Uh... Ok.... Um... Lion? Grizzly bear? Monster? Brown bear? Angry face? Abominable monster? Greatest mistake of your life?
We didn't even kiss you.
That's right. It's those fan favourite Disney characters; Elsa, Anna and company.
They are back together on the big screen today in Frozen II. It's the highly
anticipated follow, of course, to the biggest animated film of all time.
Here's a question - can Frozen sequel live up to all of that hype. CBC critic Eli Glasner is here...
It's Friday, it's a fantastic day. It's his film review day,
and the first one a hard act to follow I know everybody loved it, Frozen Two.
Let's start with the story. Where does it leave us? So, the end of the first Frozen was
kind of happily ever after, right? We've kind of reached that new equilibrium the
sisters are happy, Kingdom is happy, so, the beginning of the new film, Elsa is
hearing something, she's hearing a voice, it's calling to her, she can't, tries to push
it away but you'll see that pull is really quite something. Let's take a look.
what would I do without you? You'll always have me
Has Elsa seemed weird to you? She seems like Elsa. There's this voice. Voice? What does that mean?
Well that voice is what pulls her out of her happy life in the
kingdom and if we're gonna talk Frozen and Frozen until we have to talk about
the Mothra of ear-worms, 'Let It Go' right? So, this movie doesn't have a 'Let It Go'
but it does have 'Into the Unknown' so this is another number that Idina Menzel
belts out, you know, power style and it's about her singing to this voice, hearing
this voice, calling, beautiful sequence where she's singing, almost duetting
with this mysterious sound. Ice sculptures springing to life but at the
end of that, this kind of wave of elemental power washes over Arendelle and
actually there is a danger, so Elsa, the Ice Queen she wants to investigate, like
what's happening, is this connected to my powers but Anna, Anna just got back her
sister she doesn't want her to go. So, here's Elsa saying let me go. Let's take a look.
You are not going alone. Anna, know I have my powers to
protect me. You don't. Excuse me? I climb to the North Mountain, survived a frozen
heart and saved you from my ex-boyfriend and I did it all without powers, so, you know,
I'm coming. Me too, I'll drive. I'll bring the snacks.
alright so there you go
gang's all here. We got Elsa investigating the powers, we got Anna
trying to keep her sister safe in the Enchanted Forest which has been shrouded
by fog for many years. Kristoff, there, working up the courage to propose
to Anna and Olaf doing whatever cuddly snowmen creature do. There are so many
elements when it comes to making an animated film and they seem to get more
and more and more every year with new stuff. This one, what do you, what do you say?
You know, what I say is I really feel like this is a calculated attempt to try
and replicate the magic of the original and the result is something that is I
think kind of confusing. There's a lot new here but in a way not enough.
You can kind of feel them checking off all the boxes. Something tearing the
sisters apart, the power anthem from Elsa, a silly song from Olaf, to like slow
everything down. Now, there are some interesting new elements. We've already
seen a little bit of the Northandhra this
the fictional Indigenous community, that we learn, have been living in this
enchanted forest and actually battling the armies of Arendelle. So, there you see
a little view. Actually based on the real Sami culture of Scandinavia.
So, interesting they are trying to work some of that into this Disney fairy tale but
the thing is, Suhana, there's so much like there's that, there's questions
about what happened to Anna and Elsa's parents, those questions of Elsa's powers,
there's the four elements that she's responding to, Olaf is getting older.
He's questioning his own very existence. It's all mixed together. Now, it looks
gorgeous and they were actually inspired by a trip to Iceland and the movies kind
of like Iceland, in that, it is this film of dramatic contrasts. So, one moment
you're being awed by the spectacle of these elemental forces and then Kristoff
takes the stage and sings a power ballad in the style of, like, an 80s love song.
It's like Bon Jovi with reindeer and actually very amusing. I'm picturing
that in my head. It's quite something but it's kind of wobbly and so in the end,
like, you really feel the two directors trying to hit all the notes of the
original. I think it's entertaining. I think it's got some great songs but I
think what it lacks is the power and the purpose, the clarity of the story of the
original. So, the magic isn't as enchanting second time around.
Three stars out of five.