Frozen II: Spoiler Talk

OK, I’m writing this based on the assumption that you have read my review of the film. If not, quick recap: it’s all right, not great. I feel like it’s kneecapped by not going all the way with the dark elements it introduces. Overall though, I’d say it’s a good time if you can ignore how much better it could have been.

So, as I said in my spoiler-free review, the biggest problem I had with the film was how it tried to sell itself on being a slightly darker, more grown-up story than the first one, yet it did not go all the way with its darkness. And this is illustrated in two specific ways.

Way #1: Frozen II proves itself to be yet another entry in a long list of Disney films that try to have a socially conscious message that is executed poorly. Remember the Enchanted Forest I talked about in the review? Well, as it turns out, King Agnarr – Anna and Elsa’s father – went there when he was a boy. His father, King Runeard, built a dam to allegedly propose peace between Arendelle and the Northuldra. However, one day, the Northuldra sporadically attacked the Arendellian guards, killing Runeard, and leaving Agnarr to escape with his life thanks to an unknown helper. Because of the fight, the magical spirits are enraged and seal off the Enchanted Forest, trapping the Northuldra and the guards inside for more than thirty years.

Well, later in the movie, not only do we find out that Agnarr’s rescuer was in fact Iduna, but we also find out that Elsa is the fifth elemental spirit. We also find out that King Runeard did not build the dam to propose peace, but to cut the Northuldra off from resources because Runeard was prejudiced against magic, and he was in fact the one who instigated the fight by attacking the leader of the Northuldra. Elsa sends Anna this message in a magical snow flurry, so Anna surmises that the only way to fix what is right is to destroy the dam, thereby destroying Arendelle in the process.

So, this is basically the same plot as Thor: Ragnarok. However, unlike that film, Frozen II does not have the guts to go all the way on that idea. Once the dam is destroyed by some Tolkienesque rock giants, Elsa – who has come into her own as the fifth spirit with a badass water horse to boot – saves the entire kingdom, thereby destroying all consequences because hey, we got toys and merchandise to sell, so we can’t have them young’uns thinking too much about the ramifications of colonialism, right?

Seriously, though, if you want more on this idea, watch Lindsay Ellis’s video Woke Disney. It’s awesome!

Anyways, on to…

Way #2: So, during the course of the journey, Elsa traverses alone to Ahtohallan, an island that contains the answers as to who she is. Once there, she finds out who she is, and all the stuff about her grandfather. But she goes to the dangerous part of Ahtohallan, where she freezes to death much in the same way that Anna froze in the last film. And because of her death, Olaf fades away in the arms of a crying Anna.

Now, Olaf’s death scene is well executed and the song following it – “The Next Right Thing” – is a great song about moving on from grief. However, Elsa’s death does not carry much weight for me because it happens too quickly, unlike in the last film, where they took their time with it, showing how agonizing it must have been for Anna.

But that’s not why it doesn’t work for me. No, once the dam is broken, Elsa unfreezes, and after she saves Arendelle, she brings Olaf back to life, thereby undercutting the tragedy of those two deaths.

See, this is my problem. The filmmakers and cast have said that this film was going to tell a more grown-up story, so what better way to demonstrate that alleged maturity than to say “Hey, those characters who we tease are going to die? They’re actually dead and not coming back”? I mean, wouldn’t stating that your story is more grown up imply that you’re actually gonna take darker turns. And I don’t just mean making the color palette darker or telling a half-assed anticolonialism story. I mean actually making it darker.

Like…OK, bear with me of this: Elsa and Olaf stay dead, Anna destroys the dam, Arendelle is destroyed, bla, bla, bla, Thor: Ragnarok copy. Then they go live in the woods with Anna as their new leader, Kristoff proposes to her. Then, we can end with a scene of the spirits of Olaf and Elsa playing in some sort of afterlife world or something.

Yeah, it seems kinda messy, but it sounds more interesting to me than what we actually got. And it would demonstrate to kids that not only is death permanent, but it can happen to people close to you, a lesson that Big Hero 6 and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse expertly handled. But I dunno, bringing back Elsa and Olaf felt like reviving…well, Tadashi from Big Hero 6 and Aaron from Into the Spider-Verse.

So, there. That’s my biggest problem. No risks taken, no delivery on the darkness that was promised by the teasers. Just more of the same with the tease of real tragedy.

But I still don’t hate the film. I’m just more let down than anything else.

And that’s all I have to say on the matter.