Letting It Go Into The Unknown: Frozen 2

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It is ironic that a film titled Frozen warmed up audiences and critics to Disney’s contemporary retelling of fairy tales. Loosely based on Hans Christian Anderson’s “ The Snow Queen’, Frozen narrated the story of how the bond between two sisters - the spunky, carefree Anna and the troubled, reclusive Elsa - triumphs over evil and, as the film goes, thaws a frozen heart. This simple story introduced us to lovable characters like the summer-loving snowman Olaf, the cute-as-a-red-nose reindeer Sven, and the reindeer-loving iceman Kristoff. Along with a lively soundtrack (I’m still not able to Let It Go, guys) and some spectacular animation (remember the snowflakes?), Frozen snowed the box-office with money.

So it comes as no surprise that Disney chose, *for the first time in forever*, for this particular movie to get a sequel in the form of Frozen 2. It’s a bold decision; Frozen is no longer a film, it is a worldwide phenomenon for children and adults alike, so the pressure on the makers to deliver another film of the same quality is immense.

As an ardent fan of Frozen (and all things Disney), I understand the pressure. In fact, it is quite similar to what I’m feeling now, trying to write an unbiased review of the film.

It’s really difficult to put in a proper, spoiler-free review of an animated film like Frozen in the form of a nice, long article, so I’m going to take the easy way out and do a longer version of the ‘Good, Bad, Weird’ segment. Here goes nothing:


Frozen 2: The Good

 ❄ The connect with Frozen

With the simple act of opening the film with a re-recorded version of Vuelie (the song inspired by Sami and Norwegian chants), the makers of Frozen 2 ensured that the audience is instantly transported to Arendelle. The beginning scenes, featuring young Anna and Elsa, snowflakes and a song that foreshadows the film’s plot (All Is Found, by the extraordinary Evan Rachel Wood) are also quite reminiscent of Frozen. Add to that mentions of Hans, a lot of “wait, what(s)?” and an adorable re-enactment of Frozen by Olaf, and the link is indubitably complete.

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❄ The basic storyline

Frozen 2 takes the basic premise of self-love and acceptance depicted in its predecessor and upgrades it to the theme of self-confidence and self-belief. There are also elements of environment conservation and colonialism in the story, making it much more detailed than its predecessor. Kudos to Disney for attempting to display a bit of the Sami culture WITH the permission of the Sami people.

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❄ The character development

Elsa is still reclusive, but she’s more surefooted. Anna is still candid, but the years have made her sensible. Kristoff - well he is the most evolved of them all. Not only does he wholly support Anna in all her endeavors (the best line being “ I’m here. What do you want from me?”) but most importantly, he gets a whole 80s style music video to himself, where he expresses his anguish about feeling lost (with reindeer chorus :-p). And Olaf, in addition to being obsessed with getting older, now talks trivia and says profound things like “Maturity is making me poetic”. You can see that maturity has hit them all, perceptibly.

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A special mention to the costume designers; I’m so glad Elsa and Anna’s wardrobes have been upgraded to more practical clothes, like pants and shawls! I mean, I really like Elsa’s shimmering dress, but how was she able to run around in a thigh-high slit dress?

❄ The animation

Now, this topic deserves another blog post in itself, but I’m not the right person to be writing it; I can just write about what I saw, like a layman.

The sequences were so realistic that at times I had to consciously remind myself that the panoramic visuals I was seeing were made by someone on a computer somewhere in California. Every element - fire, water, snow, rain - has been perfectly recreated. My favorites were the scenes where the earth giants appear as boulders, the sequence where Elsa gallops on a water horse on the ocean and every moment in the enchanted forest. 

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Frozen 2: The bad

❄ The mismatch between the level of build-up and the level of the conclusion

A fantastic build-up but a tired and hasty ending - this is an affliction that every popular film/TV series, from Game of Thrones to Lost to How I Met Your Mother, has suffered from. Frozen 2 is no different. It begins with magic and mystery and keeps you on tenterhooks throughout the first half, but the mystery is so shabbily tied up in the second half that by the end of the film, one can’t help but feel underwhelmed about it all. It’s a shame when fantastic animation is juxtaposed with a simplistic, crummy ending. Frozen, on the other hand, had multiple storylines taking place simultaneously and yet managed to end the film beautifully.

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❄ The lackluster music (gasp!)

Yes, it pains me to write this, but barring Kristoff’s K-pop style music video, the haunting siren that Elsa hears and Queen Iduna’s lullaby, the songs in the film are just passable. Despite all the hype and Idina Menzel’s powerful voice, Into The Unknown did not make the cut for me. The soundtrack of Frozen worked as standalone songs and did not really feel like songs written as a part of a musical. Frozen 2’s soundtrack does the complete opposite; the songs, especially the lyrics, feel ridiculous when heard as a standalone album. ’

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Frozen 2: The Weird (mild spoiler!)
Okay so there was this one character introduced who bonded really well with Kristoff. I was kind of expecting him to be Kristoff’s long lost brother or something, but nothing of that sort was shown. Why introduce the character in the first place? Or is this a set up for a possible Frozen 3? We’ll have to wait and see.

Verdict: It’s a fun, engaging movie with plenty to enjoy, but it isn’t really in the league of its predecessor. A fantastic attempt anyway, Disney.