Elsa the Snow Queen and her sister Anna embark on an adventure far away from the kingdom of Arendelle. They are joined by friends, Kristoff, Olaf, and Sven.
It took six years, but Disney finally released a sequel to their unintended hit, Frozen. The fact that it was an unintended hit apparently created some issues with respects to a sequel, as there was not a lot of space left for further story. Frozen II moves further outside the kingdom of Arendelle and explores the lore around the origin of Elsa's magic, but not without making some retroactive changes to certain characters.
Straight off the bat, you can't help but notice how much better the animation is. The character designs have greater detail, the costuming is more elaborate, and the environments are absolutely breathtaking with some gorgeous colour palettes. A lot of effort has been put into the creation of realistic movement and presence when you look at the flowing environments, with seas, streams, mists, haze, wind all running seamlessly. This is helped by some great lighting that accentuates these colourful environments. Despite the vivid colours, there is still enough shadowing to create a gloom when necessary, directing how the audience should be feeling.
This is a Frozen film, so with the return of Idina Menzel as Elsa (or Adele Dazeem, if you ask John Travolta) it is expected that Disney is going to make some attempts to recreate the overplayed "Let It Go". Frozen II goes for pure quantity, knocking out four tracks in the first 20 minutes alone. While this may appeal to the younger children that are looking for a Princess/Queen that they can sing along with, it does have the downside of killing any sort of narrative flow in the first act.
Look at me, talking about narrative flow with a children's Disney movie. But if parents are going to have to sit through it, they can at least know what they are getting in for. There are so many songs jammed into this film, that for the first 30 minutes, it is near impossible to actually be able to tell what is going on unless you manage to catch every single lyric from the songs because so little to do with the story happens outside of it. Characters arrive, spout exposition and then disappear again to make room for another song.
The second act is where things get interesting if you are looking for a story. It explores the lore and the surrounding areas, with some interesting legends and character designs, but it certainly doesn't feel cohesive. It's as if someone was told to draw cool Frozen lunchbox ideas, and then they cobbled together a story from all their favourite pictures. More emphasis has been placed on aesthetics and action set-pieces than creating a story that actually makes sense (or matches what we were told in the first film). The story itself is incredibly convoluted in the details, but generally, is very basic. So much so, that anyone over the age of 12 will probably be able to guess how the film will end as soon as our protagonists leave Arendelle.
Along with the great animation, the voice acting is superb too, with our cast returning to bring Elsa, Anna, Kristoff, Olaf, and Sven the reindeer back to the big screen. What was less exciting, was how every character but Anna Elsa and Olaf gets sidelined for the majority of the film. Kristoff has a single dimension to his character before being dispatched until the climax. Perhaps this is Disney attempting to again turn the stereotypical gender roles on their head, but it seemed like a waste of a character. Even more so, for the newly introduced characters that suddenly had nothing to do by the end of the second act (one of which another reindeer-loving man that Kristoff had much more chemistry with, that he with Anna).
Olaf the snowman somehow comes off entirely different from the first film. Chances are, if you liked him in the first, you will find him irritating now, and vice versa. Granted, he did have a really emotional scene in the third act that really tugs on the heartstrings. But the best performances come from the sisters Elsa and Anna. Their dynamic is absolutely solid, and a wonderful thing to observe. Elsa, so headstrong and focused on her task, whilst Anna is fighting to keep up and assist Elsa to keep her safe. The complementary forces, the yin and yang, work so well, that the performances are noticeably weaker when they are apart.
There is a spark that is missing from Frozen II. That sense of purpose is not there. Without a strong antagonist, and only really a passive existence of something (rather than a direct threat), there is no sense of urgency. The narrative has many parallels with another Disney film in cinemas at the moment (Maleficent: Mistress of Evil), as well as some clear similarities to Nickelodeon's Avatar: The Last Airbender, which may also have led to this film not feeling all that new.
It is visually gorgeous, and the sisterly love between Elsa and Anna is developed well, but Frozen II is a different kettle of fish. Coming across like when Thor: The Dark World introduced the concept of the Infinity Stones, Frozen II is expanding on the lore and the presence of elemental magic for a purpose; likely Frozen III. Still, it was enjoyable, the kids will love it, and the soundtrack doesn't seem to have the same staying power that "Let It Go" had, so this sequel is still a fun time to be had.