Found In The Woods — A Film Review of Frozen II
We have three kids. The oldest is 4 and as of this writing, she is the only one capable of sitting relatively still in a theater for two hours. Frozen 2 is under two hours sure, but you have to factor in getting your snacks, claiming the perfect seats, and watching 20 minutes of trailers. This isn’t brain science! You’ve been to the movies; you know how it goes.
I’ve been a Disney nut forever. When I was old enough to earn money as a lifeguard, I spent some of those tan-earned bucks buying up and hoarding full-length, animated Disney films on VHS. It must have been a challenge to obtain a full list of all the titles that qualified, and to know when exactly Disney was releasing them from their hoity-toity vault. I’m sure I had some system because whatever I did worked and I snagged them up and kept them under metaphorical lock and key inside a giant storage bin by my bed.
Did this level of fandom for a kiddish genre make me a slightly odd teen? Maybe. It certainly didn’t help with the ladies (or did it?!). Well, whatever. The heart wants what the heart wants. And for me, for a handful of years, that was cartoon fairy tales replete with happy endings.
My obsession undoubtedly peaked with Aladdin when it came out in theaters in 1992. From there, I back-filled my collection as fast as I could.
Somewhere between Pocahontas and The Hunchback of Notre Dame, my interest waned. It was replaced with the freedom and overwhelming possibility of college life, which is jam-packed with a non-G rated bevy of stories for some other time. Or perhaps never.
The prideful coveting of all those VHS relics has surely paid for itself tenfold now that VCRs are still all the rage. Heh, I kid cuz I love. I don’t even know where most of them are anymore. I think I gave a dozen or more to my brother when he spawned his kids years and years ago. But I digress and digress and digress!
When does all the Frozen jibber jabber start?
Now.
Frozen, The First
I, like many child-addled parents, have seen the first Frozen movie (up until quite recently, known simply as Frozen) no less than sixty hundred thousand trillion times. But you know what? Unlike some parents who would rather throw themselves into traffic than hear Elsa sing Let It Go one more godforsaken time, I actually still get goosebumps when she hits those impossible notes.
Much like the scene in Moana where our hero reclaims her fortitude, purpose, and self-worth, belting the perfect declaration, “I Am Moana!” just before diving beneath the waves to retrieve the heart of Te Fiti, Elsa proudly stating, “I’m never going back! The past is in the past!” will forever chill me with fresh wonder.
I’ve been watching Frozen with my little girl her whole life. There are a million and one aspects of this parent thing that drive me wild with love and insanity, but one that is continually evolving is the second-hand sense of joy one can receive by simply observing one’s offspring deriving unadulterated pleasure in all the things. When my daughter first started to understand what music is, she would mimic the sounds. Over time, those mumbles turned to words and adorable misinterpretations. Then came the stamping of the foot at the precise moment for “Here I STAND in the light of day!” Then she perfected the Elsa hair waggle/unravel and flounced her pretend cape and… oh, it’s all just splendid, little girl magic, man.
With this infused, emotional history in the bank, a Frozen sequel was going to have to do some serious heavy lifting to secure any worthy space on my high shelf of lofty (albeit ridiculous) expectations.
Re-enter the snow queen.
Frozen II
The Buildup
I’ve been excited for this movie since the first trailer dropped, maybe six months back? It was probably even earlier than that. Disney teased us with Elsa, standing there, resolute and ready to burst with kinetic energy on a beach. She takes off for the ocean, running on self-made ice formations above the waves and fighting the terrible tide with her powers, only to be thrashed and pushed back to shore over and over again. The first time I watched this scene online, I asked out loud to the surprise of whatever cat was probably staring at me, “Oh my God, why are you running into the ocean, Elsa?!” I was hooked. I was ready. And like every other mortal in this world, I would have to wait.
November 22, Frozen II was released in theaters worldwide. We weren’t there. Nor did we go to see it that weekend. Back in my carefree, childless, roaring 20s and man-child 30s, I would have been first in line opening night. But honestly, who wants to brave opening night/weekend anymore? Especially for a humungo, blockbuster movie like this. Plus, we had a Friendsgiving that weekend, so there was much cooking and cleaning and general madness happening.
Then actual Thanksgiving came and went and though we didn’t do much for that, we were busy doing who knows what. I’m sure it was fun and I’m also sure I was chomping at the bit to get to the theater.
It was right around this time when Skye (aforementioned 4-year-old daughter) dropped the bomb that she wanted Mommy to take her to see the new Frozen.
Mouth drop.
The wifey poo said she didn’t care either way but if Skye wanted her to go then we’d roll with that. (I think Mommy secretly desperately also wanted to see the movie, but didn’t want to let on.)
I tried some sly maneuvers that I’m sure were not that sly at all. I think I even went as far as to tell Skye that Daddy really wanted to see the movie and Mommy doesn’t care, so… you wanna go with Daddy, sweetie?
— No, Mommy.
Very well, then. I’ll just be over here licking my wounds.
That’s fine, I thought. They can have their day. I’ll see it eventually. I don’t need to go to the theater and watch it on the big screen. I’m an adult after all, right? Right?!
So Mommy and Daughter went off to get their nails done and see Frozen II and I remained at home with the boys, hoping my girls would enjoy themselves and praying to hear no spoilers when they returned. For their part, they were very good about it. My better half actually said, “There’s nothing to spoil, anyway.” But of course there always is.
Sooner or later (probably sooner), my beautiful, thoughtful, empathetic daughter announced that she wanted to see the new Frozen again with Daddy.
Score!
I’m so selfish. This probably isn’t how it went down at all. I no doubt planted the thought in her head, either through sneaky innuendo or outright badgering. My memory is foggy on that, which means it’s clearly the latter.
The stage was set. My girl and I were going to embark into the unknown.
Well, my unknown, anyway. Her known. Because yeah, she’d seen it already. OK, so here we go.
Ah ahh ah ahhh!
Frozen II
Spoiler-Free Review
It was all right.
I’m kidding! It was incredible!
Easy. Pace yourself.
I love that I can force my level of excitement on my children. Is that wrong? On the drive to the theater, I did a lot of talking about how I was so happy she wanted to see it again and how I couldn’t wait to see Anna and Elsa and blah blah blah. My daughter, to her credit, indulged me my erratic, exaggerated, fanboy emotions.
We got popcorn and Skittles and settled in.
The movie started and at first, I was actually a little disappointed because my expectations were so high! In the opening five minutes, I was more concerned about the slowness of the story. I didn’t appreciate that it didn’t open with a bang and I found the first song to be wanting. I have since changed my opinion on this, so don’t shoot me. I think I just needed to calm down and enjoy myself and see the movie through Skye’s eyes. I looked over to see she was enraptured by and enamored with) her familiar, animated friends. It didn’t matter that they were mostly just talking and singing softly about some unknown mystery. It was all about the characters and how they interacted with one another.
Then, as the mystery slowly unraveled and the music continued to one-up itself with each new song, a voice inside my head asked, “Is this movie better than the original?”
That voice, as it turns out, was an ear bug my lovely wife put in there. She told me, before we left, that the sequel was superior to the original and she was eager to know what I thought. With this question at the front of my mind, I found myself analyzing maybe too much and leaving my enjoyment at the door. Once I realized that — that I was perhaps missing some of Olaf’s rapid fire humor or Kristoff’s frazzled and nervous devotion, I tuned out the ear worm and began appreciating the story for what it was.
Ladies and gentlemen, it is a wonderful story. And yes, I do agree, it’s even better than the first.
It would be a monumental feat to outdo the quintessential Let It Go. But really, was anyone hoping for a new song to make our sinuses bleed? That’s not to say the original tune isn’t a masterpiece. It is! But is a masterpiece still a masterpiece after you’ve heard your toddler croon it adorably (albeit off-key) thousands of times? Hmm. Maybe.
So no, Frozen II does not have the Let It Go world stopper. In its place are two, three-quarter matches in Elsa’s blazing (yet ever-so-slightly restrained) Into The Unknown and Show Yourself. Come to think of it though, it’s not that she’s holding those majestic pipes back. Instead, she shares the stage with an ethereal, fancy-free light entity that just happens to embody perfect pitch. If I disclose any more it will give away too much so I’ll just leave you with a little bit of
Ah ahh ah ahhh!
The soundtrack, through and through, is Disney at its absolute best. If hard-pressed to pick a favorite, I wouldn’t be able to. In fact, it might be a three-way tie with the two, aforementioned careful, Elsa anthems and Kristoff’s mournful but lovely, surprising and meaningful Lost In The Woods.
Dear Kristoff, my man. You nailed it! I feel a little weird praising you for the pain you felt while delivering this gem (and strangely less weird about talking to you at all), but I don’t think it’s a spoiler to tell you it’s going to be all right in the end because bro, you’re a prince in a Disney film. Well, maybe not a prince in the royal sense of the word (yet, ooh!), but your 21st century romantic manliness is best exemplified by your vulnerability. It’s one of your greatest strengths.
ANYWAY…
These songs are all in my head because we’ve been listening to the soundtrack mostly nonstop since we left the theater Sunday. They steal the show by at once overshadowing and amplifying the story, the magic, the sisterly bond, and the glorious eye candy that is the flawless animation.
The one negative I have with this film is my own flaw: I’m old. That’s no more my fault than your age is yours. But with age comes a certain amount of jaded foppishness. During Frozen II’s most tragic denouement, I couldn’t help but think, “This isn’t sad at all because, Disney. All will be well in Act III.” And was it?
Well, what do you think? I’m going to go out on a limb here and guess that if you’ve read this far, you’ve seen Frozen II, too and you know that easy answer. You’re as big a fan as me because hey, there’s a lot of us out there. And if you were somehow on the fence on whether you would see Frozen II or not, then… hey friend, who are you and what have you done with your childlike wonder?
Why am I still obsessed with animated Disney movies? Is it because they are pure and good and lovely. Or do I just enjoy pretending to be forever young. I dunno. The best I can figure is that this will all make sense when I am older.
Also, um, hello! Weezer!
