Frozen II Review

November 4, 2019 at 3:21am
By Jason Stettner

Time has passed, and there’s now a calling. Elsa (Idina Menzel) is hearing a calming song and it wants her to venture outwards. This sequel acts as a really good way to build out the lore while also presenting a more mature group of characters. At the heart of this is a series of musical moments, but there are darker themes throughout. I was pleasantly surprised by that attitude, as it makes sense for where the story goes and for its original audience which has likely aged as well.

There are extra flashbacks, and that really sets in motion the venture that the core group must go on. It’s really about two sisters, Elsa and Anna (Kristen Bell) as they stick together to figure out what exactly is going on. It’s about a balance of the elements, and attempting to discover the past. It does a really god job of presenting stakes, while also having as much heart as the first one did. It’s also generally better with a good story and stronger songs.

While I feel the tunes are an improvement, I’m not sure they’ll be nearly as memorable as the first Frozen’s were. All of the characters you expect are here, but aged. Olaf (Josh Gad) is back, and still quite annoying. The kids in the theater loved his solo moment, and I personally found his summary point to be rather hilarious. For the most part though, still annoyingly present. Kristoff (Jonathan Groff) was great here providing laughs and having a hilarious throwback type music video moment.

This is a beautifully animated film, I wouldn’t say it’s as groundbreaking as the first was technology wise, but it looks great. There’s a good use of various environmental elements and you see that more as things progress. It even gets majestic at times. The music worked well with what’s going on here and it can be quite funny. I liked some of the darker mentions and moments, works well with the adult crowd as well as for those that are younger.

This has some interesting themes, and I think they’re important for the audience that grew up with the first one as it has been a number of years. It’s about the bond between sisters and that’s clearly a key element that nestles at the heart of what the overall story provides. I’m not sure where they might take things going forward, but this does wrap things up quite well for now.

The Conclusion

Frozen II delivers a more mature, darker themed animated experience that continues to build on the connection between two sisters. You can see their love for one another, as they’re tested and deal with some rather gloomy scenarios. There are also just a series of musical moments here, with somewhat less memorable tunes but generally better songs.

They could have reigned it in a bit there, but it did help keep the pacing of the film running smooth. There were laughs to be had, emotional moments and a nice sense of growth overall. Things have changed, and they convey that well in this one. I quite enjoyed this one, thought it was an improvement and felt like a natural next step despite seemingly just coming up with extra lore to build the tale around.

Some elements weren’t perfect, but for the most part this was enjoyable to watch. The voice work was great, the animation was excellent and it should be neat to see if this property continues to grow after this point.

Frozen II Review at Theater with AVX Viewing

Rating Overall: 8.0