18
Nov
2019
Frozen II

Frozen II

Years after the events of ‘Frozen‘, Elsa (Idina Menzel), Anna (Kristen Bell), Kristoff live peacefully in their homeland of Arendelle. However, plagued by a distant siren’s call, Elsa is determined to seek out both the voice’s origin and the source of her icy powers.

… If you go down to the enchanted woods today you’re sure of a frozen surprise.

The original ‘Frozen’ was a cultural phenomenon. Spawning huge merchandising sales off the back of its catalogue of memorable songs, its sequel has been a veritable ice age in arrival. Now that it’s finally here, its universal appeal has sadly suffered. Much like ‘Incredibles 2‘, the wave that carried it into audiences’ hearts has already crashed and left ‘Frozen II’ well past its sell-by date.

Without either the tunes or the magic of its original premise, Disney’s latest falls off the assembly line into the withering arms of its oldest formula. Animals sing, leaves swirl and Olaf the dancing snowman overcompensates for a ridiculously bland narrative. Add to this, Kristoff’s interminable on-off proposals to Anna, and instead of a story in ‘a land far, far away’, you can’t help feeling you’ve been here before.

Badly showing its age, Disney’s with-a-little-help-from-my-friends template buckles under the weight of post-Pixar expectation. Elsa discards her friends when she says she won’t, reindeers sound like Wookies and guitar breaks signal the arrival of incessantly MOR playlist.

Suffice to say, if you go down to the enchanted woods today you’re sure of a frozen surprise. Scrubbed of any individuality or desire, ‘Frozen II’ becomes ‘The Thing From Another World’. Infecting each scene with its gleeful mediocrity, Elsa becomes a frozen Bonnie Tyler holding out for a heroic premise where sadly none are available.

Melting quicker than a mid-summer snowflake, ‘Frozen II’ deserves to drown in its self-help epithets. Whereas there was space for ‘Titanic’s’ Jack from his movie’s icy grasp, no such accommodation should be made for any more ‘Frozen’ sequels.

Let it go. Please, just let it go.

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