Frozen II

Six years ago, Walt Disney Feature Animation released Frozen, which, to the surprise of everyone, took the world by storm. Not just because it was a very good Disney movie – although it was nice to see a Disney animated film as good as the ones from the Renaissance since Disney’s output during the mid to late aughts was mostly shaky to say the least – but because it was a subversive take on the Disney Princess story that came from a more feminist angle and featured one hell of a showstopping song sequence in “Let it Go”. And while I myself was never a huge fan of the film – mostly because the hype kind of ruined it for me – I understand its appeal and find it to be enjoyable. Since its release, we’ve gotten two short films, four LEGO mini-movies, and now here we are with a feature-length sequel for which I was especially excited because the trailers have been selling a darker, more grown-up story. Did it live up to that promise? Well, kind of yes, but mostly no.

Set three years after the events of the first film, Queen Elsa (Idina Menzel), her sister Anna (Kristen Bell), Olaf (Josh Gad), Kristoff (Jonathan Groff) and Sven (voiced by Kristoff) are all living in the Kingdom of Arendelle, happy as can be. However, Elsa has recently been hearing a strange voice calling to her, and one night, she accidentally awakens the spirits of a nearby enchanted forest that their father King Agnarr (Alfred Molina) and mother Queen Iduna (Evan Rachel Wood) told them about when they were children, which is inhabited by four elemental spirits. This prompts Elsa and the rest to journey to the magical forest and set things right. It is there they meet the Northuldra tribe and the Arendellian soldiers led by Lieutenant Mattias (Sterling K. Brown), and from there, they try to figure out the voice that’s been calling to Elsa and learn about Arendelle’s dark past.

I’m gonna talk about the good stuff before the not-so-good stuff, of which there is much, believe me. First off, Olaf is the highlight of the film, engaging in a comedic scene that I dare not spoil. However, much like the first film, he never becomes annoying thanks to restraint from Josh Gad. Jonathan Groff still imbues Kristoff with enough likability and clumsiness to charm the audience (even if he is given a pretty unfunny subplot about proposing to Anna), and Idina Menzel is equally charming as Elsa. Kristen Bell is still the best actress giving the best performance as Anna, demonstrating that adorkable cuteness we loved from the first one, but with more maturity to it. The animation looks beautiful with some great shots right out of the best epic fantasy stories, but also some good abstract shots as well (you’ll know what I mean when you see them).

As for the songs…well, they’re not quite the showstoppers from the last film, but they’re still very well put-together with “Into the Unknown” stealing the show. Personally, I like the Panic! at the Disco version a little better, but hey, that’s more about preference than actual quality. There’s also a great song by Kristoff – who does actually get to sing this time, yay! – that’s a great parody of the cheesy love ballads that plagued the 80s. In fact, “Into the Woods” almost reminded me of a lot of Chicago’s songs from that time period. Plus, Christophe Beck’s musical score still gets the job done, this time with more Norwegian Sami instruments to embellish it.   

Alright, enough of the corn syrup talk. Time to get down to why this film doesn’t totally work for me. First of all, many of the new characters don’t really get all that much to do, especially Lieutenant Mattias, who is introduced, given a sympathetic backstory, then just disappears into the background for the rest of the movie. Also, Anna’s overclingy attitude in relation to Elsa didn’t get the development I felt it needed – dare I say it, this routine was better executed in Ralph Breaks the Internet (yup, I said it). This could all just be a symptom of the fact that the movie feels a little rushed thanks to its hour-and-forty-three minute runtime. Why do most animated films in the West operate on this unspoken rule that you can’t run past 100 minutes? Weird. Anyway, because of that short runtime, the film feels very unfocussed, so none of the ideas they introduce really get the development they deserve.

However, my biggest problem with the movie is this: as I said before, the marketing for this film has partially been selling it on the idea that it will be “more grown-up” and “darker” than its predecessor. We could see it in the aesthetic choices and the muted color palette. However, any new dark elements they introduce, they don’t go all the way with them or they just completely go back on them by the end of the movie. And this reticence to go whole-hog on that alleged darkness is best illustrated in two scenes that I cannot talk about here, because it would constitute spoilers. So, you know what? I’m just gonna write about them in a separate article.

Bottom line: I am disappointed, though not crushingly so. The good parts are still very good, but the things that don’t work really don’t work and have the potential to distract from the rest of the good parts. So, because of all that, the best I can chalk this movie up to is “all right”. However, if they decide to make a third film – and let’s face it, by the end of this movie’s box office haul, Disney will probably have a billion reasons to make at least one more of these things – I am mildly interested to see where they go.

Wanna know more? Go read my spoiler-filled article!