Frozen 2 Plot and Artistry: The Likes and the Dislikes

*ALERT: Spoilers ahead!*

I was leery of the idea of a sequel movie. Who isn’t? I loved Frozen: I thought the songs were clever and had powerful messages, I loved the humor (“I’m gonna tell him.” “Don’t you dare!”), and I ignored the political agendas people assigned to it because politics tend to ruin stories for me. However, sequels rarely live up to the caliber of the first movie, and aside from that, I have issues with Disney’s recent trend of making sequels and remaking live-action versions of old movies—can we say lazy? I’m crossing my fingers that it’s just a slump.

Anyway, back to Frozen 2, I’ve created a two-part plot breaking down different aspects of the movie. This time around, I’m talking about plot and artistry; the next post will be about characters and specific issues I have with this sequel compared to other sequels.

Plot: Things Disliked

1. The plot of Frozen 2 relies heavily on backstory not hinted at at all in the original movie. When backstory feels this forced, there’s something wrong.

2. There are several plot point that don’t make sense.

i. If Elsa and Anna’s mom is Northuldra, why doesn’t she look like one at all? Why do neither of her children look like it at all?

ii. How did the mom hide her identity from the kingdom for years?

iii. Why wasn’t the mom's act of bravery in saving the prince, her enemy, and then her subsequent marriage to the prince a reason to unite the Northuldra and the people of Arendelle? Why did the mom never go back to try to save her people?

iv. How is the dam hurting the forest? This is a major plot point at least in theory, but it was never clear.

V. Who's actually calling Elsa? It is herself, if she's the fifth spirit? Her mom, since she appears in that ice chamber? Also, why exactly is the river able to freeze Elsa when nothing else ever has ("The cold never bothered me anyway")? And don't tell me it's because that song at the start of the movie said if you dive too deep into the river, you'll drown, because that still doesn't explain WHY. There's not even any liquid water in that river--it's all frozen and Elsa controls ice.

3. The lack of a strong antagonist. The antagonist in the movie is supposedly change (according to some reviews I read). I didn’t really get that. I got that there were themes about change; however, I don’t think opposition to change created much of a barrier or a motivation for character development in the story (see my next post for more about this). In the first Frozen, Hans was one antagonist, and Elsa’s fear and lack of human connection were another. Anna fights against her naivety, and Kristoff struggles with his prejudice against and lack of patience with people. Everything that happens to the characters is harder because they’re fighting these demons, whereas in Frozen 2, Elsa makes it to the memory river and learns the truth about the past pretty easily (she has to attempt the river crossing a few times, but it’s not that hard). Anna destroys the bridge pretty easily (the Arendelle soldiers block her for about 20 seconds and then change their minds). Kristoff proposes to Anna pretty easily (once he stops his weird bumbling lover act).

Plot: Things Liked

1. I think the plot at least attempted to take on some themes. I don’t think it played them out as gracefully or powerfully as I would have hoped, but it at least tried to talk about issues like the constant of change, having to grow up and move forward when we don’t want to or feel capable of doing so, and earth/human relations.

2. There's some funny meta humor. My favorite moment is when Elsa walks past a snow memory of herself singing "Let It Go" and rubs her forehead like, "Oh my gosh, please let me not relive that."

Artistry: Things Disliked

1. Compared to Frozen, the music from Frozen 2 was lacking. I thought the music from Frozen was (1) hilarious, (2), addictive and (3) thought-provoking; I feel like most of the music from Frozen 2 failed on at least (1) and (3). I think songs like “Some Things Never Change” and “When I Am Older” tried to be meaningful and funny, but they didn’t really capture me.

Artistry: Things Liked

1. First, I only have good things to say about the visuals. They were beautiful, probably the best part of the movie. Elsa in full control of her ice powers, Elsa riding the water horse, etc. Lovely.

2. Second, even though I don’t think the music is as good as Frozen’s music, I’ll still say that I listened to the three songs I really liked on repeat for some time after seeing the movie. I don’t feel like the lyrics of “Into the Unknown” and “Show Yourself” were crazy powerful, but I did love their sound—just the music of them. That eerie echo, man.

3. Third, the emotional climax of the movie for me was Anna’s song, “The Next Right Thing.” This song falls at a point in the movie where Elsa and Anna have been separated. Anna is with Olaf when he starts to flurry away, indicating that Elsa’s powers sustaining him are gone. Olaf flurries away in Anna’s arms, leaving her trapped alone in a dark cave, her sister presumably dead and her snowman friend gone. (Where’s her boyfriend, you ask? That’s an issue I’ll rant on in my next post.) Cheerful, ever-positive Anna’s world has collapsed and she’s more alone than she’s ever been (yes, even more than growing up because now she’s developed meaningful adult relationships and lost them). She can barely summon the energy to cry, let alone get up and figure out what to do next. Under this emotional stress, she sings “The Next Right Thing,” a song about going forward even when you feel like you can’t. Beautiful, powerful, everything I could ask for. (Also, I love Kristen Bell, so that’s a factor).

If you enjoyed my Frozen 2 thoughts on plot and artistry, look for my next post about Frozen 2 characters (mainly issues) and comparisons to other sequel movies!