Elsa just needed the average human intelligence of 100 IQ to avoid the trip to Ahtohallan

★★ out of ★★★★

Frozen II (2019)

Runtime: 103 minutes.

MPAA: Rated PG for action/peril and some thematic elements.

Don't get your hopes too high, Elsa. This is about as bright as Frozen II gets.

Frozen II is a technical wonder, visually striking, and vividly colorful, but among those shining snow flakes and diamond-like ice, it gets lost in a misguided and predictable narrative. There were many moments where I wanted to like the film. Ultimately, my hopes were brought down as I endured many long and boring scenes I already got the answer to. I can describe it as a mindless experience but eye candy.

Set three years after the events of the first film Frozen, Elsa, Anna, Kristoff, Olaf, and Sven, embark on a journey beyond their kingdom of Arendelle to an enchanted forest. There, they discover the origin of Elsa's magical powers and save their kingdom after a mysterious voice calls out to Elsa.

To your surprise, I wasn't very interested to the sequel of Frozen. I even missed the initial screenings of the film, which premiered in 2019. However, as of today, I have been forced to accompany my younger brothers to watch this movie about three times or more, but believe me, I barely remember half of the film.

Frozen II tries to use a generic plot point, a journey into a magical forest, and make up a story from it. However, the best it can offer is a troupe of clichés, like scenes where Kristoff tries to propose to Anna, and a positive ending where 'Arendelle is saved!', that feels deeply unsettling. Many characters are affected by these clichés you don't emotionally resonate with them. By the end of the movie, characters are forcefully tied up together, the narrative is resolved by a typical happy ending, and much of the forest is yet to be explored.

However, it is not to say that Frozen II is entirely bad. This film has been gaining so much popularity within months of its release to the point where even three-year-olds and adults were screaming 'Into the unknown!' out of their balconies and downstairs. I will never forget the torture that singed my ears for at least a fortnight. Back to the topic, it offers some scenes and songs that are so powerful (like 'Show Yourself') that the rest of the film feels like a disappointment.

Many other songs that last for four minutes or less, feel like a torturing, meaningless chore. One song, 'Lost in the Woods', presents and approaches Kristoff's problem in a strange way something feels off, while forcing a 80s type of music in, with a tribute to Bohemian Rhapsody. The song I disliked the most was 'The Next Right Thing', where Anna just cries and murmurs out all her problems while walking pointlessly in a cave, instead of managing her time well and coming up with an elaborate plan.

One of the main problems of this film is the narrative. Besides not knowing where it wants to go, whether that is exploring a character or the story, logic barely applies here. It is said that Ahtohallan contains all answers to the past, in which we later get to see events in the form of ice sculptures and a kaleidoscope of memories. Elsa went to Ahtohallan to discover the voice echoing in her head. However, what really irritated me was the lack of intelligence the characters had. I am going to blare out everything in the next few points:

- Elsa's father said that he was saved by a person of the Northuldra community. He heard the same voice as Elsa was hearing for that moment. If you look closely, Elsa's mother smirks at him.

- During one scene, when Elsa's wears her mother's coat, the Northuldra say that the coat belonged to one of them. Now, who does not have the intelligence to process this kind of information? It makes the purpose of watching the second and third act pointless, besides watching the ice horse, the autumn leaves and the stone monsters.

- Towards the end, everyone was wondering what they had to do to free the mist from the enchanted forest. Didn't a troll in the first 30 minutes say that the dam inhibited some kind of danger and it had to be destroyed?

- Not much about the character choices, but what kind of logic states that the five elements are: fire, wind, earth, water, and a solidified version of water? I remember reading a theory that proposed that love should have been the fifth element and Anna should have been the one to harness it, one that feels more logical and soothing to the audiences' hearts.

In conclusion, I prefer to be pleased not by 'eye candy', but something more thought-provoking and powerful, even though some of the entertainment and fun have to be sacrificed.

Trailer: