Frozen II (2019)

Movie Name/Year: Frozen II (2019)

Genre: Animation, Adventure, Comedy

Length: 103 minutes

Rating: PG

Production/Distribution: Walt Disney Animation Studios, Walt Disney Pictures, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, B&H Film Distribution, Forum Hungary, NOS Audiovisuais, Press Play Pictures, Walt Disney Studios Japan, Walt Disney Studios Sony Pictures Releasing (WDSSPR)

Director: Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee

Writer: Jennifer Lee, Chris Buck, Marc Smith, Kristen Anderson-Lopez, Robert Lopez

Actors: Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel, Josh Gad, Jonathan Groff, Sterling K. Brown, Evan Rachel Wood, Alfred Molina, Martha Plimpton, Jason Ritter, Rachel Matthews, Jeremy Sisto, Ciarán Hinds, Alan Tudyk, Hadley Gannaway, Mattea Conforti, Aurora, Santino Fontana, Livvy Stubenrauch, Eva Bella, Maia Wilson, Stephen John Anderson, Paul Briggs, Delaney Rose Stein, Halima V. Hudson

Blurb from IMDb: Anna, Elsa, Kristoff, Olaf and Sven leave Arendelle to travel to an ancient, autumn-bound forest of an enchanted land. They set out to find the origin of Elsa's powers in order to save their kingdom.

Selina’s Point of View:

I was looking forward to Frozen II. How could I not be? The first Frozen (2013) changed the Disney game.

Here’s the thing, although I was looking forward to this sequel, I was concerned.

Frozen worked because it was different. It took all the expectations we have as Disney fans and turned them on their heads. Hans worked as the villain because he didn’t just fool Anna, he fooled us too. We expected true love’s kiss to be the answer just as much as the characters did. It was the fact that we discounted any love but romantic as the answer that made Frozen catch our attention as well as it did.

But we’ve been there now. We’ve seen it. We know the lore of the story and I believed there was no way for Disney to really catch us off-guard with the ‘family love is the answer’ theme again.

That means, if Frozen II wanted to succeed, it had to find another theme to grip us.

I was so incredibly happy with what I saw. I spent money on that theater ticket and I have no regrets at all.

There were references to the first one, themes for adults that can keep parents interested while their kids watch, and some seriously epic songs. Nothing that really gives “Let it Go” a run for its money, but still catchy and re-listenable.

Some of the themes that Frozen II does explore involve grief and self-reliance. I can’t go too far into either of them without tossing spoilers at you, but I can tell you that if you are grieving or have anxiety-related issues, this is the movie to go see.

There’s a saying that pops up a lot throughout the film: “Just take the next right step.” Out of context, it seems simple, but it’s a great piece of advice to live by.

I have some serious anxiety. It takes me a long time to make friends because I find it hard to really even speak to new people. Hell, there are some people I’ve known for years that I still can’t really open up to. At the end of last month, I moved to a completely different city, two-hours from where I’ve lived my whole life. I can visit my friends and family here and there, but I can’t really see them as often as I used to, and that means I need to make new friends.

The problem with that is that I’m a pure geek. I’m awkward. I’m anxious. I’m not one of those social butterflies that’s just going to pop into a room and be instantly liked. I’m mostly going to be invisible and when people finally see me, I’m not exactly everybody’s taste. Knowing that, makes it even harder for me to try and make friends.

After I saw Frozen II, I used the themes in it as a mantra to help me talk to some people at the local gaming store and made a connection. It’s not much, but it’s a start. And it happened because of the advice in this movie.

Frozen, as a series (including the shorts), is probably Disney’s best. There are people who think it’s over rated, but I’m not one of them. If anything, I don’t think it’s given all the credit it deserves. They are films where a big production company has opted to take huge risks in order to give fans an inspiring and emotionally realistic story instead of regurgitating the same themes we’ve come to expect. I find that worth paying attention to.

I highly recommend Frozen II – to both kids and adults.

Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – 75%

Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – 94%

Metascore – 65/100

Metacritic User Score – 7.1/10

IMDB Score – 7.3/10

CinemaScore – A-

Trust the Dice: Selina’s Rating – 5/5

Movie Trailer: