Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Frozen II (2019)

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Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 12-08-2019, 09:59 PM:

The latest entry in the Great Disney Boxoffice Boom of 2019 is pretty good, definitely not the landmark that the first movie was, but an entertaining, if somewhat over-the-top for the kiddos.

The story finds Elsa hearing strange (yet highly melodic) voices, and going off on an "adventure" to investigate them. After a standard movie argument ("I'm coming with you, no you're not it's too dangerous, yes I am because we have to DO THIS TOGETHER"), she winds up taking all the other main characters from the first movie with her, even though she manages to get shed of the lot of them before the real showdown takes place.

There are lots of songs, none of which are as catchy as those in the first movie, a few new highly-marketable characters, several near death experiences that could scare little kids into nightmares, one major tearjerker scene, and of course some comedy, mostly courtesy of Olaf the snowman (Josh Gad), who has what I consider the best line in the movie: "Those giants are HUGE!"

You have to admire the storytellers' working hand in hand with the marketing department: They devised a way for Elsa to lose her famous braid AND both she and Anna to get fabulous new costumes before the movie is over, thus rendering all the existing Anna and Elsa costumes and wigs obsolete and helping guarantee smooth cash flow for the stores at Disney World.

In a way, the ending could have been more satisfying.

Spoiler Alert - Click to Toggle
If Elsa and Olaf had stayed dead, for example.

But, it wouldn't be a Disney fairytale if it ended any differently than it does.

Kudos must go to the animation department, which has delivered a visual home run with this movie. Everything from the Northern Lights to various kinds of snow and ice crystals, down to the characters' hair is rendered beautifully. And they kept the now-required-by-law-in-every-animated-movie fireworks display to a minimum (and it's not at the end), thank God.

At the end of the day, all things considered, "Frozen II" comes off as a movie that's trying too hard. It was entertaining, but less satisfying than the original, to me at least. 2.5 stars out of 5 for me.

Posted by Sean Weitzel (Member # 244) on 12-13-2019, 07:33 PM:

quote: Mike Blakesley
There are lots of songs, none of which are as catchy as those in the first movie...

My 4 and 7 year old children disagree. [Big Grin]

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 12-13-2019, 09:39 PM:

I dunno, I still get "Let It Go" and "He's a Bit of a Fixer Upper" stuck in my head from the old movie every now and then, and I've already forgotten all the songs from the new one except "Some Things Never Change" which is undeniably catchy.

Posted by Sean Weitzel (Member # 244) on 12-13-2019, 09:59 PM:

They are asking to hear Into the Unknown over and over. I find it interesting that the hook melody borrows straight from the song Jack's Lament in The Nightmare Before Christmas. It's just at a higher octave.

Posted by James Wyrembelski (Member # 9037) on 12-15-2019, 09:26 PM:

quote: Mike Blakesley
Kudos must go to the animation department, which has delivered a visual home run with this movie. Everything from the Northern Lights to various kinds of snow and ice crystals, down to the characters' hair is rendered beautifully

I couldn't agree more on that. The movie itself was gorgeous.

I actually thought this to be better of the two. I still have Into the Unknown stuck in my head.