Like a
lot of sequels to movies that weren’t really written to have sequels, Frozen II doesn’t strictly need to
exist. The results of this can be varied, from movies so bad they retroactively
steal a tiny bit of your love for the first film, to surprisingly-sharp movies
that are way better than they have any right to be, and everything in between. Frozen II falls in that in-between
place, but it’s pretty heavily on the “good” side of the spectrum (premise
spoilers.)
Since the
events of the first film, Anna, Elsa, Kristoff, and Olaf have cultivated a nice
little family life for themselves, but nothing stays the same forever. Elsa is
haunted by a song from a mysterious voice that only she can hear, and it’s
somehow tied to an elemental magic that threatens the kingdom. The sisters
(with Kristoff, Sven, and Olaf in tow) set out to 1) save Arendelle and 2) find
the voice that Elsa is hearing, both learning important things about themselves
along the way.
For my
money, the plot isn’t put together quite as well as the first one. There’s a
lot of good, even great, stuff in here, but not all of it feels cohesive, and
it definitely feels overstuffed at points. In particular, there’s a
conspicuous-feeling effort to give Kristoff his own separate plot for the sake
of him having an “arc,” rather than integrating him more naturally into the
main story. However, the main thrust of it is interesting, entertaining, and
inspiring, and the interactions between Anna and Elsa are worth the price of
admission for me.
I’d say
Olaf is used pretty effectively. A little Olaf goes a long way, but here, he
mostly avoids overstaying his welcome and one scene of his features the biggest
laughs of the movie by far.There are also some new characters (my cousin’s
small kid, who adores Frozen and
doesn’t have experience with the idea of a sequel, can’t wrap her head around
that,) most of whom remain pretty two-dimensional. More exciting are the new
creatures/magical sources, which run the gamut from adorable to awesome.
As for
the music? I’m still debating how I feel about it. My immediate reaction is
that the score isn’t as good as the first film, although I’m not sure how much
of that is down to the fact that I’ve had six years (whoa!) to listen to the
original songs. I don’t think the score features an obvious slam dunk like “Let
It Go” or a delightfully-fitting character piece like “For the First Time in
Forever,” but I’m sure my impressions of the songs will change as I listen to
them more.
What I will say is as follows. “Show Yourself”
undeniably brought tears to my eyes, and Idina tears it up as always. Anna gets
a couple strong points in which to shine – I enjoyed “Some Things Never Change”
a lot, and “The Next Right Thing” has some beautiful themes. Jonathan Groff
gets to do more actual singing as Kristoff, although his big song is kind of
goofy. Will need to investigate further before I can say any more.
Warnings
Scary
moments for kids, scenes of violence, and thematic elements.
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