As most of you likely already know, Zootopia 2 has been praised as an amazing movie, right up there with the first one. I personally liked the first movie so much that I not only saw it three times when it was in movie theatres, but I also made myself a Nick Wilde cosplay. And while the sequel has shown itself it have an excellent plot with new aspects of the world introduced, I do find myself facing one major qualm that has practically ruined it for me. Basically, the conduct of Nick and Judy when it comes to the villains.

I have noticed that both Nick and Judy take on a more sadistic role when dealing with the antagonists of the show. I found Judy's smug grin when presenting evidence against Bellwether in court to being off putting while her and Nick and their other two friends rubbing Pawbert's defeat in his face was going over a line. I know very well that Pawbert tried to kill all four of them without a hint of remorse and deserved to be imprisoned for that, but that is not a license to be cruel. To me, Nick and Judy are starting to look more like Adam and Lute from Hazbin Hotel.

Who we truly are is defined by how we deal with others, regardless of what they have done to us. Goku from the Dragonball series is a good example of this, when time and time again, he showed mercy to the villains who had committed mass murder of innocents and didn't start bullying them (except for that one time when he fused with Vegeta, but that is different.) Optimus Prime is also a good example of a true hero as he has shown compassion to his adversaries. Simply put, being cruel and sadistic is more suited for villains and is demeaning for heroes.

I could likely ramble on a little more, but instead I'll boil it down to this. Just because someone is a villain, doesn't mean you get to be a bully. I know that my view on this is not necessarily shared with others who have seen the movie as it doesn't seem like it's a big deal. But considering that this is a family movie, is it really alright to be showing children that it's alright to be mean to bad people?

With that said, I am hoping that Pawbert has some sort of redemption arc in the future. He is technically not a murderer since nobody ultimately died at his hand. Fictional stories like A Christmas Carol and The Grinch show us that even the worst of us can become better if we view things from a different perspective.