Frozen 2 is strange one for me. On one hand, it’s perfectly fine sequel, has some great moments and I wasn’t bored while watching it, on the another hand, it doesn’t have the “magic” of the first Frozen (2013), respectively, doesn’t feel as “natural” as its predecessor. The first one almost felt like a hit by accident, this one felt more like somebody said “how can we replicate this moment from the previous film that worked so well?”

I was mainly confused with the tone of this movie. Some scenes/themes seemed almost too adult for this “kids” movie. I know this might be strange to hear, as animated movies have long become medium for everything, especially as films from Pixar can deal with different topics really well, but this at times seemed as almost a drama. As if the filmmakers were forced to follow some sort of rule, that states “if you get a sequel nowadays, everything needs to be a bit darker”. I know modern-day kids can deal with a lot more than my generation could, but I’d be interested to know how do kids appreciate, when their favourite movie (and for plenty of fans, the first movie would have been one of their favourite movies they’d ever see) gets a sequel who doesn’t feel the same as the previous movie.

What I need to definitely mention is a standout performance by, to my surprise, Olaf (voiced by Josh Gad), who stole the movie. Not only I like him as a voice actor, but his recap of the first film (and even this one, while it’s happening) was truly hilarious. This honestly took me by surprise, as I don’t really remember anything from him from the first Frozen movie, but that might be because I have only seen it once.

I was pleasantly surprised that Frozen 2 took the path of “let’s not have a villain”. Well, to a some extent, there is one, but it’s a bit more complicated. I don’t think this is a spoiler, but the decision this movie took regarding its story, where and HOW it leads to, not only surprised me, but I appreciated it. I really appreciated it was more focused on relationships between Anna and Elsa, Elsa and Kristoff (even though he seems to disappear for a substantial part of the movie) and shows us how change might not be always pleasant, nothing stays the same, but we just need to adjust, move on and hope for the best.

Frozen 2 also doesn’t have the same musical “power” as the first movie. Into the Unknown is a pretty good song, but everything else (except that 80’s power rock ballad performed by Kristoff in the woods) is pretty forgettable. To be honest, I can’t really recall anything even from the power ballad, except how it caught me off guard, as I really wasn’t expecting that aesthetic from a kids movie (but I understand, this is one of those rewards parents get for bringing their children into the theatre).

Overall, Frozen 2 is a perfectly fine sequel, which is the best and simultaneously the worst thing you can write about a movie. Especially a movie that follows such a phenomenon, that was Frozen. It definitely feels like this movie was aiming to be much more than just “perfectly fine”.

That’s all for this one! Did you see it? What did you think about it? Let me know!

Until next time,

Luke