By TREVIN BRANDT
Staff Writer
Frozen II, the highly anticipated sequel to 2013 ́s smash hit Frozen, hit theaters on November 22nd. With a high bar set from the critical success of the original, Disney has a big job to do for its wide range of audiences. It can be very easy to make a simple sequel without thought or direction, but with enough catchy songs for the children to latch onto. However, upon viewing the film, it is revealed that there is an interesting story to tell that unfortunately is brought down by the messy writing.
Arendelle is in danger because Elsa listened to the call of a mysterious voice. Now Anna, Elsa, and the gang need to venture off into the Enchanted Forest to find the voice and bring peace back to Arendelle. The Enchanted Forest contains the four spirits of magic trapped inside: air, water, fire, and earth. On top of that, Elsa eventually finds a glacier that contains “the answers to the past” where many things are revealed, one of them being that she is the fifth spirit- ice. With the inclusion of all of these new rules that are briefly explained, it can be very easy for them to go over the children’s heads. It didn’t help that as these rules were being explained, it seemed as if they were trying to articulate very grand ideas, but couldn’t find the right words for it.
The main theme of the film seems to be as follows: when things eventually do change, and you are forced out of your daily routine, it can be hard to know what the next thing to do is. Unfortunately, there was a big missed opportunity to solidify this message, however, I won’t go too far into detail because it is a major spoiler. The climax of the film is quite anticlimactic and easily resolved. It could have been more impactful with some better writing and a sacrifice of some sort, however, it’s a Disney movie and everyone needs their happy ending, unfortunately.
The soundtrack is miles ahead of the Frozen soundtrack. There are only two or three songs that I would say are alright or bad. The rest are great. But I guess time will tell considering that the soundtrack for Frozen has lived with, and annoyed us for six years, while this one just barely came out. However, these songs are very different and interesting from the get-go. For example, one of the songs in the film “Lost in the Woods” sung by Christoff, is an 80s rock jam where the animation on-screen literally mimics the cliches of 80s rock music videos. It is hilariously genius. There is also a really depressing song sung by Anna called “The Next Right Thing” where she literally cries for fifty percent of the song. Disney is definitely venturing out of the norm when it comes to its soundtrack.
Overall, the film is not bad, but it has a lot of small problems that weigh it down, most of them stemming from the writing. I appreciate the ambition of the story considering that they could have just made a mindless sequel and made just as much money, yet I wish the writing was a little more clear because what they had on the table was quite interesting. I would say the film is just slightly better than the original, however, I am probably the wrong person to decide this since I have never really cared for the original in the first place. If I were to rate it on a scale of 1 to 10, I would give it a generous 7/10.