Common Sense Media Review
By Renee Schonfeld
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Unwatchable cartoon sequel has nothing to recommend it.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 6+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
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Zoo Wars 2
What's the Story?
Boo Boo Squeal (a rat voiced by Chen Tsung) wants to break the fragile peace that has been negotiated between his world's good guys (The Nice Side) and bad guys (The Mice Side) in ZOO WARS 2. The leader of The Mice Side, Squeal has old scores to settle and still dreams of domination over the entire Zooverse. Squeal and his aide, Chubby (a hippo voiced by Charlie Suntress) round up a team of international villains to declare war and attack. One by one, these quirky, villainous folks appear on a screen inside Squeal's space ship, are "interviewed," and pledge their allegiance to The Mice Side. In another spaceship, leaders of The Nice Side, Nuke Tiptoes (K.J. Schrock), an elephant, and his partner B-52, a robot, learn of their former enemy's evil intentions and they assemble a kooky army of their own.
Is It Any Good?
Once viewers get past the gratingly shrill voice of the villain, the nonsensical, boring dialogue, and the relentless keyboard conversations, there are precious few minutes left for a final battle. And since there was obviously nothing in the budget for special effects, wit, or professionalism, that conflict will never be missed. Those who liked the original Zoo Wars won't be disappointed -- Zoo Wars 2 is almost an exact replica. One might almost be tempted to suggest that the "filmmakers" used the old computer-generated footage and simply added a new story and new words. Beyond time waster, this film's callous disregard for anything resembling good work is staggering. Kids and families, beware.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the term "low budget" as it's used to describe a movie made for very little money. Zoo Wars 2 is obviously a "low budget" film. Does low budget necessarily mean "low quality?" Explain your answer.
What are some of the reasons filmmakers might want to make a sequel to a successful movie? Why do you think the makers of Zoo Wars 2 decided to produce a sequel? Could one reason have been because they had all of the animation and "sets" already done and it would be easy to simply add a new story and new dialogue? If you saw the original Zoo Wars, did you notice shots and visuals that appeared to come from the first film?
Why does the robot B-52 often call the animal characters "carbon" and "carbon-based?" Find out what the expression means and how it applies to Nuke and the others.
Movie Details
- On DVD or streaming : April 2, 2019
- Cast : KJ Schrock , Chen Tsung , Charlie Suntress
- Director : James Snider
- Studio : WOWNow Entertainment
- Genre : Family and Kids
- Topics : Adventures , Robots
- Run time : 84 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- Last updated : September 30, 2025
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