Frozen II (2019) review

Calling Disney Animation’s 2013 release Frozen one of the most successful projects that they’ve ever made would easily be one of the biggest understatements of all-time. Upon its release, this loose adaptation of author Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale The Snow Queen became the studio’s first animated film to gross over $1 billion worldwide (not counting subsidiary Pixar’s Toy Story 3, which did the same thing in 2010). It won two Oscars for Best Original Song and Best Animated Feature and has widely been regarded as one of Disney Animation’s modern masterpieces. And while there have undoubtedly been a select number of folks out there who were likely driven mad by the truly extensive mark that the film left on pop culture, there’s no denying that Frozen was very much one of those films that was fully deserving of becoming the full-on cultural phenomenon that it still is today. Whether it was thanks to its lovable cast of characters or its undeniably catchy soundtrack, Frozen quickly blossomed into one of Disney’s biggest animated franchises that would later spawn a few animated shorts to build up hype for the film’s heavily anticipated feature-length follow-up. And now, the story of the Royal Sisters of Arendelle officially continues with Disney Animation’s 58^th official animated feature, Frozen II. Luckily, for fans of the franchise, this sequel brings back almost all the key players from the first film, including songwriters Robert and Kristen-Anderson Lopez, the core quartet of leads Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel, Jonathan Groff, and Josh Gad, and directors Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee. And because of this, Frozen II is a fantastic sequel to its equally fantastic predecessor as it flawlessly retains everything that made the original Frozen a beloved Disney classic.

 

For the past three years, the Kingdom of Arendelle has thrived under Queen Elsa (voiced by Idina Menzel), especially after she was able to rekindle her relationship with her younger sister, Princess Anna (voiced by Kristen Bell). However, on one faithful night, Elsa becomes entranced by a mysterious voice calling out to her from afar, and when she finally interacts with it, the kingdom is suddenly ravaged by mysterious elemental forces. Elsa and Anna soon learn from the wise troll Grand Pabbie (voiced by Ciaran Hinds) that this recent turn of events is due to Elsa unintentionally awakening the four elemental spirits of Earth, Fire, Water, and Air. And as he informs them, the only way to set things right is to travel to the Enchanted Forest that their parents, King Agnarr (voiced by Alfred Molina, replacing Maurice LaMarche from the first film) and Queen Iduna (voiced by Evan Rachel Wood, replacing director Jennifer Lee from the first film) told them about when they were younger. For years, this Enchanted Forest has been consumed by an impenetrable wall of mist that has trapped all those inside it after an unexpected fight occurred between the native Northuldra tribe and a group of Arendellian forces. Thus, Elsa, Anna, sentient snowman Olaf (voiced by Josh Gad), and Anna’s ice harvester boyfriend Kristoff (voiced by Jonathan Groff) embark on a journey to appease the elemental spirits, specifically by uncovering the cause of this long-standing conflict. Along the way, Anna and Elsa even begin to discover the secrets behind the magical ice powers that the latter has possessed her whole life.

Frozen II certainly fits the bill when it comes to being a ‘bigger sequel’ in every sense of the phrase. The adventure that Anna and Elsa go on in this film is far grander in scale than the one from the first film, and while it does continue to maintain the usual light-hearted atmosphere of a Disney animated film, it is a little darker in tone compared to its predecessor. In other words, Frozen II does what any good sequel should do by naturally expanding its universe while also showing a genuine sense of maturity from a storytelling perspective. At the same time, though, it never loses sight of any of the things that made its predecessor so iconic, especially the strong and loving relationship between its lead sister duo. The animation is superb as always and the new songs by Robert and Kirsten-Anderson Lopez arguably stand toe to toe with the first film’s truly unforgettable soundtrack. Highlights of the sequel’s soundtrack include but are not limited to Elsa’s big solo ‘Into the Unknown’, Anna’s downright devastating solo ‘The Next Right Thing’, which stems from what is quite possibly the most emotional moment in the whole film, and Kristoff’s 80’s power ballad (yes, I know what I just said…) ‘Lost in the Woods’. Now, if there was any sort of shortcoming with this film, it’s that, because of how its story is structured to focus primarily on Anna and Elsa above everything else, Frozen II doesn’t really spend a lot of time with the new characters that it introduces. As such, certain subplots like the feud between the Northuldra tribe and the Arendelle soldiers who got trapped in the Enchanted Forest sometimes tend to get overlooked. And yet, I don’t even remotely consider that to be a bad thing in this instance since this series has always done a wonderful job of exploring the theme of how love truly does conquer all through the phenomenal heroines who headline it.

On that note, one of the coolest things about Frozen II is how it manages to shake things up a bit when it comes to the overall roles that Anna and Elsa play in this story. While the original Frozen was sure to give them equal amounts of quality character development, it was fundamentally told from Anna’s perspective since it was all about her taking the initiative to set things right and rekindle her relationship with Elsa. By comparison, Frozen II focuses more on Elsa as she works to appease the four elemental spirits while also learning the truth about why she’s the one who possesses magical ice powers. Nevertheless, the unbreakable bond between these two sisters continues to be the most important aspect of this franchise, and as always, it’s primarily thanks to the phenomenal work by Kristen Bell and Idina Menzel in their respective roles. Bell continues to be effortlessly charming and spunky as Anna while Menzel once again imbues Elsa with all her grace and power. Fellow returnees Jonathan Groff and Josh Gad are also excellent once again as Kristoff and Olaf, respectively, with Groff getting to explore a wonderful new side to the loyal Ice Harvester via the numerous attempts he makes at trying to propose to Anna and Gad, as to be expected, continuing to get many of the film’s best humorous moments. After that is when the previously mentioned dilemma of the film not giving its new characters a lot to do comes into play, but for what it's worth, everyone else in the cast does a solid job with what they have. This includes Sterling K. Brown as Lt. Mattias, a friendly Arendelle soldier who was amongst those trapped in the Enchanted Forest, and Evan Rachel Wood as Anna and Elsa’s mother Iduna who, despite only appearing mostly in flashbacks, does get her backstory explored in some very fascinating ways that help add to the film’s strong emotional poignancy.

While I may not have as much of a history with it compared to the likes of The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, and Aladdin, the first Frozen truly is one of my favorite Disney animated films of all-time; in fact, it’s amongst my Top 5, even, when it comes to Disney’s long line of animated classics. Granted, you might think otherwise if you look back at my original review of it from 2013 where I only gave it a 4/5, but it goes without saying that that old review is the very definition of ‘dated’. Simply put, Frozen became one of those films that I became more and more attached to as time went by, and as I noted in the intro, I’m personally glad that it became the worldwide phenomenon that it did no matter how much some people got utterly sick of it after a while. And as for Frozen II, I’m happy to report that it’s another fine addition to this beloved franchise. Just like its predecessor, Frozen II is a perfect mix of gorgeous animation, unforgettable songs, and a powerful emotional core. It expands upon the world of Frozen in ways that feel appropriate for the story that directors Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee (the latter of whom was just recently named Disney Animation’s new Chief Creative Officer) are telling. And while it does follow the route that most sequels go by being a far bigger adventure than its predecessor, the strength and beauty that stems from the bond of the perpetually endearing sisterly duo of Anna and Elsa is still very much the driving force of this franchise. Because of all this, it goes without saying that Frozen II is yet another rousing success for Walt Disney Animation that is sure to delight the fans who made this franchise a pop-cultural landmark.

Rating: 5/5!

The Predator (2018) review

When it comes to classic 80’s action films, one of the most widely praised of that era is Predator. While initially receiving a mixed reaction upon its release, director John McTiernan’s sci-fi action flick, which follows a bunch of commandos who find themselves hunted by a mysterious alien creature who hunts for sport, has gone on to become one of the definitive films of both the action and sci-fi genres. And after undergoing a pivotal change in design halfway through shooting, the Predator now stands as one of the most iconic alien creatures of all-time up there with the Xenomorphs from Alien. However, unlike the Alien films, the Predator series hasn’t seen as many appearances on the big screen. It got a sequel, Predator 2, in 1990, but outside of the poorly-received crossovers that it did with the Alien franchise in the early 2000’s, it didn’t see an official sequel until 2010’s Predators. And even then, neither film was as well-regarded as the original. But now the Predator series is back with the fourth installment of the main series, simply titled The Predator. The film serves as the latest directorial outing for Shane Black, whose career in the film industry needs no introduction having penned classics like Lethal Weapon and directing critically-acclaimed films such as Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and The Nice Guys along with the criminally underrated Iron Man 3. And in the case of The Predator, Black’s had quite a history with this franchise as he had played the character of Hawkins in the original film. This new film also sees a reunion between Black and co-writer Fred Dekker, who had previously worked together on the 1987 cult classic The Monster Squad. But as for their newest collaboration, they deliver an entertaining sci-fi action flick that isn’t quite as good as the original film but is still easily the best follow-up that the franchise has gotten up to this point.

When a mysterious ship crash-lands in the middle of a Mexican jungle, a team of Army Rangers led by Quinn McKenna (Boyd Holbrook) investigates the crash site and come across one of the terrifying creatures known as ‘Predators’. Quinn ends up being the only survivor of the group but manages to find some of the creature’s technology, which he sends back home to his ex-wife Emily (Yvonne Strahovski) and their autistic son Rory (Jacob Tremblay) in Georgia to keep it hidden from the government. However, Quinn soon ends up getting apprehended by the government and deemed ‘crazy’ due to most people not believing his story of his run-in with the Predator. Meanwhile, Rory ends up opening his father’s package when it arrives and starts to fiddle with its contents, unintentionally sending out a signal that attracts the attention of a much larger ‘Super Predator’ that had been hunting the smaller Predator that Quinn and his team had encountered. At the same time, that Predator, which has since been detained by the government at a secret facility, breaks out of its confinement and heads off to collect its gear by any means necessary. Thus, with two different Predators heading towards his family, Quinn teams up with a bunch of fellow ‘crazy’ soldiers, including ex-Marine Nebraska Williams (Trevante Rhodes) and the wise-cracking Coyle (Keegan-Michael Key), plus biologist Casey Bracket (Olivia Munn), to stop the two alien creatures before they can cause some major damage.       

The first thing to note about this film is that being a Shane Black film, it, of course, features his most definitive trait as a filmmaker, his knack for snappy dialogue. This dialogue is all throughout the film and results in consistent humor throughout, especially whenever the main characters interact with each other. The film also benefits from having some solid pacing, at least when in contrast to the slower build-up of some of the franchise’s previous installments. In other words, this film gets going right out the gate and is non-stop with its action. However, that doesn’t mean that this is entirely a good thing. Because the film goes by so fast, it doesn’t really have much time to stop and take a breather, and because of this, it does result in some pivotal plot lines (e.g. the demise of certain characters) and even a few bits of the humorous dialogue being glossed over. This ends up being the case all the way through to the ending, culminating in a finale that hasn’t been received very well by a lot of critics. And to make this situation even more ironic, that ending was the one major thing that Black and his crew reshot after the original ending didn’t go over very well with test audiences. In other words, it does kind of feel like a few problems emerged during the editing process. It was reported that some parts of the film were trimmed down (to the point where a character played by Edward James Olmos was cut out entirely) so that it wouldn’t be negatively affected by a hefty run-time. And yet, in this instance, it probably would’ve helped the film to have a longer run-time, even if it meant that this would’ve been the first Predator film to be over two hours long, because it ends up sporting a rather bare-bones plot due in part to its frenetic pacing.  

Admittedly character development has never really been the Predator franchise’s strongest suit. Even the original 1987 film, when it was first released, was criticized for not spending a lot of time developing its characters. This trend does continue with the new film, but at the very least, it does benefit from having the best ensemble cast since the original film (and yes, I know I just said that about the Predators cast a few days back in the Predator series retrospective…). Not only do all the main stars do a great job with Black’s trademark dialogue, but they also have phenomenal camaraderie together. The film does admittedly go the same route as Predators by giving us a bunch of characters who aren’t exactly the most likable in the world, but they’re a lot more entertaining to watch by comparison. Boyd Holbrook is solid in the lead role of Quinn as is Jacob Tremblay as his son Rory. The team that Quinn ‘assembles’ in the film also has some notable standouts as well, like Keegan-Michael Key and Thomas Jane as Coyle and the PTSD-ridden Baxley, respectively, who bicker constantly throughout the film (e.g. Coyle hurls a lot of ‘your mama’ jokes at Baxley). Some are a bit underutilized, however, like Alfie Allen as ex-marine Lynch and even Olivia Munn as main female protagonist Casey Bracket. But arguably the one who gets it the worst is Sterling K. Brown as Will Traeger, the agent who runs the government facility that the smaller Predator is initially held at and then leads the operation to hunt both Predators down. Without spoiling anything major, the screenplay decides to have him serve as an antagonist towards Quinn and company for no real reason. Brown is great in the role, but he’s ultimately just as waylaid by the erratic editing/pacing as everyone else.

Now to be clear, I’m not saying that this film is ‘as good’ as the original Predator… but what I can say is that, despite everything that I’ve said in this review, it’s easily the best of the series’ sequels. Under the direction of someone who is clearly quite familiar with the franchise (i.e. one of the original film’s cast members), The Predator is a thrilling sci-fi B-movie thanks to its decent (albeit extremely frenetic) pacing and a strong ensemble cast that works phenomenally with Shane Black and Fred Dekker’s dialogue. With that said, though, that doesn’t mean that this film is flawless. While its rapid-fire pace is welcome after the tepid pacing of 2010’s Predators, it also means that the film basically rushes through everything, and this does really affect things in the long run, resulting in a film that doesn’t have much of a plot to it and characters that, despite being entertaining to watch, don’t have a lot to work with in terms of character development. From the looks of it, something must’ve happened during the editing process that led to all these issues, apparently due to the necessity to not have the film be overlong. Ultimately, though, I’d say that your enjoyment of this film will depend on whether you’re okay with it not really spending a lot of time with things like plot and characters. In other words, I do agree with everyone else in stating that this film is quite a big mess from both a narrative and technical perspective and that it is far from being Shane Black’s best film as a director. But at the same time, that doesn’t mean that it isn’t an entertaining big mess.

Rating: 3.5/5