Zootopia 2 review: A warm, cuddly ride that gives snakes their due

Snakes don’t have the best reputation. Not on screen (still haunted by Jungle Book’s Kaa’s trrrrusssst in meeee, anacondas…shiver, shiver) and even less so, off-screen, in our daily lexicon.

Sorry to be you, snakes in the grass, you’re just metaphors for back-stabbing and traitorous.

But Zootopia 2 seeks to set the record straight. In this vibrant, colorful world of urban animal life, reptiles have long been cast aside and misunderstood, when in reality they’re just jovial, jokey, home-loving creatures. In the first 20 minutes, we meet idealistic bunny cop Judy Hopps and her too-cool-for-school partner Nick Wilde (voiced by Jason Bateman in arguably his best role yet) as they confront a so-called ‘villain’ snake — who turns out to be a cuddly, family-loving character. The snake has supposedly ‘stolen’ a journal belonging to a snooty, aristocratic family of lynxes, who built the city through deeply unethical tactics. Along the way, the story even raises questions about minorities, refugees, and those displaced from their land.

Make of it what you will. 

Hopps and Wild go on a literally flattening investigation to uncover all the hidden crimes. On the way, they encounter raging seals, a sassy beaver who runs her own podcast and have deep conversations (the heybubheybubheybub should become an official language, I’m serious).

Along the way, they’re also trying to understand what partnership really means… or if it means anything at all. Hopps is endlessly impulsive, often making decisions on her own and dragging Nick Wilde into her escapades — whether it’s floating down a tube to chase a trail or going on the run as a fugitive. Nick, this time around, is the definition of the ‘chill guy’ meme, which means that he has less of a bite than he did in the previous film. But the complaints are minimal, Bateman still has a blast in voicing the reformed fox.

Their story is full of melodrama and heartwarming confessions that would make even the most devoted shipping fandoms blush.

Oh, yes there are shipping fandoms, in case you believed that in no possible world do people cheer for a fox and a rabbit couple, you haven’t been on the internet long enough.

Zootopia 2 works best if you don’t overthink it — a warm, fun watch with its heart in the right place, even if you sometimes feel like Nick, dragged along for a chase you didn’t ask for. It's entertaining, and if you’re looking for a soft pick-me-up, this is it.