Before we get to the review, I need to mention the fact that, apparently, Andrew Stanton, Pete Docter and Brad Bird (all Pixar veterans) were credited as “Special Thanks” for helping with the story. That was probably the most mind-blowing thing about Frozen II, if not the best mindfuck of 2019.
Besides that, Frozen II is just fine. The more violent alternative to Joker (per Vue Cinemas) isn’t great, or bad, but it’s just a big old “Mah”. Elsa is on a quest to discover the truth about Arendelle while other characters wander around doing...Something (!) in 2019’s Animated (and less good) equivalent of Godzilla King Of The Monsters.
Not to say that it’s necessarily terrible since visually it’s beautiful, from water shenanigans to the fire of a candle looking just like a real candle.
And whenever it was Elsa doing something, that’s where the story continues, since again, she’s on the quest to find out the origin of her powers and the truth about Arendelle. And Olaf (who’s still my favorite part of the first movie) sadly gets reduced to the annoying popular secondary character, but not fully, as he was cackling me a lot in several moments, alongside a cute song about getting older.
And whoever wanted to make sure Lost In The Woods was a terrible 80’s/90’s Music Video needs a promotion. So far, Disney is doing great for brilliant WTF Moments in Animation.
And again, Stanton, Docter and Bird’s involvement for the story was sweet…
But at the same time, it felt desperate for me. Yeah yeah, directors learning how to expand the ante, but it was also Disney trying so goddamn hard to make a better sequel to the first Frozen. Kudos for the decision, but really didn’t pay off well in the end.
When it was Anna and Kristoff doing stuff, that’s where it felt like a “STOP” sign would smack me in the face, since we’re reduced to Anna just staying with Elsa during the grand quest or Kristoff not doing so well on trying to ask her to marry him, alongside “funny” schtick.
The musical parts kind of need to calm down….really calm down. I get that they love making musical scenes in Animated movies (and they are, indeed, great. Especially Into the Unknown), but Jesus Christ. And with Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez being credited as Writers, it really feels like execs asking for 1000 songs in this movie, putting it to an Olaf’s Frozen Adventure problem, where the story could’ve been all the greater had it not been for the overabundance of music overshadowing the main story.
And this may be something only Home Theater Buffs may get, but even in theaters, it’s starting to feel Disney’s horrible involvement in making quality Audio Mixes even in 5.1 Theaters. Like, show some respect, and hire better mixers than whoever is farting these abominations, both in theaters and Blu-Ray.
But then again, what mattered to me the most, was that Olaf was funny and the kids in my theater had the greatest time, so that may be enough for me to give Frozen II additional points. Not a dreadful sequel, but maybe low down your expectation a wee bit.
