After nearly a decade of waiting, the world of “Zootopia” is back, along with everyone’s favorite bunny–fox cop duo. While it has been a long wait for audiences, Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin “Once Upon a Time,” “Why Women Kill”) and Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman “Arrested Development,” “Carry-On”) are riding high off their last case and newly minted as official partners. Yet, they are still looked at as the underdogs on the force.

During their first week on the job, the pair are told by Chief Bogo (Idris Elba “Beasts of No Nation,” “Thor”) to stay out of a shipyard investigation—advice they immediately ignore. Instead, Judy and Nick go undercover as a married couple with a baby, botch the mission spectacularly, and leave half the city in ruins. The perp is caught, but the cargo is lost—almost all of it. Left behind for Judy to find is a troubling clue: a patch of reptile skin.

That shouldn’t exist. Reptiles have been banned from Zootopia for a century. When Hopps brings this discovery to Bogo, he shuts it down and sends the dysfunctional pair to partner therapy instead. Nick is ready to move on, keep his head down, and enjoy not being in trouble. Judy, however, can’t let it go. An overachiever to the core, she dives headfirst into Zootopia’s reptilian history.

Her digging reveals that the reptile ban followed the murder of a tortoise, allegedly by a snake, and that the anniversary of that incident coincides with the centennial of the city’s weather wall. That same night, the powerful Lynxley family, descendants of the wall’s creator, is hosting a lavish gala. Convinced something is wrong, Judy drags a reluctant Nick into another undercover mission.

At the gala, chaos predictably follows. Judy gets buddy-buddy with Pawbert Lynxley (Andy Samberg “Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” “Palm Springs”), the outcast son of the Lynxley family. Meanwhile, a mysterious figure crashes the celebration, revealing himself to be a snake who makes off with both the Lynxley patriarch and the weather wall journal. Judy tracks him down, only to learn that Gary De’Snake (Ke Huy Quan “The Goonies,” “Everything Everywhere All at Once”) isn’t a villain at all. He wants the journal to prove his family was wrongfully exiled—and to prove that all reptiles deserve to come home.

The real threat becomes clear when the Lynxleys casually suggest killing Gary and covering it all up. Judy and Nick refuse, and the Lynxleys turn their ire on them. The duo grabs Gary and narrowly escape, but the Lynxleys are powerful enemies to have. With the city against them, the partners face a choice: disappear quietly, or challenge a system built on fear, erasure, and lies.

The rest of the film is a whirlwind of heartache and soul-searching as Judy and Nick uncover how deep the rot goes, and how much their partnership can withstand. The Lynxleys, firmly entrenched in power, are quietly pushing a Tundra Town expansion into Marsh Market, which would displace the city’s already neglected waterfolk under the guise of progress. As the stakes rise, the duo crosses paths with new faces, including Nibbles Maplestick (Fortune Feimster “The Mindy Project,” “Velma”), an unhinged conspiracy podcaster, and Bryan Windancer (Patrick Warburton “Emperor’s New Groove,” “Family Guy”), a former actor somehow promoted to mayor—while old allies show up at exactly the right moments.

While Disney has lately tested audiences’ patience with unoriginal ideas, endless remakes, and sequels that never needed to exist, “Zootopia 2” arrives as a welcome surprise. Rather than coasting on nostalgic callbacks and recycled ideas, the film delivers a fresh, impassioned story that reminds viewers why Judy and Nick worked so well in the first place. “Zootopia 2” keeps the action moving, while providing comedic relief throughout, and the emotionally charged ending is worth the anticipation. The writers waited until there was a story worth telling, instead of going for a viral cash grab, and that patience pays off.

The animation is also a noticeable step up from the original. Not that “Zootopia” ever looked bad, but the sequel pushes the world further, with richer lighting, more dynamic color, and especially impressive fur texturing. The environments retain their cartoon charm while still feeling fully lived-in, striking a balance that keeps the film immersive without tipping into visual overload. Some of this improvement is expected, nearly a decade has passed, after all, but “Zootopia 2” benefits from more than just time. The move to Pixar’s Presto animation software allows for greater detail and smoother collaboration, and it shows.

Beyond the stunning visuals and the heartfelt laughs, “Zootopia 2” doesn’t shy away from showing how power can be abused. The Lynxleys’ plan to expand Tundra Town into Marsh Market threatens to displace the city’s marginalized waterfolk, a community already struggling at the edges of society. The film frames this not as a punchline or a plot device, but as a real consequence of greed and entitlement, where the powerful often rewrite the rules to benefit themselves while leaving vulnerable communities behind; something viewers can’t help but notice mimics the struggles of our own world. “Zootopia 2” reminds audiences that justice isn’t just a storyline; it’s a responsibility.

“Zootopia 2” is currently playing in theaters and is rated PG for action/violence and crude humor.