Every now and then, a film comes around that demonstrates that good execution can elevate a simple concept. Night of the Zoopocalypse takes the classic idea of a zombie outbreak and turns it into something that is a lot of fun for the whole family.The animated film, directed by industry vets Ricardo Curtis and Rodrigo Perez-Castro, is based on a short story from Clive Barker called Zoombies and follows a quirky young wolf named Gracie (Gabbi Kosmidis). Gracie is living with her pack in Colepepper Zoo when a meteor crash-lands and starts turning all the animals into mindless, deranged mutants. Gracie must team up with mountain lion Dan (David Harbour) and a ragtag group of animals to rescue the zoo and stop the virus.
The first thing I want to highlight is the look of this film. Curtis and Perez-Castro worked with animation studios L'Atelier Animation and Mac Guff to create a vibrant and cool world filled with creativity. The creature design of the mutants is really fun, especially when they start playing with their ability to disassemble and reassemble their bodies. I also really like the design of the main crew. The film opts not to go for hyper-realistic animal designs and instead goes with something a little more eye-catching. Gracie is incredibly skinny, which pairs nicely with the hulking figure of Dan. In addition to the style of the film, the overall animation is solid, although there are a couple of moments where the characters feel weightless — as if they are gliding across the screen as opposed to running or walking.
As for the cast and characters, Gracie makes for a charming lead, and her relationship with Dan is at the center of the film. Kosmidis and Harbour play off each other very well and really elevate a relationship that could have come across as rushed or underdone. The entire cast delivers solid voice work, and the story gives them all their moments to shine. Paul Sun-Hyung Lee plays Felix, a monkey who is only looking out for himself; Pierre Simpson plays the movie-loving lemur, Xavier, who provides a lot of funny meta commentary throughout the film; Scott Thompson plays the timid ostrich, Ash; and Heather Loreto plays the annoyed capybara, Frida.
Like I mentioned before, the story itself is a simple concept, but it has solid execution and some important themes that make it worth watching. The animals of Colepepper Zoo are tribal — they like to keep to their own. For the first half of the movie, Gracie is dead set on reuniting with her pack, but as the story unfolds, she begins to learn the importance of interacting with other walks of life and expanding her view of the world. It's not a unique concept but it's an important one.
In addition to the story, there is some solid humor in the film that will work for both kids and adults, especially coming from Xavier and a young hippo named Poot (Christina Nova). The horror aspects also work, especially for younger audiences. I already mentioned the excellent creature design, but the atmosphere created with the use of lighting and fog makes for some really effective moments. This could be a film that provides an entry for kids into the horror genre.
The last thing I want to give a shout-out to is the score from French composer Dan Levy. Not to be confused with the actor from Schitt's Creek, Levy has composed for several animated projects including the 2019 film I Lost My Body and episodes of the animated series' Star Wars: Visions and Love, Death & Robots. The score is clearly inspired by classic monster movies as it makes great use of the organ and strings to recreate that sense of eeriness.
Overall, Night of the Zoopocalypse was a pleasant surprise filled with good performances, solid humor and a killer art style that could become a new entry in the Halloween film rotation.
4 out of 5 stars.
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