Movie Man Darian Watching All Night Long

Frozen II 

This film is a disappointing mess of a sequel! I had such fun with the first film and I will even give it some slack that this film had such a massive hit when the first one hit theatres and it became a cultural phenomenon that was a massive massive hit with kids. Their was so much and still is a ton of Frozen merchandising and I believe Frozen is the most successful and popular Disney Animated film within the last 15 years and then you have also the music that has been played on repeat for years now. So after all that of course people wanted a follow up sequel and It took 6 years but we finally got it and now I’ll say this the film is visually stunning but narratively hollow. 

Firstly, I’ll say the issues I had with the film first as their are many glaring issues I had. The biggest one is that the film try’s very hard to live up to the expectations as it goes in very interesting direction plot wise but nothing really happens from its interesting concept. The first 10 minutes sets up what the plot is surrounded with and it’s a cool set up but the execution of it was sloppy. The film didn’t even feel like a coherent story it felt like a series of situations just placed and eventually attempted to be pieced together with very little substance. The film definitely try’s to be more serious then it should as yes I love films that can find a way to make a mature and greatly written story but here it feels like since their was such a lack of substance for story that the film just fell flat on its face and then has this really dark tone to it that just didn’t mash that well with the style of what Frozen is. By the end of the film I was so so confused of what I just watched as I did still enjoy it but I had more questions then answers and so that’s also what leads me to the next point the film should of been longer and also this film’s premise should of been kept for the third film as it would of made for a better emotional investment if they saved this for the final act in the franchise. I feel like they just rushed way to much and didn’t pay enough attention to key plot points and to the new characters that fall into the background if they spent more time on the story this film would of been a great follow up to the first film. As the animation is gorgeous and If the beautiful animation was followed up with a great story I would of loved it but sadly that’s not the case. 

Secondly, Now for the positives the film the film has a terrific voice cast that all give fantastic performances especially for Idina Menzel who gives a better performance I think this time around then she did in the first film she brings a great emotional effectiveness that really hits you hard. Kristen Bell also gives another great performance as Anna and Johnathan Groff and Josh Gad both give great two hilarious comedic performances the entire cast is fantastic that’s a great compliment I can give the film is that it has a great voice cast that all step up to deliver fun performances that are so enjoyable. Then on top of that you have the amazing animation and I’ll tell you this the first trailer for this film when it was released and you see Elsa standing on the beach and you see the sand and waves I thought it looked real the animation now is getting to the point where it looks real and that’s so Damn impressive and here the animation really takes it up a notch and shows some of the most beautiful and gorgeous looking animation this year as it really shows the scope and scenery of the scenes so breathtakingly beautiful. 

Lastly, Overall Frozen II missteps more then it succeeds and is a proven lesson that some films just don’t need Sequels just like Tangled and Ratatouille didn’t get one this film should of stayed as a single film not a franchise as this film dose not provide the strong suit the first film had narrative wise and even with its songs. It’s still enjoyable but it’s definitely not as good as the first it’s still worth checking out but I couldn’t help but feel let down Frozen 2 is a mixed bag of things I really did like but also a lot of glaring issues I had as well. 

This film centres on Elsa and Anna 3 years later and their now trying to tackle with something that they must confront change and also secrets of their family’s past and some of those secrets aren’t as they thought it would be 

Rated PG : for action/peril and some thematic elements

Idina Menzel : Idina delivers a fantastic emotional performance that really grips you the moment she appears onscreen! Now Anna was and is the heart and soul of the first film without a doubt and here this is very much Elsa’s film more then anybody this time around and in the first film we had more of an arc that explained Anna more as we we got introduced to Elsa half way through the film and here we get so much more of her and so much more screen time of her character and the film follows her character this time around which I loved as we got to see Idina show more of her characters layers compared to the first film as in the first film she was very emotionally closed off and it took her a while for her to open up here we really get to see the character evolve and that is one of the benefits this film has is that it gives Idina more of a character arc to chew on as she goes into these peaks and valleys for her character arc through this film and by the beginning and end of the film she’s in such a different place emotionally and Idina just knocks it out of the park as she brings the emotional vulnerability needed for the scenes that requires it and she also can bring dry humour as well she packs so much emotional depth into this performance and shows such different sides to her we had not seen from the character the first time around and she gives I think what is a stronger performance then the first film as this one is so much more layered and she brings her dialogue to such life with passion and fun as she has such a blast in this role and bring the great fun but also the hard hitting emotional weight that comes with it and she is a pure delight and a terrific performance from Idina Menzel. 

Jennifer Lee & Chris Buck

Jennifer and Chris gave ok direction and really could of done better. These two are the same team that gave us the first film. And the thing is Chris Buck directed the classic Tarzan film and Jennifer Lee wrote Wreck It Ralph so I also am very good fans of their other work as well but they could not piece together a solid follow up to this film. As I mentioned before they try to dig deeper with the theme of this film and it just dose not jell. As the film felt so messy as the plot was all over the place and never narrowed in on what it was and their was no antagonist either so it just felt like it went nowhere and their was little character progression within the characters the only people that get any sense of a progression to their character arc is Olaf and Elsa. The film felt very hollow they were so caught up in the spectacle of trying to please the fans of the first one they never thought of a strong plot for the film which they should of been doing. As Important key characters go missing for a big chunk of this film and they do it thinking people won’t answer as well the films style and overall narrative was weak in comparison to its previous film. Jennifer And Chris try to recapture the lighting in the bottle that was the first film and I feel they could of worked a bit harder on the script and this film could of actually been a solid entry to the franchise instead of what felt like a cash grab.