optimism, and having loved the original Zootopia, I really wanted to enjoy the sequel. I'd seen mixed reviews, so I knew there was a chance it could be good or a chance it could be bad.

Watching the movie I felt like I was supposed to like it, that it was doing everything right. It was action packed, there was compelling conflict between the main characters, it had funny bits and jokes that were unironically entertaining. Yet the entire time I was watching it, something felt... off? The dialog felt forced, characters felt exaggerated.

Really, it felt like I was being TOLD the movie was good, rather than the movie simply being good.

In the end I rate this movie 2 stars. It has some solid redeemable qualities, but nothing that made rating it higher feel right. I think it's worth a watch if you like kids movies though.

Spoilers ahead for the next parts!

Things I liked

Let's start off with some positivity and the things I did appreciate about this movie!!

Nibbles Maplestick. Unironically one of my favorite parts of the movie. She's really out here just living her best life, and as this youtube comment pointed out:

Her bits were also very enjoyable. "It takes two to tango, but a threesome to be somethin'!" and then later on calling back on that bit "It takes a threesome to be somethin' but a fourway to bust your doorway!" as she busts down a door. It is actually incredible.

Other honorable mentions are casually freeing herself from prison, calling Nick and Judy "Nicolas" and "Judith" (and no one ever corrects her lol), and setting up Nick and Judy to eat the worms.

What a queen, 10/10, no notes.

A more serious thing is the action scenes, they were laid out really well and very visually appealing and captivating. They had all the intensity you'd expect from a crime and mystery thriller. During quite a few of the action scenes I felt like I was on the edge of my seat, anxious to see the outcome and conclusion.

The marsh market in particular. Nick and Judy are found by the ZPD and are forced to run, and Judy in particular chases after Gary. It's the kind of scene that's difficult to look away of, it pulls you in very well.

Thirdly, the parallels to the original movie. In Zootopia, Nick was dragged into being a cop when he didn't particularly want to be. In Zootopia 2, Judy becomes a criminal. A life Nick is far more accustomed to, and his experience becomes as useful in this setting as it had in Zootopia.

Along with how they expand on the characters, Judy being more on the controlling side, having always been an overachiever- It's how she got into the ZPD after all. Whereas Nick is happy with enough because that's more than he actually ever expected to get. It was letting go of his preconceived ideas and plans that allowed him to open up in the original Zootopia movie. It was letting go of his own ideals to recognize he doesn't just have to be a "Sly fox".

They picked believable expansions on their characters, and the conflict itself is a clashing that makes perfect sense. It also raises the question of "How much do our differences matter?". In a world where everyone has to be the "same" to get along (ie. The other ZPD teams all being pairings of the same animals), the obvious way to "prove themselves" is to show that they can work the same as those who are the same, to prove their differences don't matter.

Of course, that's not the reality, differences are important, and it is Nick and Judy's differences that made them a good team.

Things I didn't like

Now for the things I don't like, which is unfortunately quite a bit. As mentioned in the intro, it felt like the movie was TELLING you it was a good movie rather than actually committing to being one. Interactions felt forced, characters felt exaggerated, others we were given painfully little about. It left me feeling lacking.

Honestly, I don't believe this movie knew what it was supposed to be. It felt like there were two groups of people, one who wanted it to be an action movie calling out the abuse of marginalized people, and one who wanted it to be a movie focused on Nick and Judy's partnership, and instead of working together, they clashed until they created a lousy version of both.

Partnership and Characterization

Let's start with Nick and Judy's partnership. I mentioned before that the way they expanded on their characters was believable, however I think their execution of it was super forced. They were constantly bickering and fighting, and honestly? They made Judy a very unlikeable character, there were so many scenes where she was just straight up a jerk. Not in a way that exposed her underlying thoughts and desires but just... jerkish moves.

For example, when Nick confesses he has an aversion to reptiles (...which the movie later forgets about, by the way), Judy proceeds to laugh at him for no good reason.

Judy Hopps: You are acting weird. What is your problem?

Nick Wilde: Well, A, you railroaded me, and B... [breathes deeply] if you must know, I have an aversion to... reptiles.

Judy Hopps: [laughs] What?

Nick Wilde: Oh, is my discomfort hilarious to you?

Judy Hopps: No, you're... I'm sorry, you're right, we are partners, and whenever I'm uncomfortable, you are always very considerate of my feelings. [Pointing] Look out, snake skin!

[Nick yelps and slips down the slanted hallway of the boat, making Judy laugh, but grabs on to her ears, much to her pain.]

Where does this come from? Why does she do this? This doesn't present someone who is desperate to prove herself, this presents someone who enjoys being cruel.

As for Nick, they present him as the "Emotional unavailable" one who "Can't say what he feels", as per their trauma dumping session at the emotional climax, and his discussion with Nibbles in jail (though less directly).

Nick Wilde: ... I am an emotionally insecure source of your discomfort, who's not good at expressing his feelings. Probably because I've been on my own my whole life. It's not an excuse; It's just... It's why instead of telling you that you're the best thing that ever happened to me... I, I make jokes about your ears and, and I tell you that you try too hard ...

Yet what I find strange, is that Nick is the one most direct about his feelings throughout the entire movie.

Nick Wilde: Um, well, uh, I feel like some sorries, uh, may be in order.

Judy Hopps: Nick, it's okay. I know you didn't wanna lose him on purpose. [Ringing water out of her ears]

Nick Wilde: Oh, not me sorry. No, no, you sorry.

Nick Wilde: Oh no, I was just... [chuckles nervously] hoping to jot down some ideas for what we will put on our tombstones. I'll start. "His partner did it!"

And he is the one that voices his discomfort with the mission the entire time. Does he do it in the most mature way? No, he does not, but Nick is actually the one to confront discomfort head on, rather than Judy.

This conflict between what they SAY Nick thinks and feels vs how he actually acts, is a case of telling instead of showing, without actually understanding what they're showing alongside it.

The emotional climax being a trauma dump between the two of them didn't work very well in my opinion either. It's something that I believe CAN be done well, but Zootopia 2 did not manage it, especially with it conflicting with how the character's actually act.

It also presents the whole ordeal in a negative connotation by following it up with Nibbles saying "that's what we call an overshare." It takes what was presented as the emotional resolution and yet immediately jokes about it as if it was the wrong way for them to handle it. It leaves you feeling conflicted on if that was actually them finally communicating or if they're actually just making more a mess of things.

In terms of a movie about conflicting differences and how they can affect a partnership, honestly? I think trolls world tour did it better. They also have a habit of just straight up saying outright what is happening in that movie, but unlike Zootopia 2, what they say doesn't clash with what they do.

...Ah, the acceptance movie sequel

Disney has a huge habit of following up any franchise about acceptance and bias by showing up and saying "Hey, here's ANOTHER group of marginalized people you have to learn to accept now!!" Disney channel movies are particularly guilty of this, Descendants 4: Rise of red pulls wonderland out of nowhere, as if it was revolutionary to accept historically unaccepted people because it's wonderland this time. On top of that, the entire Zombies franchise is just iterations of the same thing, just.. progressively worse.

And here we see that with reptiles. Now, I do think they could of done this well. There's a difference between what happened with the predators in Zootopia and what happened with the snakes and reptiles. However, how on earth do I know more about Nibbles Maplestick than I do Gary De'snake? Why did Gary immediately cause chaos the moment he got to Pawbert's place? Why was Gary the only snake that risked going? Was it ONLY the De'snake family that he cared about helping? What is he like?

I don't know, honestly. He felt like he was written to simply be likeable, to be the victim of the story that they had to save. It feels really messed up to sideline a character when you're writing about them being marginalized and tossed to the side. I know it happens a lot in sequels where new characters don't quite get the same care that the original gets, but cmon, he's important!

It makes me care so little about the De'snake and Lynxley conflict. Honestly, by the time we reached our emotional climax, I was kinda done. (Unrelated, why does Pawbert just keep getting away for no reason??).

And honestly that sucks, because I wanted to care. It was set up for you to care, but I simply just wasn't given enough to do so fully.

In Conclusion

I wish I could love this movie, especially because I know there were people behind it who did want to do better. The issues that arise honestly to me scream corporate intervention. It has all the makings of a movie that could of and wanted to be good.

I'd say it's worth a watch if you like those kinds of movies, but that's about it.

Quotations taken from the Zootopia Wiki on Fandom. If you value your sanity, use an ad blocker while viewing.

Sammie | Posted: Mar 16, 2026 | Zootopia 2 Rambles