Looks like the obligatory Disney hype train is upon us

Rating: 5/10 (9 April 2016)

Remember the Academy Award winning film Crash and how everyone thought it was the worst Best Picture winner of all time? How everyone hated it because it was very one sided on its views on racism and how even though it was against stereotypes it itself was stereotypical? That's how I feel with Zootopia, which has a 98% on Rotten Tomatoes, but not to the extent of Crash. While Zootopia has good cast and a fun feel it suffers from a bland story, ho-hum characters, and a very uninteresting take on racism. Nothing in the film really ever makes it stand out from other Disney film. If it didn't talk about racism then no one would be singing it's praises.
Zootopia starts out with an unnecessary backstory right at the beginning about how the world works in a play that the main character, Judy Hopps, is in. Zootopia is the city in the universe of this film where Predator and Prey live together in harmony. Judy Hopps is the first rabbit to join the police force and is trying to solve a recent case where Predators are being kidnapped. With the help of a red fox con artist, Nick Wilde, they uncover a conspiracy that'll shake the people of Zootopia. Too bad I wasn't shaking because I didn't really care for the characters or the story of Zootopia. I'm not trying to be harsh but I can't hide the fact that I don't get easily invested in stories that are beat to beat generic stories. If you have ever seen a detective film then you have basically seen Zootopia. It does nothing new with what's given and feels like Crash with animals.
I hear that many people love how the film talked about racism but it didn't get extremely in depth with it. Just because you talk about prejudice doesn't make your film amazing. When Zootopia talks about racial prejudice it never bring up anything interesting or new. It just says "racism is bad". Agreeing with a certain political or social issue doesn't mean the film is great. I liked Blue is the Warmest Color but I would still give it a 7/10. Just talking about social issues isn't enough to make your film one of the highest rated films of the year. A movie that talked about racism perfectly is Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing. It said that racism is a complicated subject matter and that some people say something is racist just to get their racism out on others. It never agrees with one side and lets you decide what is right. Zootopia never goes deep into these issues as much as it should to make an interesting story.
The best part of Zootopia the cast by far. Ginnifer Goodwin has always been a good actress and she brings a lot of enthusiasm to the character of Judy Hopps. Same goes for Jason Bateman as Nick Wilde. I absolutely loved his character at many parts of the film and gave me a smile each time I saw him on screen. The other great actors in the film are sadly wasted, J.K. Simmons is an actor that I have appreciated ever since Spider-Man and I started following more of him after his Oscar- winning role in Whiplash, so I am always extremely disappointed whenever any film wastes him like in the tragic Terminator Genisys. Idris Elba plays a very generic chief but it never goes anywhere new or fun. I personally would have loved to see Elba have more fun and do more stereotypical Chief moments in Zootopia. But there isn't a terrible performance in this film. Disney never disappoints when it comes to voice acting and Zootopia is no exception.
Zootopia, while disappointing, is still a fun film that Disney fans will definitely get a kick out of. While it would be great to see Disney tread off the seemingly long and winding generic road they are able to squeeze as much magic in their films as possible. If they do ever make a sequel or decide to talk about other social issues in future films hopefully they can do something risky that will truly make the film exceptional. Maybe not the go to movie to see this year but definitely something to check out.