...ok

I found my mind wandering to deeply online activities like scouring every frame for easter eggs more than absorbing whatever message it was trying to send. Which I left having no clue of. Had to have a brief discussion with the people I saw it with to come to "being different isn't bad". And maybe just the briefest hint of class consciousness.

If Zootopia was baby's first taste of prejudice then 2 was...I'm not entirely sure. An equally topical, but less impactful version of 1? I got the impression the movie was more interested in making references to pop culture and the first movie moreso than saying anything. Which is fine, but does not bode well for another billion dollars. The Nick and Judy back-and-forth was fun, Judy was portrayed in a much more flawed light than the last movie (which, depending on your perspective, is either a major shift or a minor one), and the side characters in this one had more impact as a direct driving force for the plot, but less character overall. Or rather, all the character was condensed into one side character in particular. Maybe it's the almost 10 years between the two, almost assuredly it's my familiarity with the first one, but I was really hoping there'd be more to this than callbacks nobody will remember unless they have brain worms.

Nick and Judy shined for the first 15 minutes of the movie, then Nick shined for another 60. Then I was largely bored, giggling at my companions laughing at sloth jokes (philistines), and being weirded out by the extreme closeups that reminded me of the bygone 3D era of movies. All in all, we waited 10 years for this?

And, spoilers, Wildehopps wasn't confirmed. Fuckin' whatever man. Lots of casual paw shots I guess. I think I'll need to watch it a few more times just to catch the body language of the characters, especially in the opening. Some great character acting that I only caught glimpses of, so I'm looking forward to getting my hands on a copy

Edit Dec 6 2025: movie is popping off, Nick and Judy move mountains