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FROZEN II (Dir: Chris Buck & Jennifer Lee, 2019).
Walt Disney Animation Studios sequel to their original blockbuster Frozen (Chris Buck & Jennifer Lee, 2013).
The events of Frozen II take place roughly three years after those of Frozen. However, the movie takes us further back into Elsa and Anna's past as, through flashbacks, we see the girls' father King Agnarr of Arendelle relating the tale of their grandfather's attempt to form a treaty with a neighbouring tribe in their Enchanted Forest homeland. An ensuing battle results in grandfather's death and discord among the Forest's spirits. Years later Elsa is drawn to the forest by a mysterious voice and becomes embroiled in the ongoing conflict which is threatening the well being of both the Enchanted Forest and Queen Elsa's kingdom of Arendelle
While Frozen II bears the legend "Inspired by Hans Christian Andersen's The Snow Queen, it is nothing like the original fairytale. Neither is it particularly like the original movie, incorporating more references to Nordic myth and legend than the original Frozen.
Reuniting much of the core creative team from the first movie, co-writers and directors Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee have created a movie which never feels like a quick buck cash-in. The animation is stunning, even more so than in the original. Its forest setting and warm autumnal colour palette gives it a distinctly different feel to the cooler blues and whites of Frozen's icescapes.
In its attempt to differentiate itself from the first movie, Frozen II does seem to suffer from an overly complex narrative. There is so much going on in Frozen II that one misses the more economic and ultimately more satisfying simplicity of the original, although Buck and Lee are to be commended for not being content to just churn out the same movie.
While the story may be a little over complicated for its own good, Frozen II is still a highly impressive, enjoyable movie, much better than audiences may have been expected and continues Walt Disney Animation Studios’ excellent run of features throughout the 2010s.
Visit my blog JINGLE BONES MOVIE TIME to read a longer, more in-depth review of Frozen II! Link below.
NIИ | Broken era press photos & promo poster | 1992| Photography by Chris Buck
Frozen 2 Review
I wasn’t the biggest fan of the first Frozen movie. I thought it was a mixed bag. The songs were catchy and emphasis on Anna and Elsa’s sibling relationship driving the movie were all high points for me, but I didn’t like Hans as a twist villain and found some of the execution a bit lacking. So I wasn’t sure what to expect going into this movie. I was pleasantly surprised and left the theater having enjoyed the movie.
This film once again put heavy emphasis on the sibling relationship of Anna and Elsa and I felt that it was easily the strongest aspect of the film. Elsa’s anxiety and guilt is explored and expanded upon. She still feels that because of her powers she is the cause of the misfortune and unhappiness that her family has faced and it’s revealed that her parents died trying to learn the truth about her powers which just reinforces these fears and causes her to take the final leg of her journey alone. Anna is struggling to help Elsa see her own self worth and maintain their connection. Both of these character journeys are emotionally impactful at times and make the characters relatable. Elsa finally gets closure on her powers and her meaning in life. Learning that her being born and her powers have a purpose which lifts a large burden that she has had since the beginning of the first film off her shoulders. My favorite part of the film is how their relationship at the beginning of the film is portrayed. Elsa and Anna are allowed to do normal everyday things with each other and comfort each other. I appreciated the scene where Anna notices something is wrong with Elsa and they end up cuddling while Anna sings the song their mother used to to Elsa. I always love when media portrays caring sibling relationships.
I was surprised by the dark subject matter the film chose to cover. It depicted the conflict between white colonizers and peaceful indigenous people with Elsa and Anna’s grandfather killing the unsuspecting, unarmed Northuldra chief, which leads to a non-graphic massacre of the indigenous people. The film deals with the erasure of these past misdeeds and the responsibility of the newer generation to acknowledge these wrongs and work for a better future. I can tell you as someone who is native American that I personally appreciated that this issue was given focus within the movie because it sadly mirrors real world events.
The standout songs are “Into the Unknown” and “Show Yourself”, which are to no surprise, sung by Idina Menzel (the voice of Elsa) who has an incredible voice. I found these songs to be more emotionally resonant than the songs in the first film while not being quite as catchy as “Let it Go”. The animation in this movie was stunning. The particle effects when Elsa used her powers were incredible. Everything from faces to movements to hair to clothes were so detailed. It seemed like you could see the individual hairs on a character’s head and threads of their clothes.
All that being said this movie wasn’t perfect. I didn’t really like what they did with Kristoff this movie. I found the repeated failure to propose to be tiresome and wished that they had cut this subplot to give more time to Anna and Elsa’s relationship and maybe expanding upon the Northuldra people’s culture. While I thought Olaf was funnier in this film than the first I felt he wasn’t really necessary. I also wasn’t the biggest fan of Elsa and Anna ending the movie separated. They spent the majority of their childhood apart and now they are once again apart after only being together for a few years. It seemed a bit counter to the arc between Elsa and Anna they had set up. The first movie Elsa’s arc was about learning that shutting herself off from the world and those that care about her didn’t truly free her like she initially thought and it was only through those connections that she could come to accept herself and be happy. And heavy emphasis was put on their sibling bond in both films, so having Elsa decide to live in the forest and live away from Anna and the kingdom was not the ending I would have liked.
Overall I enjoyed this film and found a lot of the character beats hit me harder than the first. I also liked the story more and the expanded mythology within the movie. While not a perfect film I think it was worth the price of admission.