The Reel Rejects - ZOOTOPIA 2 (2025) MOVIE REVIEW – THIS SEQUEL CHANGED US! – FIRST TIME WATCHING

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Starting point is 00:00:27 Visit medcan.com slash moments to get started. Thank you to Liquid Ivy for sponsoring this video. More on them in just a bit. Hi, guys. You ready to do this? Yeah, let's do it. The first one was great. I'm excited.

Starting point is 00:00:42 Yeah, it was so much fun. Watch that reaction if you guys haven't. Let's get it. Well, that was an incredible movie. Yes, it was. Genuinely incredible. Holy crap. That surprised me.

Starting point is 00:00:57 So, Prepper, thank you so much for editing this down. And you guys are doing an excellent, excellent job. Also, great way you can support the channel. full reaction watch along where you could sync up with your own copy that is available for our royal rejects those are our patrons at patreon.com slash real rejects great way to offset the daily copyright claims that we get the monetization hurdles that we run into don't even know if this one's monetized maybe it is maybe it isn't so thank you guys for supporting us and additionally you can get discounts at rejignation shop.com get any type of RRTai you can go straight to the site directly as

Starting point is 00:01:34 well. Tara, I'll go to you first, man. Sure. What is your feeling? What is the, if I were, if I did not know, if I did not see this movie and I was to be like, Tara, I heard you just saw Zootopia too. It's fantastic. Everyone needs to go see it.

Starting point is 00:01:52 I don't know what you're doing asking me about it. Because seriously, this movie's an 11 out of 10. It, like, okay, the deeper message. that they're sending is great. Like you were saying, like colonialism, but also like, you know, there's power. There's, and we're living in it now, but there's like can be really, really scary power

Starting point is 00:02:17 where when they have the power, they can overtake and just push people out. And it's no good. It is no good. And it's so funny, you know, especially at the end where they said, what makes you, you, what makes me, me, that can make us stronger,

Starting point is 00:02:31 which is absolutely true. Like, we're better together. Yeah. Honestly. And right now we're kind of in a world that's a little bit. There's a division there. But so what I think the message that they're bringing here is really extraordinary. I think it's great for the times that we're living in now. But I also just think it's really heartwarming. It's filled with a lot of love and great writing, but it's also really funny at the same time. I said this about the first one. That was a movie that I just wanted to look at. The art that goes into this, meaning the sunsets, the sunrises, just the overall environment is all very realistic,

Starting point is 00:03:09 but it also feels really tactile and sometimes surreal, like you're living in a dream because it's so beautiful that you just get, you want to be a part of this world with the way that they make it look, with the animation and the cinematography and the lighting, the animation. There's like nothing wrong with it. There's nothing in this, in the animation, in the lighting and the cinematography that pulls you out of it. Even the action stuff. The action stuff is really, is directed really well. The camera's moving.

Starting point is 00:03:44 There's still jokes in it, but the jokes are at the right time. It's not like, oh, I get that was supposed to be a joke, but I'm kind of focusing here. Like, they really took their time in between the snake and the bunny when the snake is left out, when Gary's left out and he's dying. and Bunny thinks she's going to die. Hopps think she's going to die. And they have that heart to heart. What a great scene that was. And they really took their time.

Starting point is 00:04:07 And that is what I mean when I say it has to have heart. There's a lot more heart. Other scenes. I don't need to talk about the whole movie because we just watched it. But that scene, they specifically took their time. And there was a lot of heart there where we really felt for them. And then, of course, when she recovers and then we get why they're so emotionally stunted, it's so realistic.

Starting point is 00:04:28 everybody has those issues 11 out of 10 give me a break yeah man that was good points all good points all around I was surprised again by this experience

Starting point is 00:04:42 similar to the first one where the structure goes you know you introduce your plot you introduce the reintroduce the world and then the first half is like a lot of fun huge laughs like it's kind of hilarious

Starting point is 00:04:56 and then the second half gets a lot more about its commentary while not entirely losing its humor. It maintains the heart even rightly calls out its own twist, you know. So I was genuinely surprised by how much more in depth this one managed to go. And I was like, it's kind of like, where do you start with this movie, you know, like with really talking about it? Because on the, on the animation side, it's called Zootopia. And when I think about the first one, while they do go to like, several different parts of Zootopia. I kind of just remember the one city, you know.

Starting point is 00:05:32 I don't really think about the geography. Yeah. And they really open up the geography here. So you get all kinds of different locations. And it feels like you're traversing the world of Zootopia a lot more. And that variation feels alive. It's very, like, rich and variety and cultural. And even when they're kind of making fun,

Starting point is 00:05:58 of some parts it never feels to the point where like right down to like the swamp area part you know like it's this it's funny shit it was a genuinely like really really funny movie with a surprising amount of heart you know like i'm i said it during the reaction like i'm i'm a vegetarian due to my love for animals but the one part about my animal side i have a hard time like subscribing to is i really do not like reptiles like when it can't came to this movie. It's like that is my part. I don't like reptiles. I even like struggle with like iguanas or lizards. Like even snakes are like one of my biggest fears. I was held the snake to try to conquer and I thought it was like the scariest thing in my life. So yeah, like the whole,

Starting point is 00:06:47 I've never like connected with a reptile or or a snake. And this movie kind of opened my mind up to the possibility of because there was times where my mind was kind of drifting. And not in a bad way, but in a reflective way, where I was going, why do I not like, was, is there part of, like, societal conditioning that tells you to fear them? And then I started thinking, like, oh, yeah, whenever I would see stories about snakes, there was always, like, horror stories in the media or, like, I grew up watching, like, I saw the movie Anaconda when I was younger. Like, Indiana Jones, I hate snakes.

Starting point is 00:07:21 Everything was about, like, snakes suck. And then growing up Catholic, like the Adam and Eve, the Bible, the devil is. a snake, a serpent, everything just seemed to go back to like snakes are evil. And so it's just got my brain kind of checked out for like a minute because I was just thinking about this. Like, oh my gosh. This movie got me to like think about my personal life in this and relation to it. So I was surprised by that effect that it was having and really opened up my mind because

Starting point is 00:07:53 I was trying to write down some like words as you were talking like with these points of Because I think I'll just shout out what my words are. Because yeah, the movie was dealing a lot with like, yeah, colonialism, erasure and inclusion, exclusion. And I think when you were talking about it's such a good point, I was like the social power. Yeah. And it's like social power and justice a lot to deal with like marginalized groups. And even though we're in like a progressive world, which is like what we pitch to the public now of how much of a progressive world we are, it we still do shun out like we still do have like marginalized groups and we pushed them into

Starting point is 00:08:32 like pockets yes and corners and try to bury certain truths about our society and I thought it was a brave way to go on it especially for a sequel because the first movie this movie like zootopia one doesn't need a sequel you know like it was so good on its own and it ends in a way of like happily ever after their partners and there's going to be no issue with them being cops together now and zutopia has been saved and it's kind of like idealic and then when you open up this part that is the reality that we live in and i love that they even push the boundaries of reality even that much more because it evolves into something that gets so much bigger as it goes and it doesn't feel like it loses its intimacy you know it's like there's a personalized one to it while also doing like a lot about

Starting point is 00:09:27 identity and belonging and when it came to Judy and Nick that I like their I like the arc that they have as partners I will say like I don't think the first one's the introduction

Starting point is 00:09:41 of their friendship right? Yeah. And the way that plot is maneuvering seems to affect their true inner arcs like kind of stronger. You know I think like their relationship in arcs in the first movie is

Starting point is 00:09:55 stronger whereas like there's the mission and then there's what's going on with them internally, which is great. It's great here. I just think it like kind of compliments this, the movie stronger in the first one of what their journey is, but they managed to at least write something for them that I thought was strong enough because, yeah, it's like the movie ends on that happily ever after his partner notes, but what are the problems that happen in that? That happens a lot on life where you embark on a mission with partners and you think it's going to be great. And then there's all that unresolved tension and you don't communicate, you know.

Starting point is 00:10:29 So they still gave them, like, great arcs. And while being a funny, you mean, like, yeah, the action. It's insane. It was like a cool movie. It was like cool. Fellow reject, I've learned the hard way that more effort isn't always the answer. Sometimes it's pacing. There were stretches in my life where I was training hard, working nonstop,

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Starting point is 00:12:48 It's really cool. And when you think about it, you know, to go from the end of the first one. It's like, realistically, happiness is fleeting. I'm not trying to be the down here, but it's true, right? And even when they were in the meeting, they're like, we're only a week out of being partners. I was like, oh, yeah, we're slapping us back into this world quickly.

Starting point is 00:13:08 It's not like a lot of time had passed. And I do agree with you that the arc, especially when they had the conversation, when he's like, listen, traumatic childhood can't talk about. That's why I'm funny. and I'm like, so true. Yeah. I made fun of that like all the time when in stand-up. It's just like, or all my friends, it's like everyone's broken in some weird way and that's why they're funny.

Starting point is 00:13:32 Yeah. And then, you know, in her bringing up all her insecurities and needing outward validation, it's like we both have made fun of ourselves for that, like on the channel. I like how realistic they got with their differences, but also not just their strengths. but what they feel to be their weaknesses, but it really just makes them like more human, more bunny, more fox, right? It's an overall human nature arc that they are feeling just like we do,

Starting point is 00:14:06 which is what I think makes this movie very relatable. And I love the writing really specifically. And I saw that the director also wrote it, I assume they also had a big hand in producing it, which is why this movie is. So great. It's funny because we said it was like the Incredibles. Yes.

Starting point is 00:14:25 At one point, and I was referencing it more to like the movement of the action scenes. And then you pointed out the music and it's the same guy who composed the music for the Incredibles. It is. Oh my God. Yes. And so it does have that like throwback spy kind of vibe. There's a nostalgicness to the way it was handled.

Starting point is 00:14:44 A great introduction, like the new snake character. Like you introduce new characters in a sequel and sometimes that's a harder sell. Oh, get out of here, right? He was great. I really, they had the sheep twist in the last movie, but I remember when that happened going, oh, yeah, I kind of remember you in this movie. Like, I didn't really think about her that much of that movie. And I think in that first movie, they were intentionally not featuring her a lot,

Starting point is 00:15:09 so that way you wouldn't predict it was her. Right. And in this one, the Link's character, they're, it really, I've not one second thought that that was a traitor. So I was like, holy shit. They really pulled one over here. I agree. It was so excellent in the way they did it. Because I think you thought it was going to be the caterer guy or something.

Starting point is 00:15:29 Because remember in the beginning of the movie, you were saying, I think I already know who the bad person is, but I'm not going to say. They were saying up the links people to be like bad people and when they first showed them. Oh, okay. And I judged them by their appearance. I got you. Okay. Yes, they were. They were.

Starting point is 00:15:44 They were. And then they had the black sheep in the family and he was a bad person, too. Yeah. So, yeah. But it's, it's funny. The way they mirror like history, but also real world things that we're dealing with today. And that comes from the residual of not acknowledging the disparaging parts of our history. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:16:02 Is a bold thing. And a cool way to illustrate it for kids. You know, I've never read the book Animal Farm. And I hear that is a great allegorical book to teach kids stuff where you do it from the point of view of animals and the way you characters. And to me, these utopia films seem to be that. where there's great life lessons here beyond just, you know, telling people, you know, look at your heart, except who you're, like, it's beyond just the individual sides of be a better communicator, open up your feelings, you know, accept who you are, which is usually a common message. And there's nothing wrong with that. That's great. And people need to know that. And some people struggle with that so much. And I struggle with that. And Tara doesn't shut up about it. So we're knowing. when it comes to this bigger stuff, the historical side. And literally in a time where you mentioned politics in a movie,

Starting point is 00:16:56 people just like throw their arms up in the air are pissed off. And this is some of the best way to do it. I agree. This is some of the absolute best way to do it where you can just watch a movie and love it and accept it without even trying to find like, what are the right fancy words that I need to write down on my notebook here? What are the deeper themes? Yeah, because just you accept it on. And that's how you, that's how you do it.

Starting point is 00:17:18 You don't preach at people. You move people with their emotions. You move people by connect, you connect them to, to it. So then when a real world thing pops up, you're emotionally inclined to register why this is bad. So, yeah, I love this, Fran. I think this is like, if they can, they're obviously going to do a part three. They're probably doing closer to, but I kind of like when they wait. Because it's fun how they let the.

Starting point is 00:17:44 The, because I don't know the first one come out then we'll wrap this up. I know, wow. But the one thing that I will say is that, you know, in giving us this context, this theme of like kind of giving us a message on the world, but they always sort of end with this advice. And if it's the line that you can remember, which I think is a line for all of us and the world, is what makes you, you, what makes me, me makes us better.

Starting point is 00:18:13 Yeah. Better together. That's truly what, and if anyone, you know, watches this and things like, but what are we, but what is it? It's like if you just remember that, that's one of the last things that they said, that's true. Very true. That's very true. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:18:31 The first one came out, 2016. So this has been a while. And what was fun is that this movie picks up, like plot timeline-wise in the plot in the world, it picks up like not long after. It seems like just a few weeks or something. something exactly but but they did was they updated the media landscape to how much our media has evolved agreed podcasters and the internet the whole YouTube side and streaming and everything like they met they they they knew how to make it like even more relevant to modern day

Starting point is 00:19:01 totally and so that's what I kind of like if they wait because the way technology and media evolves is like it's just it's going it's happening so much faster now yeah that I like when they have time to acclimate to it. The next one would be like AI and a robot walking through and cleaning up trash and like, you know, like, yeah, that which I think would be very fun. Well, it seems like they need time to like truly think and develop something that is very deep. But guys, that's like a 10 out of 10 animation movie. That was great. I don't want to declare because of reasons he biased. I might be one of Disney's best movies. I'm with you. Under percent. In terms of the animation department, like that is freaking incredible.

Starting point is 00:19:42 And gorgeous. And gorgeous and funny and cool. It's like everything. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, God. Yeah, they're waiting. Well, they're not waiting as long.

Starting point is 00:19:51 So probably in five years. Potential release around 2028 to 2030. Okay. Building on the second movie. They are aiming it for a faster production cycle than the nearly decade-long gap between the first two films. Okay. So I get that.

Starting point is 00:20:06 Okay. All right. All right. Well, guys, do you like Zootopia two more? Did you get any life lessons from? from it leave your thoughts down below thank you terra for joining me on the zootopia adventure we'll see you guys soon reject nation thank you so much for being here

The Reel Rejects - ZOOTOPIA 2 (2025) MOVIE REVIEW – THIS SEQUEL CHANGED US! – FIRST TIME WATCHING

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