Zootopia

If there's one thing to say about Judy Hopps, if anyone ever tells her she is unable to do something, then she'll do everything in her power to prove that person wrong. Since she was young, all she's ever wanted was to make a difference - and the way she knows best is to join the police force in the big city of Zootopia. Everyone tries to talk her out of it, even her own parents, trying to get her to see how dangerous it is for a little country bunny in the big city. Their desperate pleas fall on deaf ears, and so Judy works her little cotton tail off through the police academy and earns her place as part of the police force. Her excitement diminishes when she realizes none of her coworkers believe she belongs on the force, and her job is reduced to little more than being a meter maid. She knows she has a lot more to offer both the city of Zootopia and the police force, and so when the police catch wind of a case of missing mammals, Judy jumps on the chance to solve the case on her own to prove her worth.

Zootopia is one of the best animated movies I've seen in recent years. I've heard a lot of people say that last year's Inside Out was the best Pixar animated movie, and I enjoyed it a lot, but personally I enjoyed Zootopia so much more. I wasn't really able to connect as well to Inside Out as I was to Zootopia. I'm not really sure why. Zootopia has a fantastic (albeit slightly cliche) message intertwined into the story of not judging a book by its cover, and to strive to do your best at everything you do, even if the task at hand isn't something you particularly enjoy/want to be doing.

Like most, if not all, Pixar's stories, Zootopia keeps you entertained with a riveting story; one filled with excitement, laugh-until-you-cry humor, and even some slightly scary parts. I don't want to go in to too much detail so I don't spoil anything, but fair warning: there are a few chase sequences which may or may not freak out the much younger kids who sit down to watch it. Nothing truly bad happens, but the scenes could be considered pretty intense for younger audiences. As far as the more sentimental scenes go, they didn't feel forced like so many other movies. I didn't roll my eyes once at any sappy, sentimental lines. For me that was a huge plus.

I usually don't like saying this about movies, I've always been under the impression that while there could be some good messages and/or themes throughout a movie, the primary job - to semi quote Gladiator - is to entertain. If it doesn't do that, then it hasn't done its job. That being said, I think Zootopia can fall under the category of not only entertaining, but an important movie to sit down and watch. I can only say that about a handful of other movies over the years. Yes, the message is slightly cliche, and it's been done dozens of times, but to me this was different in its delivery. I can't explain it, but I'd say that Zootopia is one of those movies that *should* be seen.