Solid and clever, but falls victim to basic clichés and contrivances

Rating: 7/10 (13 March 2016)

Zootopia is extremely creative and a bit edgier than many Disney movies. Similarly to Inside Out, Zootopia is an animated film that can be enjoyed by children on the surface, and enjoyed by adults who get little references and see the deeper meaning the film is trying to put across. The problem comes in the way this clever story is told.
The two main characters, while easy enough to care about, form the very standard "unlikely friendship" that we've seen in lots of other movies. It was very tiring to see the same scenes I've seen everywhere else, just with a bunny and a fox instead of humans.
Also, the stakes of the film didn't feel as real as many other films. There were several moments where the movie puts the characters in a potentially dangerous situation, but instead of having them try to find their way out of it, the film pulls the rug out from under you and shows that the characters were on top of things the whole time. While this can be funny, and it does work at the beginning, there were points where it seemed like the film had no real stakes at all. Which is disappointing.
That being said, the film was funny and clever, and the animation and voice acting were top-notch. However, the plot was often reduced to basic things we've seen before. Definitely a good kid's film, and a film adults will get decent enjoyment out of.