'Frozen II' Review—Inferior, but Likable Sequel

If you're a parent of a young child, I sincerely feel sorry for you, wish you godspeed as you listen to the same soundtrack for the next few weeks, and hope you retain your sanity as you watch this movie fourteen times.

Here we go!

Frozen II is an animated adventure musical comedy film written by Jennifer Lee and directed by Lee and Chris Buck. In this sequel to 2013's Frozen, Anna, Elsa, Kristoff, Sven, and Olaf go on an adventure to learn about their past while also uncovering a hidden secret.

When the original film hit theaters in 2013, people fell in love with it. There were lovers, haters, hype, merchandise, this diseased Olaf snow cone maker, two short films (with one that overstayed its welcome during Coco screenings), and we're finally getting a feature-length follow-up to this massively successful film.

And after my vast dissatisfaction with Wreck-It Ralph 2 last year, I was not expecting Disney to make a sequel that would be as good as the first one. And what do you know? They didn't.

This is not The Empire Strikes Back of sequels, nor is it the Superman IV of sequels. This is the sequel that's not as good as the first one but remains enjoyable to watch; this movie is to Frozen what Back to the Future Part II and III are to Back to the Future.

Frozen II is okay. There are many praise-worthy aspects of the film, but there are also a couple of problems with it.

However, I will begin with what I loved; the animation in this film is incredible. 3D animation has visibly improved in recent years, and there are multiple sequences in the film with water that look very beautiful and realistic.

I appreciated how this film expanded on the events and mysteries of the first film; we learn more about Elsa's origins along with the history of Arendelle while also providing us with more mysteries to uncover.

The film's characters are quite charming as well. Anna and Elsa's relationship in this film is very different from the first film, as they are much closer despite their different personalities and Elsa's power; the writers did a good job of giving them a sisterly relationship in the film with how much they care about each other's safety.

Kristoff is given his own goal in this film, and while he and Sven did not have too much to do for a large section of the film, they did have some fun moments, including a very entertaining musical number.

Speaking of the movie's musical moments, there are some very good songs in this film. While none of them may reach the fame and recognition of songs such as "Let It Go", they remain good enough to listen to and are very fun to watch in the film as they are accompanied with great visuals.

I loved the cinematography throughout the film. There are many new settings that the characters explore in this film, and they all look gorgeous. And the film has a great sense of fun to it, with characters such as Olaf bringing a lot of comic relief.

However, this film pales in comparison to its predecessor, and a lot of that comes from the story, which I personally did not find to be as clear-cut or interesting as the one in the original.

Anna and Elsa have a good relationship but their actual objective is not something that audiences will really care about. While it did expand on the lore of Arendelle, it was not written or presented in a memorable way, which makes certain story details hard to remember.

Kristoff's role in the film is very weak. He does not have an arc, nor is he given anything particularly interesting to do in the story. He has a goal, but it feels insignificant compared to Anna and Elsa's goal and the primary conflict of the film.

Parts of the film are a bit convoluted and exposition is either given too quickly or too clearly; there's a part in the film where Kristoff says something so oddly specific and random that I could immediately tell that the line was intended to set up the finale.

Speaking of the finale, something happens which may be one of the most idiotic ideas I've seen in a film all year. Without giving it away, a character makes a choice that could have disastrous consequences; the choice did not feel justified and it did not feel like something they would rationally do.

Overall, this movie is okay. It does not surpass its original, but it has some funny scenes with Olaf and the musical numbers are very well-directed and well-written, but the choices made in the story were not something that I could personally get behind.

I'm gonna give 'Frozen II' a 7/10 (B-).

Do I recommend it? If you have kids, they'll definitely like it. But go in with low expectations because I was disappointed by this film compared to the first one.

Thank you so much for reading.