Review - Frozen 2

After it's early release in the US, "Frozen 2" has just arrived for home streaming via Disney + worldwide, so I thought now was a good time to take a look at the movie that had the unenviable task of following the highest grossing animation film of all time.

The kingdom of Arendelle is at peace. Kristoff (Jonathan Groff) is planning a proposal to Anna (Kristen Bell), snowman Olaf (Josh Gad) is loving life in the sun, and Elsa (Idina Menzel) is content in her role as queen – until she hears a mysterious song calling her out into the wilderness.

(Plot summary courtesy of Empire Online)

The first "Frozen" was released by Disney Animation Studios seven years ago (2013) and was a monster hit, becoming the highest worldwide grossing animation film of all time at over $1.2bn and winning two Academy Awards - Best Animation and Best Song ("Let It Go" by Edina Menzel who plays Elsa). Disney obviously also made a fortune from all of the merchandise and spin-offs and it was really just a matter of time before they released a sequel.

The big issue with money vs story driven sequels usually is that a money-driven sequel is often no where near as good or original as the first. It's often just a re-run of the same ideas and you always get the sense that it was made by studio executives looking for ways to cash-in instead of film-makers with a master plan who are desperate to tell the next chapter of the story.

However, I'm delighted to say that "Frozen 2" is not only a fantastic film but also a genuine attempt at a new story with these characters where everything feels organic and earned from the original.

Yes, the story is a bit more mature, more complicated and a bit darker, but it crucially never feels like they've gone too far for the younger audience or that they've just "gone darker" because it's a sequel and they felt they had to. There is definitely a larger and more epic scope to the film, but you can tell that returning writer and directors Jennifer Lee & Chris Buck along with their whole production team have worked incredibly hard to naturally evolve the story in a believable way. The new songs from Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez are also just as catchy as those from the original - Elsa's new song "Into The Unknown" is a particular favourite of mine.

Of course, the original cast is back - Idina Menzel (Elsa), Kristen Bell (Anna), Josh Gad (Olaf), Jonathan Groff (Kristoff) - and they all get their moment to shine, including a hilarious recap of the first film by Olaf and a really fun 80's power ballad for Kristoff too. There are also some great additions in Sterling K. Brown ("This Is Us") as Mattias and Evan Rachel Wood ("Westworld") as the mother, Iduna; but as you'd expect, this is definitely Elsa and Anna's movie.

It was interesting to think of what else the sisters could face, both together and individually, after the events of the first film, but the film-makers do a great job in avoiding the obvious and exploring issues of identity, courage and family even further than they did first-time around. They also do really well to protect both characters through-out, keeping them the same strong and brave women that so many young girls fell in love whilst also giving them room to doubt, error and ultimately grow.

"Frozen 2" earned over $1.4bn worldwide, so I'm pretty sure that if you're reading this, you've already seen both films in the series multiple times. However, just in case there is anyone who hasn't had chance to watch this or the first film yet, I wont go into any specific plot points or spoilers. Instead, I'll leave you to watch them both exclusively on Disney + and discover all the related short-films there too. Disney has also just released an excellent "making-of" documentary series - "Into the Unknown: Making Frozen 2" - which I would also highly recommend for fans of the film or just those interested in the film-making and animation process.

In short, "Frozen 2" is an excellent family film and a very worthy sequel that doesn't take it's audience for granted and is one that I'm sure you'll have no problem watching again and again.

Rating - 4/5