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As much as I liked this movie I really wish it committed to its conclusion a bit more. The performances are great, it's a world I loved living in and the tone as a whole was just something I felt so endeared by for the entire runtime. Because I loved premise for the most part and I love the execution but I just had the overwhelming feeling that the film was afraid to commit to one outcome of the scenario it was presenting. I love movies that force you to wrestle with your own morality when watching it but I can't help but feel it's a bit cowardly in how it ends. I love how it got to that conclusion, I just wish it was a bit more confident in how it got there

It's a very easy situation to put yourself in to and imagine how you would react and I mostly loved how the script dealt with that. I can honestly say I went back and forth a few times on the central relationship and when I genuinely believe there are multiple possible satisfying endings that I would be happy with that is a sign of good writing to me. They do such a good job of building up these 3 central characters that I was actively rooting for all of them to get their happy ending. It manages to execute a balancing act of being hilarious whilst being heavy and I'd be lying if I didn't say that I felt very strongly about how the Elizabeth Olsen character should make her decision. It's not a particularly subtle film but I don't really think it had to be and there are more than a few line of dialogue that really made me self reflective to a degree. It's only harder to be frustrated by the third act because it just actively comes across as something that wants to please everyone rather than giving a definitive ending to it's own story. I really do love all of the conclusions it's presenting but I just wish the film picked one way to end and allowed the audience to sit with it rather than try to present every possible scenario on screen.

I really, really liked this movie for the most part and for as much as I was frustrated by some of the writing decisions towards the third act I still felt completely invested. It's such a good premise that is so easy to put your own experience into it but I think the film would have benefitted from choosing one ending rather than relying on presenting every possible situation from the idea it was depicting. I'm so happy to see an original movie like this depicted on screen and I for the most part love the execution of it's premise and even if I wish it was a bit more decisive when it came to concluding things it's still something I would like to show people and debate with them and even if that's not what the director intended it still something I take that as a sign of a compelling story.

I will admit to having a little bit of a soft spot for Disney animated sequels. For as much as they have the appearance of being little more than cash grabs I still think they frequently expand the worlds and characters in fun and interesting ways, even if they're usually not as good. Zootopia 2 manages to have all of those qualities while I think actually managing to be an improvement on its predecessor.

It's just so unbelievably entertaining from start to finish and it actually manages to feel like some pretty meaningful messages woven in. Just like the first film it's the dynamic at the centre of it where most of the commentary comes from and I really appreciated the fact that the differing world views these characters have isn't just played for comedy but actually feels like it's explored in a meaningful way. It's another solid mystery, with a reveal I will totally admit I did not see coming, and they've succeed at making a world I wish existed for real. There's points in the movie where it really feels like there's a joke a minute and it never felt cheap or like it was trying too hard. I laughed out loud repeatedly and I actually thought it was quite clever in how it's executed. Ke Huy Quan is someone who is proving himself to make any new part he's in be the most wholesome aspect of the movie and that's no different here. Both his character and the movie as whole will end with you wanting to be a better person and I love it when a film gives me that feeling.

I think the Zootopia movies manage to be unbelievably entertaining whilst having a meaningful message that's woven in so seamlessly and those are the kinds of family movies that I think have the endure the longest. The first movie isn't even one of my favourites from Disney but I think the sequel actually makes me appreciate it more. Just like Inside Out 2 last year if they keep taking their time to tell meaningful new stories I truly believe that this franchise could go on forever.

I've really found myself drawn towards character driven, comedy-dramas over the last few years and because that Jay Kelly seemed like it was tailor made for me. I was totally prepared for this movie to make me laugh and to make me cry and even if it didn't reach the heights I wanted it to it's still very interesting as a character study with a lead character I found to be wonderfully contradictory.

It's a film about regret fundamentally and I think the script is at its best when it's examining that. I went back and forth a lot about how I felt about Jay Kelly as a character and I like the fact that the film condone his actions or redeem him by the end and I felt it left the audience the space to come to its own conclusions. I think the script does a very good job at portraying the characters inner struggle and I never felt like the success he's achieved stopped me from sympathising with him when I felt I needed to. George Clooney is basically perfectly cast to the point where I truly do not believe anyone else could've play that part better and with it being such a stacked cast it just became more and more exciting to see actors of this calibre play off each other. On a visual level it's mostly very strong and there's a lot more interesting work being done behind the camera than I expected but done to varying degrees of success.

There's a lot of flashback scenes but the way they're depicted did not always work for me. It's clear what Baumbach was going for with these scenes but the way they're framed often felt quite awkward for me and stopped me from getting fully wrapped up in them. Maybe worse than that however is how unnecessary so many of them felt. There's a phenomenal scene with Billy Crudup early on that lingers over the rest of the film in which he recounts a story that we then see played out on screen a few scenes later. I failed to see what the point of it was when I already felt that having it conveyed verbally had given the right effect and I just wish the film as a whole took a less-is-more approach. The last shot in particular did not land the way I think Baumbach intended it to but that feeds into what I think is the biggest issue with the movie in that it just lacks subtlety. Theres times where the script just feels like it's beating you over the head with its themes and it often came across as if it didn't trust the audience to understand the point of the movie.

Jay Kelly doesn't always reach the heights it's aiming for but I never wasn't interested in what it was trying to explore. It ticks so many boxes for what I want in a film like this but I just it got out of its own way more and took a more subdued approach on a writing and a technical level. I did feel real emotions whilst watching this movie and that's something I always feel I have to give credit for I just wish I got that little bit more out of it.