Frozen 2
Ten Second Review: Somewhat convoluted and a little bland, Frozen 2 certainly feels like Disney phoning in the the story writing for a visually focused film.
As Merchandising films continues to become as important as the content of the film itself, few films have capitalised as much as Frozen. That isn’t to say that the first film wasn’t filled with good messages, writing and wasn’t an all round good film, but it has made far more money from merchandising sine the film was released than from ticket sales. The danger here becomes making a film to capitalise on this as opposed to merchandise being a bonus.
We pick up pretty much where we left the characters. Elsa is queen and Anna and Christoph are happily coupled up. Arendelle is safe and happy, Olaf is learning about growing up and all seems well.
One evening Elsa is kept awake by a haunting noise calling her north. When the elements begin to attack Arendelle, Anna and Elsa head north to see if the call can help them to end the trouble in Arendelle.
Trying to artistically top a global smash like Frozen is inevitably a Herculean task. Arguably a straight sequel is a weird shot to fire to try and hit that target. Other than in the few cases that are oft referenced, sequels are rarely as good as their original. If not for artistic merit, then you have to assume the Frozen sequel is aiming at the commercial opportunity. It then begs the question, why go with a storyline with so few new characters to produce toys of. Of course a kid will want the new Elsa toy but the drive from their parent to purchase yet another Elsa might yet be dry.
What this film really highlights is that while the technology and artistry in Disney’s animation department is only growing better film by film, their writing, when unchecked, is getting lazy. A new film requires time, thought and creativity put into its story so as to not plummet at the box office. A sequel then requires refreshing and evolution of those themes and characters so as to be a wholly new thing, not just a parodical pastiche of its first instalment.
Frozen 2 follows the first film beat for beat. The easy pot shot is to say it’s a kids film but it clearly makes a play for adult audiences. This isn’t a lesson in giving children what they want, but a blatant example of laziness in the writers room.
Does it look phenomenal? Certainly! Is Olaf funny? Definitely! Does Christoph get an 80s power ballad in a forest surrounded by reindeers? Thank god, yes! I’m sure this will please audiences but I doubt it will have the same rewatchability for wider audiences that the first one had.
Sequels are difficult but Disney has enough money and the cultural draw to put out films that are far better than this. The choice to put out a beautiful film with a half baked story was indeed a choice and reminds us of the importance writing has in even the biggest budget films. It is of course fairly watchable but I doubt you’ll be sitting down to watch your new fav Disney classic.
