I was not a fan of the first Frozen. I found it lackluster and couldn’t understand people saying it was the best Disney had come out with in years. In my opinion Disney has done much better in recent years, and they’ve also done better than this sequel. Frozen 2 is not the best Disney has to offer but it is for sure an improvement over its predecessor. The songs, visuals, and overall story are all better and much more entertaining. While these things have gotten better, the Frozen universe still struggles a bit.
Anna and Elsa are powerful female characters and I appreciate that so much because it’s important young girls have strong women to look up to. With that being said, I think they’re simply too sugary sweet, like to the point of cheesiness. Every single scene Anna and Elsa are together they’re doing the whole “Are you okay” and “I believe in you” thing, constantly hugging and confessing they’re undying love for one another. I’m not saying this is bad but it’s overdone to where it comes off as just doing it because it’s Disney and it has to be kid friendly. I would’ve liked something a little less standard personally. I enjoyed Kristoff and Sven; they were actually one of the only things I liked about the first film. Kristoff has a laid back lovability to him that’s just nice to watch and Sven is cute, of course. Now what about the star from both movies that everybody loves? Olaf has some effective moments here that help uplift the film by bringing good-natured comedy.
The songs are more inspired in this film than the first I felt. The main one sung by Idina Menzel in the beginning is entertaining and will likely be stuck in your head after leaving the theater. There’s also an 80’s music video style scene where Jonathan Groff sings a song and that’s really great. It might have been my favorite part. Not only does Groff sing well but the whole sequence will elicit laughs from the adults in the audience.
The visuals and animation in this sequel are top notch. There are many stunning action sequences that light everything up and heighten the overall mood, and that works to the film’s favor. The scenes where Elsa is fighting the ocean are very visually striking too and Disney does take advantage of the technology they have at their disposal.
Now what about the plot? As far as plot goes, it’s not bad, it has some interesting details in it. There’s a slight mystery that makes things kind of interesting, although it’s honestly not that tough to figure out. There’s a light feeling to this film, just like the first, and I wish things got deeper than they do. Things feel rushed in both films to me, like we don’t really get a lot of time devoted to a deep plot. Because the plot feels light and somewhat rushed, it’s hard for me to feel invested.
Maybe some people only need these characters to be onscreen to love this but I require more of a deeper story. With other Disney films like Finding Dory, Tangled, Wreck It Ralph, or the Toy Story films, we’re treated to be a better laid out story that feels a lot deeper than this. Also, we always know that eventually everything will turn out just fine, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. But if you want a sugary sweet happy ending, you have to earn it by giving us an investing story. Now I want to be very clear. I’m so glad young girls have these movies and others that give examples of strong female leadership, because that is crucial but I just feel that Disney has given us much better than the Frozen films. They’ve given us better stories, better characters, and better music.
Frozen 2 is better than the first film for sure but I still feel there’s a sense of authenticity that’s lacking. I was hoping for a deeper story and while there’s a couple slightly interesting bits, in my opinion, it fell short.
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