3. Frozen 2

A few weeks ago Beth and I engaged our favourite pastime, which is a common habit of mine, a Disney day. Of course due to our busy lives it ended up being a Disney evening but it was fun all the same (we had a cheese board!). During this evening we watched classics such as Kronk's New Groove (a personal favourite of Sam and me as we both hold nicknames from Emperor's New Groove), Hercules, the first 40 minutes of Hamilton, and somewhere in between Frozen 2.

Now let me make this clear; I did not enjoy Frozen. It was overhyped, I only saw it the one time and without going into detail that was a bad night for several reasons so maybe I marred the film with this memory. However I will be revisiting Frozen at some point when I catch up in more recent years on my Disney list.

For context with the Disney list, I have this silly personal mission where on a trip to Disneyland Paris I thought I would attempt to watch every single Disney film that I possibly could in order to fully appreciate all the nods to Disney culture. The first time round this was unsuccessful, I manged 104 Disney movies. I plan to go back for a longer stay once Covid is over with my darling cousin and then again as a girls trip with Beth and Erin, so have rebooted my mission and started again which was made tons easier by the invention Disney+, however an awful lot of films are still unavailable from my list but c'est la vie!

So anyway, there we were, stuffing cheese and olives, when we decided based on a family recommendation to watch Frozen 2. I flared my nostrils in disappointment at the choice but got on with it as the first one had left a bad taste in my mouth (or was that the olive?!). 

Now I won't lie, I actually enjoyed the second one much more than the first. Beth nor her mum shared my view point, but that is a different matter entirely. Now anyone with a mind for psychology would say this is because of the memories I associate these films with, Frozen I was at a birthday gathering which was awful and I was 15/6 years old, surrounded by people I didn't really like or know, this time round I'm 22 sitting eating expensive cheese with my bestie and her mum. See the difference?

Now regardless of my past trauma I seriously feel Frozen 2 is a vast improvement on this story line. For those of you who need a little context, Kristoff is trying to find the right moment to propose to Anna, Olaf has gotten this weird sense of being and is powering through emotions like a champ, Elsa is hearing a voice calling out to her like the Ocean to Moana (I ain't called the Disney Queen for nothing son), and it was just very realistic in certain moments. 

Despite being considered a good film, to the point that I will willingly watch it again (be afraid Samuel), I did have a niggling feeling throughout, not like a mega issue and I love Idina Menzel don't get me wrong, but am I the only one who feels the appearance of Elsa doesn't fit that husky and powerful voice? There's nothing wrong with her appearance I guess, and it is probably down to personal opinion, but for such a strong vocal and powerful character I would have expected her to look a little less...plain.

Another small grievance I have is the fact everyone just rushed to a decision and was separated without exact cause. This time round it was Elsa's turn to get frozen and I just feel like from the perspective that she is being called to reveal the truth of the forest and then meets her end despite being the power to save Arendelle was a little careless. Then Anna knows all of her sisters struggles and what exactly to do, coincidence? I think not. 

Other than that I enjoyed the different sides to each character. I didn't like how suppressed Elsa felt but I'm sure that was intentional to isolate her from her family, and how bossy and controlling Anna became, but again intentional, a side effect from the anxiety of almost losing her beloved sister the first time round. Of course it would have been hard for Disney to match the hype for Frozen after 7 years, but I feel they did an amicable job and Menzel's powerful voice gave me goosebumps during her renditions of 'Into the Unknown'. I would like it also noted Brendon Urie's version gave both myself and Beth a heart attack as we are massive Panic! at the Disco fans and were not expecting it at all.

So Frozen 2 has recently premiered on Disney+ in the UK so there is really no excuse for missing out as it is literally at your fingertips to watch. At this point I am running out of things to say in regards to this film. In a nutshell it's family friendly, fun, and would be a perfect accompaniment to a hot chocolate on a chilly afternoon. I'd quite happily give Frozen 2 a chilly little 6/10. If it wasn't for Olaf and the Sven musical number we were borderline soap opera.  But I look forward to adding it to the winter movie tradition.

Thanks again for tuning in, stay safe! Au revoir!