Review: “Frozen II”

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Credit: Courtesy, Forbes.com

WSPN’s Taylor McGuire reviews Disney’s “Frozen II,” the sequel to the 2013 blockbuster “Frozen.”

Taylor McGuire

Warning: spoilers ahead.

With a 127-million-dollar-grossing opening weekend, Disney’s “Frozen II” hoped to follow “Frozen” in its footsteps, and earn an astonishing 1.3 billion in its run. I was really looking forward to watching “Frozen II,” since “Frozen” was one of my favorite movies growing up; however, I was very disappointed.

Now, for some backstory: The movie starts with a throwback in which Elsa’s and Anna’s father, King Agnarr, was telling the girls about his time in the enchanted forest, the place where he battled the Northuldra tribe and met Elsa’s and Anna’s mom. Fast forward to many years later, and Elsa and Anna are then stuck in the same enchanted forest. Elsa and Anna finally meet the Northuldra tribe, and they hear about the war crimes that their grandfather committed in the battle. Yelena, leader of the Northuldra tribe, tells the girls that their mother originated from the tribe, making them half Northuldran.

The throwback introduces the first song in “Frozen II” – and I was not impressed. I was looking forward to the annoying, but catchy, songs that were showcased in the first movie – but when the first 15 minutes of the movie had passed, and three subpar songs had already played, “Frozen II’s” musical future was not looking bright. The movie was also visually hard to watch – the viewer’s eyes were only exposed to shades of blues, blacks and whites for over an hour. I thought that maybe within that hour we would get peeks back to the colors of Arendelle: reds, greens and more vibrant colors, but I was wrong.

While it was visually straining, it was also very confusing. To say I was lost at multiple parts would be a major understatement. It seemed as though the creators took one idea and just stretched it to see how long they could make it. The plot kept turning(not in a good way), it was hard to follow and, overall, it was weird. At one point, Anna decided to break the dam that separated the enchanted forest and Arendelle. By her breaking this dam, she was also deciding to flood Arendelle – putting the lives of everyone she knew at stake. Luckily, Elsa just happened to be in the ocean when Anna broke the dam, and Elsa stopped the flooding.

This brings me to my next point: Some of the lessons that this movie teaches are not fantastic. I mean, Anna tried to flood Arendelle, killing innocent people, but then she is appointed as the queen of Arendelle. How is that morally okay?

On the other hand, the movie wasn’t all that bad – we even see Elsa’s hair out of a braid “for the first time in forever.” Luckily, the movie ended on a note that I could understand – Kristoff proposing to Anna.

Although it may not have been my favorite movie, other audience members disagree – the approval rating is 93 percent according to Rotten Tomatoes. With all the confusing twists in this movie, the only reason that I can think of as to why “Frozen II” is doing so well is that it is following the success of the childhood classic “Frozen.”

Rating: 3/10

Opinion articles written by staff members represent their personal views. The opinions expressed do not necessarily represent WSPN as a publication.