When I originally reviewed the film in November, I initially gave it a lukewarm review. Upon a secondary viewing, my thoughts relatively remain the same. You might not expect it but Frozen II is a darker and less colorful sequel that focuses more on Anna and Elsa’s character development. Unfortunately, everything about the film seems so underdeveloped. The film goes into the backstory of Elsa’s powers and expands the world. However, it doesn’t quite show what makes them tick like other darker sequels.
The film also introduces a ton of mini conflicts that get resolved as fast as it gets introduced. This gives way to some messy storytelling and no real meaningful conflict. Sure, you’ll get questions answered that stemmed from the original film but it’s not coherently told. One also has to ask the question: Did these questions need to be answered? Unfortunately for Kristoff and Sven, answering these questions means that their screentime is vastly reduced. Frozen II is Anna and Elsa’s film.
The songs, another big part of the first film, are not as catchy nor memorable either. The exception to that is Jonathan Groff’s 80s rock ballad, “Lost in the Woods”. Another highlight is Idina Menzel’s “Show Yourself”. This is a song that should’ve had more of an Oscar push more than “Into the Unknown”. But overall, the songs had much more meaning in the first film but here it’s not as integral as the first film.
Regardless of these glaring issues, the animation is still insanely beautiful. It may not look like it, but the animation has improved since we’ve last been in the Frozen world. At the same time, the film is quite funny—despite the dark tone. Once again, Kristoff, Olaf, and Sven give the film most of its comic relief.
Overall, Frozen II is a bit of a disappointment. Frozen subverted a ton of Disney stereotypes while giving us some iconic songs. Its sequel does none of that. The film falls into the sequel curse that caught many sequels before it. Not even the mighty magic of Elsa can defend itself from the sequel curse.
Movie Rating: 3/5 atoms
Video
Frozen II hits Ultra HD Blu-ray with an HDR transfer and a 2.39:1 aspect ratio. The picture has a medium contrast that gives the picture some depth. Both the brightness and black levels are consistent throughout and there are zero imperfections for both parts. At the same time, from a lighter shade of black to a deep black and a bright white to a light gray, there’s a smooth grayscale that highlights the different moods of the film. At the same time, the colors have a natural look to them. It’s not too terribly saturated and doesn’t pop off the screen. Unsurprisingly, like most animated ultra HD releases, the details are super clear throughout. Overall, this is a fantastic video transfer.
Video Rating: 5/5 atoms
Audio
Frozen II hits Ultra HD Blu-ray with a Dolby Atmos and a core 7.1 Dolby TrueHD Master Audio track. This review will reflect Frozen II‘s Dolby Atmos track. Just like the fire spirit itself, the audio mix is playful with the way the sound effects move throughout the soundstage. But for a majority of the mix, the music and score dominate the mix for most of the film. That’s why you don’t notice much of the atmospheric effects unless you’re purposely trying to listen for it. Regardless, the mix still does a good job immersing you through either the music or the accurate sound effects. Also, the overhead effects envelop you like a dome—something you can hear in the ocean scene. Despite all this activity, the dialogue and singing are still audible from the center channel. Overall, this is a stellar audio mix.
Audio Rating: 5/5 atoms
Special Features
Frozen II‘s Ultra HD Blu-ray disc has a special sing-along version of the film. However, you can find the rest of the special features on the regular 1080p Blu-ray disc:
- Outtakes
- Did You Know???
- The Spirits of Frozen 2
- Scoring a Sequel
- Deleted Scenes
- Prologue
- Secret Room
- Elsa’s Dream
- Hard Nokks
- A Place of Our Own
- Deleted Songs
- “Home”
- “I Wanna Get This Right”
- Gale Tests
- Gale Test
- Hand Drawn Gale Test
- “Into the Unknown” in 29 Languages
- Music Videos
- “Into the Unknown” (Panic! at the Disco Version)
- “Lost in the Woods” (Weezer Version)
- Song Selection
- “All is Found”
- “Some Things Never Change”
- “All is Found Reprise”
- “Into the Unknown”
- “When I Am Older”
- “Lost in the Woods”
- “Show Yourself”
- “The Next Right Thing”
The outtakes have a few funny gems in there—primarily consisting of the outtakes matching with the animation from the film. “Did You Know” is a Disney Channel style feature that exposes some fun facts and secrets from the film. It’s a must-watch for Disney fans and film fans alike. Weirdly, it’s also a nice behind-the-scenes featurette since it also reveals some of the filmmaking techniques too. “Spirits of Frozen 2” is a very informative featurette that covers, you guessed it, the spirits of Frozen II. You’ll get to learn about the character and animation challenges of bringing these new spirit characters to life. In “Scoring,” composer Christophe Beck talks in-depth about the instrumental and compositional choices of his score.
The great thing about the deleted scenes and deleted songs is that both Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee talk about the deleted scene before showing it. “Gale Tests” are simply the “research and development” tests to bring this invisible character to life. It explores how animators can give personality to something that you can’t see. “29 Languages,” the music videos, and song selection portions are pretty much self-explanatory.
Special Features Rating: 4/5 atoms
Overall, Frozen II is a disappointing sequel that lacks the charm and intent of the first film. The video transfer and audio mix are both spectacular. Unfortunately, the special features are a bit lacking in substantial and informative content.
Overall Rating: 4/5 atoms
This Blu-ray was reviewed using a retail/advance copy/unit provided by Walt Disney Home Entertainment.
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