The only act of true love I need is my boyfriend taking me to see Frozen II on its opening night. In that truly magical way that only Disney can master, I spent nearly two hours lost in Idina Menzel’s alto belt and Josh Gad’s comedic genius, completely forgetting about my upcoming summatives.
First things first: how does it hold up to the original Frozen? I still love the animations, the music, and the neatly packaged message of the first film, regardless of how many times the kids I babysat made me watch it. But the strength of the original is, in some ways, a problem for the sequel: Frozen was too well packaged, it left no loose ends for Frozen II to pick up. As such, the first half of the sequel was largely exposition, and moved too slowly. That being said, the music was just as catchy as the original Frozen.
Once the conflict was set up, the rest of the film flew by. Olaf contemplates life in a way that is not dissimilar to how I did as a first year, whilst Kristoff sings a power ballad filmed in 2000s-music-video style.* Anna becomes a hero in her own right, not just a damsel in need of saving. As in the first film, Elsa’s grandiose wardrobe transformation symbolises the transformation of her character. Despite my commitment to not buying new clothes, I desperately want all of hers.
Perhaps the part I loved the most was the film’s indigenous representation, and the fact that Disney included Sami people in the creation of the film. Considered in light of indigenous involvement in the production of Moana, this could be the beginning of a slightly less problematic chapter of Disney. It’s certainly a step towards rectifying the mistakes of the original Frozen, where traditional Sami-inspired chants and wardrobes were used with no acknowledgement of their cultural source.
All in all, I’m adding Frozen II to the repertoire of films I binge when LSE gets too sad for me.
*disclaimer I have never watched one of these, I’m just assuming that’s what they look like because of memes
