Frozen 2 Movie Review

Here I'll be discussing my thoughts on Frozen 2. I'll start with a non-spoiler discussion and then jump into a spoiler section (but don't worry, I'll warn you first!).

I have a lot of thoughts... And I'm leaning towards the opinion that I didn't like the movie. I'm a little shocked that the reviews are so positive. I feel like I'm the only one who didn't really like it. I think I may like the movie more once I've seen it a couple of times. But for the first viewing, I didn't like it. It was pretty frustrating, boring and disappointing for me. I think my biggest problem with this movie was that the whole plot line was wayyyy too convoluted. It didn't feel natural. It felt like it was created and forced into this story that was already complete. It felt like they were almost retconning some of the world that was established in the first movie.

SOUND/AUDIO

I'm not a sound/audio nerd but also I noticed some weird sound issues. I thought it may have just been my theater, but when listening to "Into the Unknown" on Youtube, it had the same problem. I think the music just seems to loud compared to the vocal. Maybe that's just me though. I also thought some of the voice acting/recordings sounded weird and out of place.

ANIMATION

Of course I thought the animation was beautiful! Animation these days is only getting more and more refined. After watching Frozen 2, we went home and rewatched the original Frozen and it was crazy to see the difference six years has made in animation technology and progress.

CAST

I love the cast. Every single one of them is so talented. And I love that they're using Broadway royalty in a mainstream movie musical. I have no complaints with the cast themselves. I think they did a great job with what they were given. I'm glad that they're getting acknowledgement in the mainstream sector for all their talents. They deserve it!

SONGS

During the first listen, I didn't think the songs were the best. "Into the Unknown" has had a little bit of traction with the public, so I've been exposed to that one on Youtube and such. I haven't really heard any of the other songs since I watched the movie. When I watched the original Frozen, I immediately went out and listened to the full soundtrack. I didn't get that feeling with this one. In fact, I haven't gone out of my way to listen to the songs at all and that's why I have no further thoughts on them. I do like "Into the Unknown" though. But I like Panic! at the Disco's version a lot better than the original sung by Elsa (Idina Menzel).

***SPOILER SECTION BELOW***

As I said above, I feel like they were kind of retconning the established Frozen lore just so they can add more content into the franchise. They start the movie out by showing the parents telling Anna and Elsa the story of how the dad was saved when he was little. And then they grow up, the whole plot of Frozen happens and then after that, is where Frozen 2 continues. So they start the story off by introducing a problem that didn't exist in the original Frozen for some reason, and then as soon as Frozen is over, the problem suddenly exists again and needs to be solved immediately. It doesn't make sense to me. I don't like it when movies/books etc. do this and ignore facts that were established before. The retconning bugged me a lot. Even with little things. Like in the beginning, Anna asked Olaf if he was enjoying his Permafrost. And even thought it's not technically retconning anything, it just bugs me because it takes away the irony of Olaf's song ("In Summer") from the first movie. The whole irony of Olaf's character is that he's a goofy snowman that wants to enjoy summer activities, but he can't because he's a snowman and he'll melt. But then now in Frozen 2, he literally can just go wherever he want now.

I didn't like Anna and Kristoff's proposal storyline. The whole point of the first movie was about the love between the two sisters. I don't like that they made Anna's storyline in this movie about the love between her and Kristoff. Why do they have to get engaged and married? And I don't like the whole "Anna is paranoid" storyline that was happening in the beginning. It made her seem like a crazy girl. And I don't think that fits her character at all from what was represented in the first movie. The paranoid Anna story was being played as a joke but it was all just annoying to me.

I liked Olaf. Olaf made the movie tolerable for me. He was funny and would bring my attention back after zoning out. I liked the part where he was retelling the whole plot of the original Frozen. I thought that was hilarious.

I'm going to try and discuss some of my problems with the new storyline. It's going to be hard to be able to put into words what my problems were. I just thought it was all over the place, hard to follow and just way too convoluted. I feel pretty stupid as an adult because I should have understood what was going on. Maybe it was because I was zoning out because I was bored? But I was not following what was going on. Weren't they supposed to "tame" all four elements? Why is each element represented by like one animal? But also two of them are animals, one has no form and is just the wind, and one is like 20 rock giants? Elsa just has to tame one little lizard and the water horse and then she tames the whole element? Why was Elsa trying to run over the waves anyway? Was it to tame the water horse? And somehow they tamed the wind. I missed that part. I don't know how they did that. And then they didn't tame the earth in the end, but everything still worked out somehow. And what did the dam have to do with the elements/spirits? What did the dam have to do with Elsa being unfrozen? Because once they destroyed the dam, Elsa became unfrozen. Why did she become frozen in the first place? What were all those memory things in the ice castle and how were they being brought about? What even was that ice castle that she went to? When the dam broke and the water was flowing to Arendelle, Elsa put up an ice wall and then the water just disappeared? Why did Elsa need to stay there in the end? How did Elsa even call the spirits in the first place? And then she ends up being the fifth spirit in the end?? I DON'T UNDERSTAND

Here's some scattered thoughts that won't really fit well into a paragraph (in chronological order):

• Here's a random thought I had before the movie even started. There were only three trailers that played before the movie. Those three trailers were for Onward, Soul and The Rise of Skywalker (Star Wars). WHERE ARE THE UPCOMING DISNEY ANIMATED MOVIES?? And Pixar doesn't count. This year Frozen 2 was Disney's only animated movie (theatrical) release (no I'm not counting the Lion King and Lady and the Tramp). And they apparently don't have any planned for the near future. That's just ridiculous. Animation is the thing that Disney should be focused on. They shouldn't be focused on doing their remakes that they keep doing. I'm just mad because I'm disappointed.

• Also, since that 20-minute Frozen short played before Coco, we were all owed a new Pixar short before Frozen 2... I'm just saying.

• That was a very weak title card and opening song (And I'd say it was pretty hard to let me down. I was very excited for this)

• "Into the Unknown" felt a little forced to me to be the "Let It Go" of this movie. But I did think it had an interesting sound (when all the other songs were pretty boring and generic). On repeat listens, I really like the calling of the spirits. It's spooky and haunting. I like it.

• Kristoff's song was weird. I'm glad that they gave Jonathan Groff a full song though. He deserves it.

• They kept doing this over and over: Elsa would say "No Anna, don't come with me it's too dangerous." And then Anna would say "No Elsa, you can't do this on your own." And they would do that over and over again. It was so annoying. I did like that Elsa got punished in the end though for making herself the martyr. She got frozen and it showed that she doesn't need to take everything on by herself. That it's okay for her to get help from her sister.

• Was it just me that noticed the ice sculpture was the mom immediately? Anna and Elsa went up to the sculpture and were like "that's Dad when he was young! But who is this girl that saved him?" How did they not recognize their own mom?

• According to my notes, I liked some song called "Show Yourself." But I haven't listened to it since because I forgot I liked any other songs other than "Into the Unknown."

• I like Elsa's hair down and I like her new dress. And it's a good thing because they need to replace that god awful outfit and wig that they make the Disney park Elsas wear.

• There was no emotional pull at all when Olaf was dying. I wasn't sad at all. It was obvious that he was going to come back. And because I knew him and Elsa weren't actually dead, Anna's song was boring and pretty melodramatic in my opinion.

• I like that they added a black character, but like why did his girlfriend have to be black too when they came back? eye rolling emoji...

• I don't like that Anna and Elsa are separated now. I get it. Maybe they're trying to say that you need to be separated from your security blanket at some point in life. But like the whole point of the first movie was about the bond between these two sisters. And then the second one ends with "Okay see you next week for our weekly game of charades." Like why did they have to do that?

Overall, I didn't hate it, but it wasn't what I was expecting at all. I don't think this comes anywhere near the perfection and instant appeal that the first one had. This one definitely makes me understand why the first one was such a phenomenon. Frozen 2 is not an instant classic like the first one was. I do think I will enjoy it more when I watch it again. I think I was just expecting an easy story, and then it ended up being something completely different. And something that was completely confusing for me on top of that. But of course you should go see it for yourself. You probably already have. Even if it didn't live up to my expectations, I still think this movie should be supported to show Disney that we care about these types of animated movies. Then maybe they'll see the value of doing more of these movies rather than all the pointless remakes they've been doing.

Did you go see Frozen 2? Let me know your thoughts down below!