Rabbits, Foxes, and Elephants, OH MY! Zootopia: A Review

By Jason Van Duine

Roo Rating: 4.5/5

In recent years, Disney on its own never seemed to be able to live up to Pixar. Films like Princess and the Frog, Frozen, Tangled, and Big Hero 6 were all great, but not nearly as great as films like Inside Out, Up, The Incredibles, or the Toy Story trilogy. Yet, in the vibrant, colorful, animal-filled metropolis of Zootopia, it seems as though Disney has finally stumbled upon their best movie in years. As hilarious and creative as it is emotional, Zootopia really does shine as one of Disney’s best.

In a world where humans never existed, animals have taken on the dominant role in becoming more anthropomorphic and human-like, living in a modern society filled with raging technology, hit pop songs, and parking tickets just like our own. One of the most enjoyable aspects of Zootopia was seeing the juxtaposition of the animals acting like humans while maintaining animal characteristics. The sloths are incredibly slow, the wolves are obsessed with howling, and the bunnies are too peaceful for their own good.

We open up on Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin), a young rabbit from a farm who aspires to become the first rabbit police officer – a profession dominated by more intimidating animals such as tigers and bears. Upon graduating as valedictorian, she moves to the bustling city of Zootopia and is hired as the first rabbit police officer. All is good, right? Wrong. As soon as the other animals are assigned to real cases and she is assigned to parking duty, it’s clear that something fishy is going on. Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman) later explains how “Everyone comes to Zootopia thinking they could be anything they want. But you can’t. You can only be what you are.” Judy attempts to break boundaries by discovering evidence in a case regarding missing mammals, to which Chief Bogo (Idris Elba) gives her 48 hours to solve the case. As a key witness, she brings along con artist fox Nick Wilde to help, because everything Judy wants to prove rides on her ability in solving the case.

Pictured above are Judy Hopps  (Ginnifer Goodwin) and Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman).

 

The story of Zootopia manages to stay entertaining for the full 2 hour runtime, something that even Big Hero 6 would have failed had it not been for Baymax’s humor. Not only is the truth behind the missing mammals extremely clever considering the film’s concept (something I won’t spoil), but the humor stays on point from the first few minutes until its final moments. To say that Zootopia is Disney’s funniest movie in years would almost be an understatement. Much of its humor can be found hilarious by both children and adults, something few animated movies these days can do. There are tons of pop culture references, my personal favorites being nods towards The Godfather and Breaking Bad. Zootopia even makes fun of Disney’s past movies when Bogo yells to Judy that “Life isn’t some cartoon musical where you sing a little song and all your insipid dreams come true, so let it go.” Its regular humor is hilarious as well. Probably the funniest scene in the movie involves Judy and Nick going into the DMV to run a license plate, only to take forever due to the sloth (Ironically named Flash, voiced by Raymond S. Persi) working there. Zootopia is just a hilarious movie, with its comedy even rivaling that of Inside Out.

But the largest part of Zootopia’s success comes from the delicate balance between humor and more serious subject matter. Inside Out took on complex storytelling by making it a movie about depression. Taking on this relevant and important topic is what made Inside Out so brilliant— it gave the story a level of depth that is not often achieved in a film targeted toward children. Zootopia manages to do the same thing, taking on a controversial and relevant topic – racism and police brutality. This is heard early on in the movie. When Judy is first called cute, she responds, saying “A bunny can call another bunny ‘cute’, but when other animals do it, that’s a little…” Later, it goes beyond simple jokes and satire. Themes of racism are later incorporated within the plot of the movie. I won’t spoil how they do this exactly (it’s too clever to spoil), but Disney takes a clear stance on the issue. With issues of racism and discrimination littered throughout the film, Zootopia (along with Inside Out) might be Disney’s most thought-provoking film.

It’s not only rare that we get an animated film like Zootopia, but it’s rare that we get any film like Zootopia. It manages to bring its bright world to life and make it feel real. Somehow, a movie about an anthropomorphic rabbit and a fox trying to solve a missing mammal case manages to be one of the most entertaining, hilarious, creative, and serious animated movies released in a long while. Never before has Disney taken on themes of prejudice and racism, making it far more worthwhile than previous hits like Frozen and Big Hero 6. Zootopia is by far one of Disney’s best films, and the depth of the story makes it highly engaging and important for young and old alike.

Book Review: The Jack Blank Adventure Series by Matt Myklusch

By Sasha Hanna

The Accidental Hero By Matt Myklush

The Jack Blank Adventure Series by Matt Myklusch is one of my favorite book series. It consists of three books: The Accidental Hero, The Secret War, and The End of Infinity. In most trilogies each successive book seems to decrease in quality, leading to a lack of enjoyment while reading, but each book of this series was just as great, if not better than, the last. Myklusch wove an incredible story throughout all three books that kept me coming back for more. The series’ protagonist is a boy named Jack Blank. Well, we don’t actually know his real name, Jack Blank is just what he calls himself. Anyway, Jack is an orphan at St Barnaby’s Home for the Hopeless, Abandoned, Forgotten, and Lost. He is our mistreated and downtrodden underdog, a cliché Myklusch somehow renders unique. One day, Jack’s status in the world is completely altered when he is attacked by an evil Rüstov solider bent on destroying him. The Rüstov are evil robot-zombies that Jack had only ever seen in his comics. Seeing one in real life changes everything he knows. Jack is then whisked off to Imagination Land by emissary Jazon and meets all of the characters from his favorite comic books before discovering that he is one of them.

This book is one of my favorites for so many reasons, but what I like most about it is that no matter what people tell Jack he doesn’t give up. So many people insist upon hating Jack for just being himself, but still Jack perseveres. In the end it’s not about how powerful Jack is as Superhero, but about his determination and his loyalties to his friends and beliefs. For this reason, the third and final book of the series is my favorite. Overall, The Jack Blank Adventure Series is incredible and Matt Myklusch is a wonderful author. This series is a wonderful read for anyone and I highly recommend it.

2015: A Year in Film

By Jason Van Duine

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

As 2015 comes to a close, it marks as one of the most successful years in film we’ve seen to date. From the revival of popular franchises such as Mad Max, Jurassic World, and Star Wars to science fiction surprises such as Ex Machina and The Martian, this year was a year for everyone. Here are some highlights from 2015:

Inside Out: Ever since the success of Toy Story 3, it seems as though Pixar has been stuck in a circle of unpopular sequels, prequels, and spin-offs. Starting off with Cars 2, then continuing on with Planes, Planes: Fire and Rescue, and Monsters University, the best we got since Woody and Buzz was Brave, which was just generically good in comparison to past hits. Inside Out brings back everything we love about Pixar movies, and then some. Following five unique emotions residing inside a 12 year-old girl, writer/director Pete Docter (who also did Up and Monsters, Inc.) leads us on a hilarious and heart-breaking journey about depression in a way that no one has thought of before.

Mad Max: Fury Road: Exactly 30 years after Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome, writer/director George Miller returns us to his post-apocalyptic universe in the most unexpected critical hit in years. Once the world began to run out of oil and water, it soon turned to mad anarchy. Under the rule of dictator Immortan Joe, fearless war rig driver Imperator Furiosa teams with Max as they attempt to free a group of slaves from Joe’s rule. It’s a compelling story, complete with non-stop action with little to no CGI involved. It’s intense and keeps you on the edge of your seat, daring to go places that no action movie has gone before. George Miller’s direction stands out as every scene is perfectly shot in this strange yet awesome action flick.

The Revenant: Alejandro G. Inarittu, who won the Academy Award last year for Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) directs yet another masterpiece, this time staring Leonardo DiCaprio as Hugh Glass, a frontiersman who, after being mauled by a vicious bear, is left for dead by one of his companions. Out for revenge, the film follows Glass’s journey across the frozen frontier of the late 1800s and his struggle to survive in the wasteland. DiCaprio and his co-star Tom Hardy nail their performances. The film is beautifully shot, thanks to Emmanuel Lubezki’s cinematography (he also did Birdman and Gravity). Similar to Mad Max, it’s intense and emotional, as Glass struggles to find the man who killed his son and left him for dead.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens: Definitely the most anticipated film of the decade, Episode 7 of the science fiction epic brings the franchise back up to its original status of excellence. Writer/director J. J. Abrams brings the series to new heights as scavenger Rey and former Storm Trooper Finn team up with the Resistance to find the missing Luke Skywalker and stop Kylo Ren, Darth Vader’s successor. The film is a blast to watch, with each action scene adding more tension than the last. Abrams’ new cast of characters are all likeable from their introduction on-screen. The script’s perfect mixture of comedy, drama, and nostalgia make it a great way to end the year in cinema.

Spotlight: This year’s Academy Award for Best Picture is well deserved, as director Tom McCarthy puts the “spotlight” on journalism. Based on an unbelievable true story, the film follows a team of journalists and their attempt to uncover a handful of Boston priests who have molested children with no consequences from the Church. As their research continues, the issue escalates; eventually they discover that up to 90 priests everywhere have committed and gotten away with the crime, making this issue about far more than just a few “bad apples” in the bunch. Despite being slow-moving, the film is moving and very thought-provoking, especially during its final scenes, though the largest emotional punch arrives as the film ends, when a list appears of all the places in which priests have molested children. It’s terrifying, and it establishes this issue as one that cannot be ignored.

 

Flashback: The 88th Academy Awards or “The White People’s Choice Awards”

By Jason Van Duine

On February 28^th, 2016, the 88^th Academy Awards were held, with Mad Max: Fury Road, The Revenant, and Spotlight taking home the top prizes. The post-apocalyptic action thriller Mad Max: Fury Road swept the technical awards, winning Best Film Editing, Best Costume Design, Best Makeup and Hair Styling, Best Production Design, Best Sound Mixing, and Best Sound Editing. It received the most awards of the evening; walking away with a total of six Oscars from its ten nominations. The Revenant was awarded in some of the bigger categories. Alejandro G. Iñárritu, the director, won Best Director for the film. After winning the same award last year for Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance), this marks the first time in 65 years since a director won in this category for two years in a row. And after six nominations, Leonardo DiCaprio finally won his long overdue Oscar for his role as Hugh Glass in The Revenant. This was, perhaps, the most anticipated moment of the evening, but DiCaprio took his moment in the spotlight to make a huge statement. In his acceptance speech, he mentioned that the production team needed to go to the most southern tip of the Earth to find snow for the film, going on to say that “Climate change is real. It is happening right now. It is the most urgent threat facing our entire species, and we need to work collectively together and stop procrastinating.” His speech is definitely one for the record book. And though less memorable than DiCaprio’s win, the big prize of the evening, Best Picture, went to Spotlight, the true story behind the Boston Globe reporters who investigated and attempted to uncover priests who had gotten away with molesting children. Meanwhile, these Academy Awards have been surrounded by a sea of controversy. Celebrities such as Spike Lee and Will Smith boycotted the ceremony as a sign of protesting the lack of diversity among the nominees.

Chris Rock hosting the 2016 Oscars.

When the nominees for the 88^th Academy Awards were announced in early January, controversy erupted over the shocking lack of diversity among the candidates for each award, specifically in the acting categories. This kind of controversy came around last year, when David Oyelowo failed to get a nod for his performance as Martin Luther King, Jr. in Selma, as well as when Ava DuVernay wasn’t nominated for Best Director for the same film. Had DuVernay received a nomination, she would have been the first African-American women to be nominated for Best Director. The polemic nominations over the past two years have stirred up a sea of controversy, the extent of which has never been seen before. With Will Smith (Concussion) and Idris Elba (Beasts of No Nation) getting numerous nominations at previous awards shows, it seemed odd when the academy recognized performances such as Bryan Cranston (Trumbo) and Mark Ruffalo (Spotlight) without acknowledging the other deserving performances.

With the second consecutive year of all white nominees, many celebrities such as Will Smith, Spike Lee, and Jada Pinkett Smith chose to boycott the event rather than attend. Will Smith’s performance as Bennet Omalu in Concussion had received praise from many critics as well as many Best Actor nominations from different award shows (including the Golden Globes). Upon not getting a nomination, he and his wife decided to boycott the event. He commented on the matter, saying “I think I have to protect and fight for the ideals that make our country and our Hollywood community great… When I look at the series of nominations of the Academy, it’s not reflecting that beauty.” Cheryl Boone Isaacs, the President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences weighed in her thoughts on the situation. She proclaimed how she was “heartbroken” with the lack of diversity among the nominees, claiming that “The Academy is taking dramatic steps to alter the makeup of our membership. In the coming days and weeks we will conduct a review of our membership recruitment in order to bring about much-needed diversity in our 2016 class and beyond.”

While many celebrities attacked the Oscars for being racist, several others spoke in defense of the awards show, with the argument that people were nominated based on performance rather than race. Actor Michael Caine, for example, commented on the fact that an actor shouldn’t get nominated just for his race. “In the end you can’t vote for an actor because he’s black,” he stated, “You can’t say ‘I’m going to vote for him, he’s not very good, but he’s black, [so] I’ll vote for him.’” Penelope Ann Miller, a member of the Academy, responded with saying that some of the nominees that she voted for were black, and she was saddened when they didn’t get nominated. She went on to say that the lack of diversity in this group of nominees doesn’t make the entire Academy racist. While the Academy definitely did snub some films here, these celebrities do have a point. Lead actors such as Will Smith (Concussion) and Michael B. Jordan (Creed) only received a handful of previous nominations and praise, and they weren’t exactly locks in the acting category in the same way that Matt Damon (The Martian) and Leonardo DiCaprio (The Revenant) were. Idris Elba (Beasts of No Nation) was the one African-American actor who was seriously snubbed. However, Beasts of No Nation premiered on Netflix, so the Academy may have considered it to be a television film, which would have decreased its odds of getting any nominations tremendously. Not to mention that the lesbian romance Carol had gained more critical acclaim than most of the Best Picture nominees, and was even considered to be one of the few films most likely to win. Yet, due to all the race controversy, very few have acknowledged the snub it received.

Nevertheless, the show still took place on February 28^th, with actor Chris Rock as the host. Once the nominations were announced, Rock was threatened to step down as host, which he refused. In response, he rewrote his entire opening monologue to attack the race issue head-on. He opened with the comment, “Welcome to the 88^th Academy Awards, or as I like to call it, the White People’s Choice Awards.” One of the best bits of the show featured parodies of nominees such as The Martian, Joy, and The Danish Girl with African-American actors and actresses, with hilarious results. He handled the issue with grace and good humor, and his acknowledgment of the lack of diversity brings hope that next year the hard work and talent of blacks and other people of color in the film industry will not be ignored.