In the era of sequels and remakes, this is one of the few that actually makes sense. A sequel to Disney’s 2013 film Frozen, which will likely go down as a Disney classic in the same vein as The Lion King and Mulan, which was an overwhelming success with both critics and audiences. And you can see why. Fun songs, a good story that’s delicately told enough to work fine with a younger audience, but also leaves hidden, unexplored layers that could enthral an older demographic, and interesting character arcs that left little to be desired. I didn’t exactly think it was as dramatic as it could have been, but it went for the theatrical, and it worked in that lane.
What surprised me is that Disney seemed to have understood that. All the marketing material around the film’s release that I’ve seen suggest that the sequel is a bigger, more dramatic, more epic film, and while this is likely to fix some of the personal problems I had with the original, this could also have unfortunate consequences and introduce new problems. Two what extent is narrative and character development going to be sacrificed in order to achieve this grander scale? How willing is the film going to be to introduce new characters? Is it going to feel compromised in going for the wider dramatic scope, or will it hit that sweet spot just as the original did for so many people?
A bit tough to say, but for however good this film is, and it is indeed very good, it lacks the feeling of risk to elevate it into being great. Nothing ended up feeling like it had been lost in the end. At least the first one had the cliché of the lover boy turning out to be bad. No such twists in this story. That doesn't mean to say that it is not redeemed by the characters still being likable for the most part, even if the film is sketching out very similar character arcs in comparison to the first film.
And that’s a problem. The film builds a connection with its audience pretty much exclusively on that familiarity the audience has with the narrative structure of the last film. Olaf for example goes through the exact same arc as in the last film, and while those familiar with Olaf’s role in the first film will get a laugh or two about his insistence that it’s all alright and that he will understand it when he’s older, but when that is damn near identical to the role that he played in the first film, he just serves as another character for the protagonist to save in this one who’s hauled along on this trip for no reason and appears to serve no purpose at all in the greater narrative, except to sell toys later.
And speaking of selling toys, Bruni is a lizard and is adorable and his presence alone elevates this film and it is a crime that he didn’t get more screen time and I seriously hope they’re selling plush Bruni’s next time I go into my local Disney store. That is all.
But, on a more serious note (to the extent that any of this is serious at all), while the magic of the film has been preserved, the scale has been turned up to eleven. If you thought ice powers were cool in the first movie, this film introduces a spiritual element which adds to the dramatic stakes significantly, and, by the standards of animation films this decade, this film is epic. Huge wide shots gloriously animated, trees being demolished by huge stone monsters, huge volumes of water rushing about, this film ticks all the boxes in that regard, however much it is lacking in other departments.
One of the departments it’s not lacking in is the musical department. The score certainly helps construct the epic feel, but the songs sound like they’re playing for more of a mainstream pop friendly framework than ever this time around, a shimmering layer of strings to cushion the main melody being the only unconventional element that may force it out of working in that particular framework. I don’t feel like there’s another ‘Let It Go’ on the horizon (even though Elsa’s two solo tracks have a claim to that throne), but the songs are certainly catchy enough to make the pop charts, and they would definitely be better for them.
But the ending of this film is the biggest disappointment for me. What a waste of the drama. Drama that the mise-en-scène and cinematography had been building up for so long. Elsa comes, she stops the flood with seemingly no problem, and they all live happily ever after, the end. How can the stakes feel so overwhelmingly large, yet the ending be completely underwhelming and devoid of drama?
This film has serious problems that would cripple a weaker franchise, but Frozen 2 oozes charm from every fibre of its being, that I’m not only willing to overlook the key failings of this film because it achieves exactly what it’s trying to do. Seeing the original before this is a must, though. If you do, this film is a pure rush of electrifying Disney energy that has the added bonus of having a cute lizard in it.
7 / 10
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