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FROZEN II
Directors: Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee Cast: The voices of Idina Menzel, Kristen Bell, Jonathan Groff, Josh Gad, Sterling K. Brown, Evan Rachel Wood, Alfred Molina, Martha Plimpton, Jason Ritter, Rachel Matthews, Jeremy Sisto, Ciarán Hinds MPAA
Rating: Running Time: 1:43 Release Date: 11/22/19 |
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Review by Mark Dujsik | November 21, 2019 There wasn't a need for a sequel to Frozen, the great computer-animated fairy tale that seemed like a return to form for Disney Animation Studios, but then the film became a legitimate phenomenon. Here we are, then, with Frozen II, which admirably tries something different but, in the process, loses the original's sense of humor, its genuine feeling of wonder, and its capacity to play with the formula of so many similar tales. The sequel, written again by returning co-director Jennifer Lee (Chris Buck also returns to co-direct), takes its new story very seriously. A recurring theme here is that the main characters have grown or are growing up, and with that, apparently, comes a necessity for a much darker tale. The first, which saw a magical queen nearly becoming a murderous monster because everyone feared her powers so much, was plenty dark in the first place, but unlike this one, it knew how to balance that with comedy and a touching theme about love's ability to conquer the darkness. Even the songs, which previously offered a variety of moods and purposes, seem one-note this time around. They're mostly power ballads in the vein of the first film's "Let It Go," which makes it a little strange when Elsa (voice of Idina Menzel), the queen who can summon ice, scoffs at a vision of herself singing that tune. One assumes that's an in-joke for parents in the audience, who had probably had their fill of the song a day or two after their kids started playing it non-stop. There's only one song here that almost comes close to matching the narrative impact and catchiness of that earlier song, but that doesn't stop the returning husband-and-wife composers Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez from trying to recapture lightning in a bottle with every new tune. Before that inciting incident of a ditty arrives, the kingdom and people of Arendelle have achieved some stability. Elsa reigns and allows the gates of her castle to remain open. Her younger sister Anna (voice of Kristen Bell) is happy and in love with Kristoff (voice of Jonathan Groff), who now has a few more friends than just his trusty reindeer Sven and is planning to propose to Anna. Olaf (voice of Josh Gad), the living and talking snowman, now has a layer of permafrost to protect him from non-freezing weather, although he now fears the impermanence of time—albeit with his usual chipper, naďve attitude. The plot dives into the history of Arendelle (especially its relationship with a tribe of forest-dwellers, who enjoy the perks of living in an enchanted wood), the fate of Elsa and Anna's parents, and a deepening of the mythology of this realm, which includes elemental spirits and a mysterious river in the far north that is rumored to hold the secrets of the past. Without much warning or setup, Arendelle is under threat from the elements (Fire and water disappear, and a mighty wind comes blowing before an earthquake nearly devastates the place). Elsa, who has begun hearing a singing voice in the distance that no one else can hear, and the other three (plus the reindeer) head off to find the enchanted forest, which is surrounded by an inaccessible mist. They hope to save the kingdom, to discover how the women's family members are involved, and maybe to learn the origin of Elsa's magic. The story comes across as a long string of happenstance (The group seems to figure out what needs to be done as it happens), combined with a mostly pointless attempt to answer questions that either nobody had or didn't need to be answered. In place of a sturdy narrative, Lee fills this tale with plenty of despair (Anna's big ballad is particularly depressing), and the writer/co-director and Buck focus almost exclusively on the wondrous sights and magical potential of this enchanted backdrop. There are rocky giants and a fire-emitting salamander and plenty of lovely (the forest, with its autumnal canopies) or dreary (a cavern and Elsa's attempt to cross a roaring sea) locations to be seen, but there's a definitive sense that, like the plot itself, the filmmakers are creating this mythology on the fly. The characters, too, take a backseat to the spectacle and the random revelations of the story. Olaf's role as comic relief is diminished after an amusing song, in which he pretends not to be afraid because he'll understand the truth later in life, and in Kristoff, constantly messing up his marriage proposals, the movie almost achieves the original film's playfulness during his big number—a sincere love ballad that is presented like a cheesy music video. Anna is almost a non-factor here until the third act, and Elsa, who was such a complex and sympathetic figure in the first film, has been reduced to a pathfinder of the thin plot. The ultimate lesson of Frozen II, perhaps, is that some films exist as one-of-a-kind phenomena. Their success is not some mystery. It's because they know exactly what they want to do and excel in doing that. That was the case with Frozen, which told an old-fashioned tale with subversive humor that only emphasized how much the filmmakers loved the story and its characters, but the sequel, despite arriving six years after its predecessor, seems to be making it all up as the movie goes. Copyright © 2019 by Mark Dujsik. All rights reserved. |
Buy Related Products Buy the Soundtrack (Digital Download) Buy the Deluxe Edition Soundtrack Buy the Deluxe Edition Soundtrack (Digital Download)
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(for action/peril and some thematic elements)
