Featured Blu-ray and DVD Review: Frozen II

February 25, 2020

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The first Frozen was a smash hit breaking records for the biggest global animated hit of all time. Frozen II was inevitable, but most people thought it wouldn’t quite live up to its predecessor at the box office. It smashed the record by over $150 million. Is it also better? Or does the film not live up to the hype?

The Movie

The film begins with King Agnarr and Queen Iduna telling Elsa and Anna a bedtime story about Agnarr’s grandfather, King Runeard, and his attempts to force a relationship with the Northuldra people of the Enchanted Forest who work with elemental spirits. However, despite building them a mighty dam as a gift, a war broke out. King Runeard was killed while Prince Agnarr was the only one to escape and he only escaped because he heard a voice lead him to safety. Their father tells the story as a warning, but their mother sings them a more hopeful song about the river Ahtohallan.

We flash forward to the present day and Elsa is in a bit of a panic as her worst nightmare is happening, she has to deal with people as part of her job as queen. Meanwhile, Anna and Olaf are having a lot more relaxing afternoon. Finally, Kristof is panicking with Sven over proposing to Anna. It’s a happy status quo … except Elsa is hearing a very faint voice. She wants to ignore this voice, because she worries it is one more complication in a life that’s getting too complicated already, but while singing about it, she decides to awaken the spirits of the Enchanted Forest. These spirits force the people of Arendelle out of their homes and cause enough of a commotion that the trolls show up. The leader of the trolls, Grand Pabble, tells Elsa and Anna that they must discover the truth of the past and right the wrongs or there will be no future for their kingdom.

With that, Elsa, Anna, Kristof, and Olaf are off to have another adventure. They do quickly find themselves in the Enchanted Forest, but what they find there are spoilers.

Is Frozen II as good as the first Frozen? Short answer: No. It’s too predictable, especially since the film essentially borrows the big twist from the first film with someone who was first presented as a hero turning out to be the villain. As soon as you learn about the four spirits and the fifth spirit that acts as a bridge between humans and magic, you know who that fifth spirit will be. Not only is the movie predictable, the film’s songs are not as catchy as the first film’s songs were, although if you had to listen to your kids watch “Let it Go” a thousand times, this might come as a relief. The Oscar-nominated “Into the Unknown” does come close, which is both a point in favor for the film and a bit of a warning.

However, while Frozen II can’t live up to the first Frozen, it is still an excellent film, so much so that I would not have been surprised had the film earned an Oscar nomination for Best Feature-length Animated film. It earned eight Annie nominations, including two wins, making it one of the big winners of the night. There’s an engaging sense of adventure that builds on the sisterly bond between Elsa and Anna and it continues the themes of family and fixing past mistakes that made the first film so emotionally impactful. The increased cast of side characters from the new spirits to the people trapped in the enchanted forest puts less pressure on the central relationship to carry the movie and this adds more depth. Some people complained that the film was needlessly complicated, but I don’t agree.

The Extras

Did Your Know??? is a 4-minute trivia featurette. The Spirits of Frozen II is a 12-minute look at the new spirits in the movie with two extras animation tests for the air spirit. Up next is a four-minute featurette on the score. There are five deleted scenes, two deleted songs, and two minutes of Outtakes from the recording sessions. You can listen to “Into the Unknown” sung in 29 different languages, while you can also listen to the songs in sing-along mode.

This is disappointing when you look at the film’s box office numbers, but disappointing is the new normal. With Disney Plus being a better than expected success, there’s little incentive for Disney to put in the effort in the DVD / Blu-rays, as they make more money from subscription fees with far less effort.

The Verdict

Frozen II is the biggest global animated hit of all time and one of the best feature-length animated films of 2019. The DVD / Blu-ray / 4K release doesn’t have many extras, but it has enough that it is easily worth picking up.

C.S.Strowbridge

Filed under: Video Review, Frozen II, Kristen Bell, Josh Gad, Jonathan Groff, Ciaran Hinds, Idina Menzel, Alfred Molina, Jeremy Sisto, Evan Rachel Wood, Mattea Marie Conforti, Hadley Gannaway