Frozen 2 - Movie Review

Written by Shiggins

Cracks in the ice.

So the first Frozen was released in 2013 and is currently sitting as the highest-grossing animated film of all time, unless you want to include this year's Lion King as an animated film, and is one of the most well-known Disney movies of the modern age. So obviously, you're going to have to go above and beyond to bring out a sequel worthy of the original, and the non-remake side of Disney has been doing pretty well this year so I'm sure that.... oh no, here we go.

Note: Minor spoilers ahead.


The story this time is that everyone in the kingdom of Arendelle is happy and peaceful, until Queen Elsa (Idina Menzel) starts hearing a strange voice from far away and realises this is connected to why she has mastery over ice. So Elsa, her sister Anna (Kristen Bell), Anna's boyfriend Kristoff (Jonathon Groff), Kristoff's reindeer Sven, and the living snowman Olaf (Josh Gad) all head off into an enchanted forest to uncover Elsa's secret, learn about the past of Arendelle, and hopefully save their home from the wrath of four elemental spirits.

Unlike the first movie, Frozen 2 spends a lot of it's time changing locations and providing a much wider range of scenery. We have the ice-covered lands of course, but now there's autumn forests, dark caves, sweeping rivers... It's a very lovely film to look at, but that is honestly expected by this stage. I won't deny it's impressive, but it'd be shocking if it wasn't impressive considering the amount of money and talent sunk into this.

Yeah, these two are... still bad parents. The admittedly sweet flashbacks don't fix that.

Before we get too mean, I will say the talent and effort from everyone is on full display here. The animators have worked tirelessly to create a project that feels so effortlessly alive in the best possible way, and every actor is giving it their all. Idina Menzel in particular is a real standout once again, and by god her singing is superb. And even if you aren't a big fan of Josh Gad, I can confirm he's extraordinary likeable in this.

The sad reality is though that the story and screenplay really bring this entire adventure down. For starters, the set-up feels very forced and lacks in any natural progression. Why does Elsa suddenly hear the voice, when it wasn't once referenced last time? Why are the spirits so awkward in their message, sometimes a massive threat and sometimes a huge help? These are just many of the questions you will have, and you're meant to ignore them because it's a kid's movie.

You're an insult to physics, Olaf, but I love you.

Earlier I mentioned that Anna and Kristoff come with Elsa on this quest, but trust me when I say they really shouldn't have. Kristoff especially. In fact, I'm not going to tell you right away what they did with him. I'm just going to tell you his premise. Ready?

He wants to propose to Anna.

And now you know exactly what he's going to do in this film. He's going to ignore the life-or-death situation, he's going to have tons of comedic slip-ups and misunderstandings, and he can't wait because waiting would be too sensible. At one point, the story just writes him out for a while and honestly, you won't miss him.

Going to tell my kids this is Santa Claus.

As for Anna... well, her purpose is a lot stronger, wanting Elsa to stop running into certain death, but her dialogue is a lot more problematic. She has the unfortunate task of being reasonable but not saying anything to back it up. For example, Elsa says "I have to go here and nobody else can". Anna says "don't go without me". And I'm pretty sure everyone was wondering the same thing; How are you meant to go with her, Anna? Please, tell us how. There is literally no way for you to do so.

The story absolutely shines when Elsa is the focus, and the film should have been completely about her. While she wants to save the kingdom from whatever the threat actually is, she also wants to learn about herself and her powers, and she takes greater and greater risks to do so. The challenges she faces has to be overcome by her powers and her own strength, and it's just awesome to see it. This is how all movies should do "girl power", through showing her abilities rather than telling us. If/When they make a Frozen 3, I really want to see a fire-queen rival for Elsa in a climatic battle, not gonna lie. She can handle it.

Disney need to buy the rights to Frozen. I need Elsa in the Avengers.

How are the songs? Good question. They're... half and half. Around 50% of the songs are fantastic, including both of Elsa's big award-winners ("The Unknown", and "Show Yourself") and the hilarious Olaf song ("When I'm Older") but the rest feel very token and underwhelming. Kristoff's song ("Lost in the Woods") is fine but I'd rather watch the funny visuals than listen to it again, and every other song feels like other songs you've heard in other better Disney films. And am I the only one who is bloody sick of that obnoxious "we live in a happy home and nothing will ever go wrong" song that happens during the first act of every Disney musical now?

The story itself tries to bring in a bunch of plot twists to surprise you, but I feel like everyone over the age of 10 will guess most of them ahead of time. Don't worry, I won't spoil. However, I will say the way this film ends was obvious to me purely because it does what every Disney sequel has done over the past two years and it feels a lot more unnecessary here than it did in them. If you really want to know more, comment below and I'll answer.

Is the film bad? No.

Will your kids love it? Of course they will.

However, as a sequel to the massive money-maker and trend-setter for many modern Disney movies today, Frozen 2 is disappointing. The sad reality is that I saw The Addams Family last month and I preferred it to this, if only because it was just more straightforward and comedic in tone, thus creating less problems overall. Frustrating character decisions and plot contrivances keep Frozen 2 from what it should be, and the flaws are too overwhelming to ignore, despite it clearly having some strong ambitions with Elsa and her conflicts.

Sadly, this is one film that left me feeling cold.

Movie Rating: 6.5/10

Best Performance: Idina Menzel as Elsa

Best Part: Elsa's personal quest.

Worst Part: Kristoff? Get off.

Oh yeah, Sterling K. Brown is in this too. Definitely needs to be in the inevitable sequels.

Shiggins:[Admin]
  .

Born under the stars of the Dark Gods, Shiggins owns the power of the Great Eye and is utterly magnificent in his omniscience. If you dare to discover more about someone as great as him, then go ahead. And to all my friends and family members, YOU are wrong and I should be disappointed! Not the other way round!,. You can find out about him or ask him stuff on ask.fm/shigginsishere or go to his tumblr page http://otakugajeel.tumblr.com/