Frozen II (2019)

The Good:

The connection of Elsa and Anna could be compelling, but is overshadowed by the weak and pointless supporting characters. There is a beautiful sisterhood connection between Elsa and Anna, who are brilliantly voiced by Kristen Bell and Idina Menzel. Elsa struggles to come to terms with her powers and abilities, but Anna loves her no matter what – even if she could be killed by her sister’s powers. Elsa is thankful and gracious not to be judged by Anna, and wants the best for her.

The visuals are stunning, brilliant, and mesmerizing. What it looks like is the makers of film spent 90% of the film on visuals, and 10% on story and writing. 2019 saw brilliant visuals in films such as “The Avengers: Endgame”, “How to Train Your Dragon 3: The Hidden World”, and “Godzilla: King of the Monsters.” “Frozen II” joined this group of films with wonderful visual design.

The Bad:

Olaf and Kristoff need to disappear. I know it’s a kids film, but the best thing to happen to the Frozen films would be to kill off Olaf and Kristoff. They are characters who offer nothing to the story, and in many occasions, distract the viewer from the emotional impact of the scenes they are in. There were multiple scenes where the compelling story of Elsa and Anna were ruined because Olaf and Kristoff were in them. The love story between Anna and Kristoff is distracting, unconvincing, cheesy, damaging, and idiotic. The Disney princess love stories of older films are heartfelt and meaningful; there is no meaning in Anna’s and Kristoff’s relationship. The character of Olaf is the equivalent of Jar Jar Binks in Star Wars – poorly written, witless, and pointless.

Olaf and Kristoff are cheap thrills and empty laughs.

The writing of “Frozen II” is sloppy because the scenes are a mashup of random scenes put together with weak transitions and forgetful actions of characters. There are too many plot holes to form a cohesive story; many of these plot holes are created by Olaf and Kristoff. Many of the songs feel out of place because the film is rushed. Most of the songs are silly and empty. (This is not to say I do not like musicals; in my movie blog, I wrote a specific bit about my favorite musicals. Some of my favorite children’s musicals are “The Little Mermaid” (1989) and “Beauty and Beast” (1991)).

The Verdict:

Somewhere in “Frozen II” there is an excellent film; however, the execution of transferring the story to the silver screen is terrible, lazy, and uncommitted. Just like its predecessor, “Frozen II” is one of the worst films made. It is a broken down sports car; it is flashy, but cannot operate or is useful.

If you want to watch excellent films with compelling, captivating, and riveting themes about family, go watch “Parasite” (2019) and “The Irishman” (2019).