Frozen 2 movie review

MOVIE TITLE: Frozen 2

RATING: PG

LENGTH: 1 hour 43 minutes

Movie Review Mom GRADE: B+

(I loved the first movie, so it saddens me to give the sequel only a B+. I watched the movie twice and still settled on a B+ after both viewings.)

IN A NUTSHELL:

This sequel to the hugely popular Frozen (2013) has been highly anticipated by squealing fans…and me. When the first trailer was released, it had 116,400,000 views within the first 24 hours, making it the most viewed animated trailer of all time.

Visually, Frozen 2 is stunning, as expected. The story, however, isn’t nearly as charming as the first one, and even a little too confusing and mature for young kids. The songs are often dark and complicated, but that certainly won’t stop everyone from attempting to sing them for the next 6 years until another Frozen movie is added to the cash-cow franchise.

TIPS FOR PARENTS:

People and creatures in danger
This sequel is quite dark, depressing, and scary compared to the first movie.
No profanity. Olaf says the word “butt”
Some kissing and hugging (Everyone likes warm hugs, right?)
Discussion of death, an implied death of a beloved character, and another person gets thrown off a cliff and presumed dead
Magic

THEMES:

“All one can do is the next right thing.” – troll
Change: “I can’t freeze this moment, but I can still go out and seize the day.” – Elsa (Idina Menzel)
Hope
“Fear is what can’t be trusted.” – Elsa
Sisterhood, unity, togetherness (There are two sides to a bridge)
When in despair, just take another step or make another choice
Taking risks
Reverence and respect for nature
Female empowerment (of course)
The search for truth

THINGS I LIKED:

The animation is GORGEOUS. We are getting so spoiled.
Idina Menzel belts it out just like we wanted her to. She’s so amazing. Little girls will be attempting to duplicate the songs, Into the Unknown and Show Yourself for the next few years starting now. The band “Panic! At the Disco” absolutely crushes the song Into the Unknown during the end credits. Wow. Stay seated after the movie ends just to listen to their version.
You get to spend a little bit of time getting to know Elsa & Anna’s parents.
Anna’s mom sings her a song and strokes her nose to get her to fall asleep. I’ve actually heard that works and wish I knew that trick when my kids were really young!
I laughed at Olaf’s impersonation of Elsa during the charades game. He also does a 30 second summary of the plot of Frozen (2013), which is pretty hilarious. He shares a lot of “fun facts” and is the character who keeps things light in the film.
Super cute details, as expected.
The animation for water was amazing. There is a super cool character named Nokk, who has a horse mane waterfall. Wow.
There were a few respectful nods to Mickey Mouse (look for the shapes of various things).
Water DOES have memory. Check out Masaru Emoto’s fascinating study by clicking here.
Elsa always has the best dresses. At one point, she “levels up” and has a gorgeous white gown with an Aurora Borealis flair. The LGBTQ community is interpreting it as a nod to them. Is it?
The little fire spirit salamander Bruni is adorable.
There is a very short clip at the VERY end of all the closing credits featuring the snow monster from Frozen (2013) and the Snowgies from Frozen Fever .

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE:

The movie starts with a LOT of exposition and some obvious foreshadowing.
The villain gets a ridiculous small amount of screen time, which is odd for a Disney movie. Some say the movie doesn’t even have a villain.
Were the animators different this time? Somehow Elsa and Anna looked different in this sequel.
The big Stonehenge-looking stones reminded me of the ones in the movie Brave. I kept wondering if we’d see Merida. ha ha
Some of the humor doesn’t land.
It isn’t the same light, fun the first movie was. This one is more serious and dramatic.
Anna isn’t cute and charming. Instead, she’s paranoid and overwhelmed by everything.
I feel so badly for Kristoff because his personal story was boring and he is hardly in the movie. His song Lost in the Woods is done in a 1980’s style ballad, complete with images of famous 80’s rock bands Queen and Whitesnake. It didn’t seem to fit with the rest of the movie’s style. Some people thought it was epic and hilarious. I guess.
Elsa is magical and powerful, but kind of a depressed emo girl, complete with super pale complexion.
While adorable and hilarious in the first movie, Olaf has been seen as annoying by some viewers in this sequel.
Only minutes after saying, “Promise we do this together, okay?” Anna and Elsa split off into separate adventures. Even Kristoff takes off and gets “lost in the woods.”
Because everyone laughed at Anna in the first movie when she said, “Wait, What?” now, it’s said by several other people a LOT of times.
Some fans say the ending is a strange let-down.
The movie didn’t grab me emotionally, but I could hear other audiences sniffing in the theater where I watched it.

FUNNY LINES:

“Save it for another night, Anna.” – King Runeard – (Jeremy Sisto)

“Ah, you know I don’t have that kind of patience.” – Anna (Kristen Bell)

“You’re older and, thus, all knowing.” – Olaf (Josh Gad)
“I can’t wait until I’m ancient like you and don’t have to worry about important things.” – Olaf
“I’d hold your hair back but I can’t find my arms.” – Olaf
“I find clothes restrictive.” – Olaf
“Samantha?” – Olaf

INTERESTING LINES: