Elsa the Snow Queen and her sister Anna embark on
an adventure far away from the kingdom of Arendelle . They are joined by friends, Kristoff, Olaf, and
Sven.
Director: Jennifer Lee, Chris Buck
Cast: Idina Menzel, Kristen Bell, Jonathan Groff, Josh Gad, Ciarán
Hinds, Sterling K. Brown, Evan Rachel Wood, Alfred Molina, Martha Plimpton, Jason
Ritter, Rachel Matthews, Jeremy Sisto
Release Date: November 22, 2019
Genres: Animation, Adventure, Comedy
Rated PG for action/peril and some thematic elements
Runtime: 1h 43min
Review:
The original Frozen was a film I ignored as long as I possibly could. Once I finally succumbed to the weight of its cultural impact and finally watched the film, I was left shrugging my shoulders. The film itself is perfectly fine but it reminded me a lot of older Disney films which never really did much for me. The songs were catchy enough to make the whole thing watchable. The sequel has a very similar feel with a story that’s adequate if uninspired. Honestly, the music is the center piece of this animated musical. The songs are all solid enough but sadly none are nearly as memorable as “Let It Go” from the original. As such, it’s easier to dissect the fairly routine story that doesn’t hold any sort of tension for anyone over the age of 10. Pixar has raised the bar so high for children’s films that it’s almost quaint to run into a film that’s perfectly fine just catering to its core audience while leaving very little for the adults in the audience. It’s a shame the story isn’t a bit more dense because the cast is all impressive with Idina Menzel and Kristen Bell carrying the film with great ease. Josh Gad’s Olaf still fluctuates between amusing to annoying and his character is given a bigger role in this sequel. Ultimately, this sequel checks all the boxes to keep the younger kids entertained but I doubt anyone will look back on this entry with sort of great fondness or affection.
B-