After the surprise and major success of ‘Frozen’ it was only natural for Disney to do a sequel. However, I like everyone else was hesitant; Disney have hardly ever been successful with their sequels.
When it was announced that they were going to do a sequel, the first thought that came into my head was that they were clearly trying to milk ‘Frozen’ for all it was worth. They had already done two shorts (‘Frozen Fever’ and a Christmas special) so it was understandable and reasonable why so many people like myself thought that at the time.
When the first trailer dropped however, I was shocked; it looked darker and more mature than the first film was. A rarity for modern Disney. It was confirmed by the second trailer that it was going to be much more darker and mature than the first film was and I was even more surprised and delighted by that. It had been years since Disney had released anything like that at all and most Disney sequels were much more child friendlier than the original films. Not to mention a lot of Disney sequels were awful.
The story starts off with a young Elsa and Anna playing very late at night when their parents come in, in order to get them ready for bed. When their father tells them that there was an Enchanted Forest in real life, Elsa and Anna are surprised and Anna wants to know more. Their father tells them the story of how he had basically met their mother there many years ago when the local tribe and his own father met under peace.
The tribe had special elemental powers- very much like Elsa- and were keen to use their gifts to help others. However, during the peace treaty something went wrong. After the young prince comes back from wondering off alone, he sees both his father's men and the tribal men fighting. It isn't before long before he's suddenly knocked unconscious.
As Elsa and Anna's father finishes his story, their mother sings them to sleep ("All Is Found"), the years suddenly go by and we're taken to the present day and the locals as well as Elsa and Anna are getting ready for the harvest festival ("Some Things Never Change").
Meanwhile during "Some Things Never Change" Kristoff has his own concerns; he wants to propose to Anna but is trying to find the right moment to do so.
He tries to do it later on that night whilst they're having a game of charades but Anna is worried about Elsa. Elsa has been acting strange all day as though she's worried about something. Anna asks Elsa what's on her mind but Elsa isn't sure herself. Or, at least, that's what she tries to tell Anna but in reality, Elsa has been hearing a strange voice.
She hears it again when trying to get some sleep later on that night and tries to follow it...during the excellent "Into the Unknown" number (sorry "Show Yourself"!) which also features Norwegian singer Aurora as the voice that Elsa hears.
As I said, I really enjoyed the first 'Frozen' film but I was skeptical about the sequel. Even though I'm a Disney fan I don't like a lot of their sequels (the 'Aladdin' films (particularly 'King of Thieves') as well as 'An Extremely Goofy Movie' were the only few to write home about).
The soundtrack is also maybe slightly better than the first film but maybe not as memorable although Panic At The Disco did a decent take on "Into the Unknown" on the end credits. It is also one of the very few- if any- decent Disney sequel soundtracks out there.
The only problem I had with it was that the story- which was about Elsa trying to find out more about her powers- wasn't as good as the first film's was.
Over all, 'Frozen 2' was one of the very few Disney sequels that I actually enjoyed watching and on repeat as well.
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