Frozen; 1, 2, Review! Take 2 ❄️

In the previous part of this review, we reflected on the outcome of the blockbuster, Frozen. We reviewed the thrill it gave and the ton of awards it received. We saw the frozen fever and how people still refuse to let it go. Frozen was a huge success. Well, you know what happens when a film gets tagged "a huge success." fans ask for more.

John Lasseter, after appeals of fans to have a continuation of the classic, declared,

At the Walt Disney Animation Studio, as with Pixar, when we do a sequel, it is because the filmmakers who created the original have created an idea that is so good that it is worthy of these characters.

So we're expecting a sequel of Turning Red, yeah? Cos I would kill for more Jesse screentime! (Figure of speech)

Oh, happy day when Frozen 2 premiered, like its prequel, in Los Angeles. People were so eager to get a peak of the newest iceberg that ticket box sales reached a stunning 1.453 billion dollars against a production cost of 150 million dollars. Why not? Weren't we all eager to be reunited with Elsa, Anna and our lovable snowman? Weren't we curious if our predictions of Elsa getting a beau and Hans making a villainous comeback were correct? Off to the cinemas we went. Little did we know that Frozen 2 would take us on a dive to the mysterious Ahtohallan.

Set in the kingdom of Arendelle, (and Northuldra, and Ahtohallan) Frozen 2 is a story of two Disney princesses who set out to find their roots. That's right. Reparation is a theme in the film. Elsa and Anna discover that they are related to the native race of Northuldra, the Sami people. The people of Arendelle were actually 'colonizers' who set out to find new habitations. It was a peaceful meeting of the people of Northuldra and Arendelle. They signed a treaty founded on mutual trust. Northuldra greeted Arendelle with her lands and Arendelle returned the favour with a dam. We have hopes of cohabitation and the merging of two civilizations, but it is not to be.

Blood is spilled. Friends quickly turn to enemies and the enchanted forest in which the people of Northuldra inhabit closes itself from the outside world, making those within its hostages.

Among the dignitaries of Arendelle who graced the celebration, no one escaped. Except young prince Agnarr, with the help of Iduna. These two are better known by us as the unfortunate king and queen of Arendelle.

This is just the first of many startling revelations in Frozen 2. The sequel is so riddled with mysteries it is haunted by an enchanted voice. This voice continuously calls Elsa to unravel the mystery of her powers and the death of her parents. Elsa is however reluctant to succumb to this call of adventure. It has been three years of open gates and bliss since her last adventure. Why another? The voice persists and Elsa awakens the elemental spirits of the forest, making the adventure inevitable because the elements drive the people of Arendelle from their homes. The adventure promises to be a fabulous one, with new discoveries, an adolescent Snowman, jötunns, a nøkk, a flaming lizard, autumn winds and Ahtohallan.

Frozen 2 is a 103-minute long movie that hit the cinemas on the 22nd of November, 2019, six years after its prequel. We must have hoped that that would have been enough time for the producers to think the plot through. Don't get me wrong. I love the frozen franchise as a whole, but if I were to choose (like many of us have done), I would pick Frozen 1 over its sequel a million times.

Why?

Despite the fact that the sequel somehow contradicted the expectations of millions, it also went deeper into the frozen storyline. It was a sequel of revelations and repatriations. These revelations instead of establishing clarity only exposed deep truths that made fans mystified. It wasn't the ordinary I-wanna-marry-a-man-I-just-met plot. It was pure Ahtohallan. It was deep and revealed a lie of generations in a bid to solve a conflict of generations. This was too much for some fans who loved the initial simple and down to earth themes.

Regardless, Frozen 2 must be reviewed and here are some major themes I would like to pick on from the entire movie.

WHAT... MORE LIKE WHY AHTOHALLAN?

As said earlier, the Northuldra or people of the sun are actually the ancient Sami tribe. They are the native inhabitants of Sampi. According to Slate, "The Northuldra are modelled on the Sami, an indigenous people scattered across northern Scandinavia and northwestern Russia. Many Sami would be classified as white in an American context, while others would be considered Eurasian."

The Sami people faced the scourge of colonization. This was portrayed in the sculpture Elsa made of King Runeard (Jeremy Sisto) attacking the defenseless Northuldra chief.

Frozen 1 used a lot of the Sami culture like Kristoff's outfit and the wordless melody at the beginning which is actually Sami joiking (pronounced like yuck but with 'oi'). No one guessed that Frozen 1 would make the huge success it did, so when Disney hit the jackpot, the Sami people showed some concern. Why not? Disney was marketing on their culture which was nearly extinct due to the earlier policy of assimilation they suffered. They demanded that Disney pay tribute to them. This consequently led to the signing of a deal of inclusion of the Sami people in the Frozen franchise.

I have nothing against the Sami people demanding their dues but I think their inclusion messed up the sequel. If they had ideas of Hans returning or Elsa finding love, these were chunked out the window and Frozen 2 became a tale of reparation. Nice, just nice!

FROZEN 2 NEEDS MORE MAGIC, DON'T YOU THINK?

That was probably the question of the producers. A talking snowman is not enough. Let's have a nøkk (water spirit), some jötunns (earth giants, kinda like the trolls but bigger), an enchanted wind we'll call Gale and a cute fire lizard named Bruni.

While Nøkk and Jötunns reflect ancient Norse culture, Gale is reminiscent of the wind in Pocahontas and, is it just me or does Bruni resemble Rapunzel's chameleon, Paschal?

The four elements of the forest make Northuldra land a haven and a prison. They are initially violent after being awoken but soon warm up to the chilling charisma of the snow queen and fifth element. They become friendly but if I was Elsa, I'd think twice about befriending a water horse that literally tried to drown me.

AHTO-WOW-LAND

Ahtohallan is said to be an ice glacier that lies somewhere in the Dark Sea. It is a special place in the movie as all the elements of mystery revolve around it. It answered the questions, "Where were the king and queen going?" and "What is the source of Elsa's powers?" It's the place where Elsa unearthed the secret sin of Arendelle hidden in the sands of false history. It is also where Elsa found herself, and lost her life as well. It is a place secrets and mysteries. The question by Ruiz Michelle still stands, "Is it a place of special memories or a death trap?"

ROMANTIC KRISTOFF

Am I the only one surprised at what happened after Sven asks a certain gentleman to "Let down your guard"? Kristoff's hit "Lost in the woods" strikes one's heart as the song of a loving suitor willing to propose but too shy to do it. Relatable? It was really unexpected, and Lost in the Woods is one of my favourite Frozen 2 tracks. I mean, did everyone not love the singing reindeers?!

The producers experienced some back and forth motion weaving Kristoff into the fabric of Frozen 2. The whole Kristoff-and-Anna-in-love theme was poorly resolved and reviewers won't stop spotting how cliche it was. Come on! This is the sequel to the great Frozen 1. Even if Kristoff was going to play the clumsy lover, we expected a better act.

Producers actually considered playing on the solitary and antisocial nature of Kristoff to create tension over the Kristoff-Anna match. In a draft, Kristoff was supposed to rant at Anna over how he hated the fuss of royal life and Anna was to reply with the heartbreaking words, "I don't think we should get married."

When that didn't work out, producers put Kristoff up for the romantic and willing to please suitor who gets proposed to by Anna. This smells of Queen Victoria and prince Albert. There was even a song written; "Get this right." (Check it out. You'll love it.)

There have been critics that argue about the screen time our dashing blond Iceman was given. In summary, Kristoff was "scarce" in Frozen 2. The producers must have been too engrossed with the mission of liberating the enchanted forest that they had to keep Kristoff aside, until they needed him to save Anna from the jötunns. There was a suggestion that Kristoff should have been left to protect the people of Arendelle but wouldn't that have made him scarcer? Besides, it's not the fantastic five if there are just four heroes.

OLDER

Warm hugs for the snowman that never stops dreaming. From a debut titled "Summer" to another single "When I am Older." Olaf strikes us as the most lovable of characters. He's more than frozen droplets with a carrot and sticks. He's a heart ready to love, a mind willing to remember and a mouth hungry to talk.

It's nice to see that Olaf doesn't have his personal flurry anymore. He's been permafrosted; not a bad costume upgrade.

Olaf is as lovable as before but the idea of an adolescent snowman (who's only three years old!) naming elements and blabbing trivias didn't really cut it. In an attempt to stay cute and funny, Olaf ended up annoying (for the grown-ups sha. I know my little sister loved the Samantha joke).

Olaf's mastery at charade, hilarious recap of the Frozen 1 story to Matthias, Yelena (Martha Plimpton) and the gang, and his newest single were awesome! But to some, they weren't enough.

BLACK MATTERS

Meet Matthias (Sterling K Brown) the first frozen franchise character of African descent. What's he doing here? Well, there's this tendency of movie critics to term an all white movie racist. All races ought to be represented, especially in a franchise as big as Frozen. The producers replied smartly by saying that there had always been a black character. He was just trapped in a mist when Elsa was letting it go.

To soothe the enraged critics, he is even the captain of the guards (the white guards). Aside his 34 year captivity, quarrel with Yelena the chief of the Northuldra people and his helping Anna destroy a dam and doom Arendelle, he doesn't do much more.

The producers had an idea to make him more relevant by identifying him as Agnarr's rescuer but there were other characters auditioning for the same role. They eventually picked Iduna, Agnon's sweetheart.

AGDUNA

Finally! The Agnarr-Iduna story. I appreciate the attention producers gave the unfortunate king and queen, but I must say that I was a little disappointed. Here's why.

Iduna saved Agnarr. She laid him in a wagon and hid beside him. Then, who rode the wagon back to Arendelle? Let's suppose someone else escaped and took prince Agnarr back. What is his name? Where did Iduna stay? Definitely not in the palace at the time the people of Arendelle were embittered against the Northuldrans. How did Iduna meet Agnarr again? Did Agnarr recognize her as Iduna from Northuldra? There wasn't even a change of names. If so, why did Elsa see a memory of her mother telling her father that she needed to tell the truth about her past? Didn't he know???

These ruined what would have been a perfect love story. It was warm and beautiful but also confusing. Anyway, do you have answers to the above questions? Let me know in the comments. I would appreciate.

ANOTHER HAPPILY EVER AFTER

Frozen 2 might have seemed rushed and compressed but let's give it its flowers. The animation was detailed and beautiful. The costumes were new, cultural and fashionable. The songs... Oh! The songs. Special credit to Kristen and Anderson Lopez. Just one watch and my ears tingled with delight. I loved "The next right thing" for its theatrical vibes. I thought the ah-ah-ah-ah in "Into the Unknown" sounded like the one in Earth song. Am I right, Disney? It was also great. Hands down, "Show yourself" has to be the best song in Frozen 2.

Although the reviews on Frozen 2 are generally poor, it did go on to win 3rd highest grossing film of 2019 and best original song animation in the Academy awards.

So, was Frozen 2 a case of what I ordered vs what I got? It was. I ordered a wedding gown but I got a cape and a pair of scuba leggings. Here's the good part; the scuba leggings are not that bad. The more I wear them, the more I get used to them. You get me?

In conclusion... All I can say about the Frozen 2 musical fantasy animation is, "Thank you, Disney."

Heads up for frozen fans! There's another sequel coming up!

Frozen 3 😍

Can the Walt Disney Animation Studio right their wrongs and recover their trust? Can't wait till then. For now, don't make predictions so it won't be what I ordered vs what I got, again. 

Thank you so much for reading. See you soon. 

Love from Mara 💙