Why You Should Tolerate Frozen II
Six years after the mega-hit blockbuster and instant classic, Frozen, Disney returns to the story of the royal sisters of Arendelle in the high-quality sequel, Frozen II.
Queen Elsa (Idina Menzel) belts out her solo “Into the Unknown.” picture by denfogeek.com
Idina Menzel returns as the iconic voice of the magical Queen Elsa and Kristen Bell reprises her voice over role as Elsa’s kind sister, Anna. Josh Gad returns as the lovable snowman, Olaf, and Jonathan Groff voices Anna’s love interest, Kristoff. While the first movie tracked the journey of Anna, Kristoff, and Olaf in their efforts to find Elsa and reverse the eternal winter, the sequel follows the whole gang on their dangerous journey to find the source of Elsa’s magical powers.
Prior to its release in theaters on November 22, Frozen II received primarily good reviews from the critics who were shown an early screening. The film was awarded an 81% on Rotten Tomatoes’ “Tomatometer” scale before being released for public viewing. As of now, the film has a 77% on Rotten Tomatoes and was liked by 91% of Google users. The common opinion of the sequel is that it took a route away from the typical Disney movie; not trying to be a carbon copy of the first. “Frozen II takes the risk of forgoing the typical Disney movie story structure for a more mature style and while it doesn’t entirely work, other aspects of the film are compelling enough to keep viewers engaged.”, said Molly Freeman, writer for the entertainment blog Screen Rant.
The characters seemed to grow up just as their audience has in the six years since Frozen. Olaf now is dealing with his own age by becoming very comedically philosophical, Anna and Kristoff are on the border of engagement, and Elsa is diving deep inside herself to find out more about her powers and how she can control them. One aspect of Frozen set it apart from other Disney films was how it handled the mature concepts of mental illness and isolation. Frozen II takes the discussion even further, past what one would expect from a Disney movie. It showed bright and shiny Anna in a dark cave after being left all alone and not sure how to continue her journey. It was a very dark moment and showed it viewers that even the brightest of people sometimes suffer from depression or some other mental illness.
Sven, Kristoff, Olaf, Anna and Elsa on the outskirts of the enchanted forest. picture by forbes.com
I was dragged to see Frozen II on its opening night, and I wasn’t expecting much. You rarely see a sequel to a Disney princess film, seeing that most of them end in “happy ever after.” The film lacked the show-stopping music and “…the exciting, lightning-in-a-bottle feel that the wonderful original had.”, wrote Jocelyn Noveck, a critic for the Associated Press. It seemed like this sequel was not needed to continue the storyline and it tried to somewhat double up on the success of its predecessor. There were multiple similarities such as an attempt to let the incredible vocals of Idina Menzel work their own magic to form another hit song in “Into the Unknown” and the continuation of the love story between Anna and Kristoff.
I left the theater with the sense of satisfaction that one gets from a quality movie, but it lacked the wow factor of the first movie that left me with chills. However, the more I have thought about it, the more it became clear that Disney put a lot thought into the messages the movie gave to its viewers; more thought than would be given to a cheap, cash grab film.
While it doesn’t hold a candle to the second-highest grossing animated film of all time in Frozen, Frozen II separates itself by keeping up the special effects while bringing in a well thought out plot to bring light to issues more serious than what you see in a normal Disney princess film. This is definitely not a movie to sleep on. Even if it’s your girl who makes you go, you will not be disappointed by Disney’s Frozen II.