A bit different!

Rating: 8/10 (17 April 2016)

As always Disney gives us a movie with lots of humor, lots of cute and funny characters and a great story for everyone. But this one in particular I thought was a bit different. From my point of view it's not only targeting kids in the first place, but adults too. The thing is that apart from the fact that the story is played out in a world where animals live together and carry the story (typical Disney environment), the story itself is actually quite similar to what the "Lethal Weapon" movies used to be about and more of an adult kind of plot. A police mystery with lots of action. Without the level of violence from Lethal Weapon of course, though it is kind of violent sometimes and maybe not the best movie to watch with your absolute youngest kids.
There are also many references to adult movies like "The Godfather" that you will only find funny if you have actually seen the movie, which I doubt a 7 year old kid has. But not only that, it also takes on issues on a political level that is more than accurate around the world today: racism, sexism, xenophobia, even terrorism is executed to some extent. In my point of view that is what makes this movie darker and a bit different from other recent Disney movies. They have done a great job in taking on these themes in such a simple way that everyone can understand them. Children as well as adults.
The characters are very well done! I loved the way they portray every animal, translate their abilities or peculiarities and put them to use in a modern human society. This is one thing that Disney almost never fails at. It made me crack several times and I had such a good time throughout the movie! Also I find it quite appealing that they are moving away from "Princess- land" since a lot of Disney movies has been about a prince or a princess in some way. We've seen all that too many times and it's what made me dislike "Frozen" so much. This one to me is more like "Wall-e" and shows us something fresh in terms of animated Disney movies. Thank God it's not a musical either. This is an action thriller for kids and I liked it!