Frozen 2 (Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee, 2019): US

Reviewed by Maria Zermeno. Viewed at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival 2020.

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The 2019 Frozen sequel is an animation, adventure, comedy film directed by Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee. The second addition to the Frozen films is fun and entertaining for all ages and is one of Disney’s best films of the decade in my opinion. In this sequel, we see Elsa peacefully rule Arendelle and come to terms with her magical skills, but nothing is what it seems when a distant voice in the woods calls upon her to uncover the hidden truth about the past. I took my four year old nephew to see Frozen 2 at the Arlington theater and he loved every minute of it. The first Frozen film had the iconic “Let it Go” song performed by Elsa, voiced by Idina Menzel, in the midst of her accidentally casting a frozen spell over Arendelle. I was glad to see that Frozen 2 added another amazing song for Elsa to perform so beautifully. Throughout the beginning of the film, Elsa hears a distant voice that she later realizes no one else but her can hear. When she goes and tries to investigate where this strange voice is coming from, she begins to break out into a song. Like “Let it Go,” the song “Into the Unknown” is powerful in the sense that it truly show’s Elsa’s passion and independence through her singing. Idina Menzel performed the song so beautifully and while watching this scene I was so captivated by her voice. I was lucky enough to attend the Variety Artisans Award at the Lobero Theater where they interviewed the songwriters for Frozen. Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez are a married couple who have written a number of songs for the Frozen films. In the interview, they were asked what inspired them to write “Into the Unknown.” I was happy to hear that their two young daughters were the biggest inspiration for writing this amazing song. Kristen had stated that she wanted to write a song about female empowerment in hopes that her daughters will be inspired to grow up and do great things. It was great to hear both Kristen and Robert talk about the process of writing several amazing songs. Not only does Frozen 2 have outstanding music, the visuals and animation were also so well executed. In the same scene where Elsa sings “Into the Unknown,” we see her give a breathtaking performance while detailed snowflakes and other amazing snow figures soar around her. The animation of the film’s entirety was so perfectly detailed that you can almost see the stitching on Elsa and Anna dresses. Besides the animation and musical aspect of the film, the best part of the film was Olaf’s comedic and heartwarming charisma. I find him funnier in the sequel than I do in the first Frozen but nonetheless Olaf is such a humorous character. Frozen 2 is full of adventurous and amazing moments that can captivate just about anyone’s attention through laughs and heartwarming scenes.

 

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Published:
02.04.20 / 2pm
Category:
Films, Santa Barbara Film Festival 2020