The film opens with a flashback, wherein a young Elsa and Anna are told by their parents the story of the Enchanted Forest. Their grandfather, King Runeard, established a treaty with the inhabitants of the forest, the Northuldra, by building them a dam, but when a fight broke out between them the elemental spirits of the forests were angered and trapped everyone within the forest in a wall of mist. Only their father, Agnarr, lived to tell the tale, saved by a mysterious rescuer. In the present, Elsa hears a mysterious voice calling out to her, and follows it only to awaken the elemental spirits who strip many of the kingdoms resources away, forcing the inhabitants to flee. Elsa, Anna, Kristoff, Sven and Olaf must discover the secret behind the Enchanted forces and set things right.
As with the first film, Frozen II features some stunning animation but the unique setting and more diverse atmosphere this time around allow for some really gorgeous landscapes. The first film was remarkable for the way it animated snow, but the sequel also plays with water, ice and snow in ways I've never seen before. The addition of a new culture here means we get plenty of new, elaborate costume designs this time around as well.
But if the sequel surpasses the original in the areas where it excelled, it stumbles even more in the areas where it fell short. The music is, once again, a mixed bag. The songs are memorable but inconsistent in tone and style, and never really mesh with the orchestral score. "Lost in the Woods," which Kristoff sings around the halfway point, after Anna and Elsa leave him behind, is particularly out of place, starting off somber and then turning into self-parody by the end. It also features 80's style rock instrumentals, which clash with the films Nordic, choral infused score.
The big weakness of Frozen was its script. The source of Elsa's fear of her powers, namely her parents misguided reaction to them, was rather contrived. This film exacerbates this issue by revealing that Elsa's mother was one of the Northuldra. If this is true, why hide it from her husband and daughter and why not be more supportive of her gifts? But the problems don't end their. If the first film was lacking in focus at times, this one is even more so. Elsa's arc here seems to be about discovering her true heritage and the source of her power. Anna's arc is being able to let go of her sister and allow her to pursue her own destiny. Meanwhile, Kristoff is given a subplot of his own, trying to propose to Anna throughout the film but bungling every opportunity. This is mostly played for comedic effect and, while I actually found it the most consistently entertaining part of the film, it's perhaps selling his character a little short.
In any case, it's in the climax where the film really gets lost. Discovering that her grandfather tricked the Northuldra and made the dam to reduce their resources, she sends this information to Anna before becoming frozen as a result of wandering too far into Ahtohallan. It appears, at this point in the film, that Elsa has died and Olaf, without her magic, fades away as well. Anna is distraught, having lost the person she loves most in the world, and must decide to go on herself. She determines to destroy the dam, even though this will mean the destruction of Arendelle.
This decision is made far too quickly considering its disastrous consequences and no alternatives are considered. There is really no reason for this urgency as the Northuldra have been trapped in the enchanted forest for years anyways. The whole thing comes across as needlessly reckless. Compounding these problems, Elsa is quickly thawed out as a result of the dam being broken and she saves Arendelle from being destroyed in the flood. Soon after Olaf too is restored to life. So the stakes, which were pretty high even in a contrived way, are almost instantly deflated. The denouement is equally frustrating. Why does Elsa decide to stay with the Northuldra, who she's only just met? In many ways this seems to go against the message of the first movie. Perhaps this is why fairy-tales films should not, generally, have sequels.
Score: 5/10
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