Why Frozen 2 is BETTER than the Original {Frozen 2 Movie Review}

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Anna, Elsa, Kristoff, Sven, and Olaf return to theaters on November 22, 2019 for an all-new adventure in Disney’s Frozen 2. After attending the Frozen 2 Red Carpet World Premiere, I’m thrilled to share my no-spoilers Frozen 2 movie review giving you all the reasons that Frozen 2 is actually better than the original!
Disney just couldn’t let it go. After the ice-shattering success of Frozen in 2013 (making it the highest grossing animated movie of all-time), the beloved characters are back for Frozen 2. And I’m SO thrilled to say that this is a sequel that DELIVERS! In fact, I’m here to tell you that Frozen 2 is actually BETTER than the original for a number of important reasons! So, read on to see what you can expect (with no spoilers of course) from this Disney animation sequel, including info for parents.

ABOUT FROZEN 2:

Why was Elsa born with magical powers? What truths about the past await Elsa as she ventures into the unknown to the enchanted forests and dark seas beyond Arendelle? The answers are calling her but also threatening her kingdom. Together with Anna, Kristoff, Olaf and Sven, she’ll face a dangerous but remarkable journey. In “Frozen,” Elsa feared her powers were too much for the world. In “Frozen 2,” she must hope they are enough. From the Academy Award®-winning team—directors Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck, producer Peter Del Vecho and songwriters Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez—and featuring the voices of Idina Menzel, Kristen Bell, Jonathan Groff and Josh Gad.

Here’s the Frozen 2 Trailer in case you’ve been living under a rock troll somewhere and haven’t seen it yet ;)…

It’s SOoooo good! Now, first let me say that if you think you know exactly what you’re getting going into this movie…you don’t. The trailers don’t give it all away. And it’s certainly not some mediocre sequel just for “sequel’s sake”. Instead we get a good story and multiple questions answered about some of our favorite characters with a whole lot of adventure, emotion, and fabulous music! So, be prepared for an awesome adventure and great time at the movies! And before we dive into the review, here’s some ideas to help get you “prepared’ for Frozen 2:

Frozen Movie Activities

First off, start by rewatching Frozen (or watch it for the first time if you’ve somehow never seen it). With Disney+ out now, you can watch Frozen there anytime. And then, go ahead and print the kids some cute Frozen coloring pages or any of these fun Frozen printables. If you want to have some extra fun, you could make the kids some adorable Olaf shirts to wear to the movie! Or, you could serve up some fun Frozen food like these fun Sven & Olaf waffles, a Frozen themed lunch, or this Elsa dessert trifle. You could even do a whole Frozen dinner spread like this! There are Soooooo many fun Frozen ideas to help the kids get even more excited about the movie. And they definitely have reason to be excited! 

Frozen 2 is BETTER than the Original

Before I go any further, I want to make it clear that I LOVED the original (in fact, you can still read my original Frozen Movie Review here). So, I don’t think this one is better because I didn’t really like the first one. And, contrary to the frustrating comments I hear over and over again that “Frozen isn’t for boys” or “Boys don’t like Frozen” (these comments make me CRAZY by the way), my boys really liked the first movie. They even had a Frozen Birthday Party and have worn Frozen costumes multiple times now. So, it’s not that we weren’t fans of the first one. We VERY much were and are. BUT, we ALL thought Frozen 2 is even better than the original and here’s why:

1. Less fairy tale more adventure. Now certainly Frozen broke the traditional fairy tale mold in many ways (as it’s much more a story of self love and sibling love than the whole “true love’s kiss” stuff). But, Frozen 2 really takes us on an epic adventure instead of serving up a fairy tale. It feels much more like a mystical folklore tale and an adventurous quest than a “princess movie”. And my boys definitely liked this angle better than the first one. 

2. Lots of questions answered. “Where did Elsa get her powers?”, “Is Elsa gay?”, “Why did their parents leave?”, “Are their parents really dead?”, etc. The original FROZEN left movie-watchers with a lot of these questions. And, thankfully  his is a sequel that actually ANSWERS a lot of those questions without leaving you with a ton of new ones. The writers really found a good story to tell here that explains a lot and doesn’t leave viewers with too many unanswered questions!

3. Even better music! Is that even possible? I wasn’t sure it could be, but it IS! If songwriters Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez don’t win another Oscar for this, I’ll be shocked. The music is SO well-done! It has some serious musical theater vibes, with even more richness and musicality than the songs did in the first one. In a way, Frozen 2 actually seems more like a true musical than the 1st (and this former musical theater geek LOVED it). It also seemed like more music and songs than the original. They also did a much better job with the picks for the popular cover versions. Panic! At The Disco’s version of “Into the Unknown” is brilliant (and has literally been playing on repeat at our house while we wait for the soundtrack to drop – in fact, it’s on repeat while I write this).

This one is the new “Let It Go”, a total ear worm. SO good! And, I’m SOooooooo pleased to say that Kristoff (finally) gets a feature song that’s longer than 50 seconds!! That song (“Lost in the Woods”) is then covered by Weezer! So, you’re in for a treat with the Frozen 2 music!!! In fact, just do yourself a favor and order the soundtrack here (affiliate link).

4. Kristoff – Yep, Kristoff gets his own category here. Clearly, I LOVE that they finally let Jonathan Groff (voice of Kristoff) show off his amazing voice. And they did this in an epic way. The song is good, but they way they animated the scene is completely unexpected (and maybe a little weird for the movie) and absolutely hysterical. Just you wait!More importantly though, I LOVE what they did with his character. As a boy mom, Kristoff has been the main role model in both films for my boys. And, in this film, my boys get a REALLY good one (which makes it all the more special that the boys got a picture with Jonathan Groff at the premiere). The writers did a GREAT job with Kristoff’s character, especially in how he deals with Anna and their relationship. At a time where we could have played the “male savior role”, he instead says to Anna, “I’m here, what do you need?“. SO MUCH YES!!!!! And he has feelings. REAL feelings. No Prince Charming (or nasty Prince Hans) kind of “feelings”, but like REAL “supportive relationship partner” feelings. So big props to Disney for showing a big, strong guy with BIG feelings, who is OK with showing & feeling those emotions. It’s romantic love shown from the guy’s perspective (which actually isn’t super common in movies at all) in a really REALLY great way and I’m so happy for my boys to see that in a movie!

5. The CUTEST new character – EVER! You guys, meet Bruni: He is just THE CUTEST thing! Everyone in our family LOVED him! The boys and I are obsessed. So get ready for your kids to want ALL THE THINGS with this little guy. I think he’s going to be the hottest new Disney character and think products are going to be hard find once the movie opens everywhere. So you might as well buy something now! 
Pascal from Tangled was cute too, but Bruni takes things to a whole new level. We kept calling him a lizard, but he’s actually a Salamander. And in talking to some of the creators at the Frozen 2 Premiere, we found out that the animators and crew actually affectionately refer to him as “Sally”. No matter what you call him though, he’s adorable!

6. Inclusion of indigenous peoples.  As part of the story (even seen in the trailer), the native Northuldra people are an integral part to this film. And as we know, representation matters. So, I love seeing that the writers have an indigenous group be so key to the whole Frozen storyline. There’s some really important messages here. 

7. Mystical nature focus. Along these same lines, I LOVE the mystical nature focus in Frozen 2. In Frozen, we had a lot of ice (and snow and winter) as the bulk of the “nature” in the movie. But nature actually is a MAIN character in a way in Frozen 2. And since we love the outdoors and being out in nature, we LOVED this nature focus. 

8. More impressive animation/visual effects. In 6 years, the technology gets better and that is definitely evident in Frozen 2. The animation is just mind-blowing in some places. Some of the nature/landscape scenes are breathtaking and some of the water scenes are just UNREAL – because they look SO REAL. Like it looks like Elsa is at a REAL ocean somewhere. All the transformations and effects of the mist and the water and ice and some of the natural forces…just WOW!!!!! 

9. A lot of “meta-Disney” moments. I LOVE it when Disney has “meta” moments and pokes fun at itself. It’s done brilliantly in Enchanted and Ralph Breaks the InternetAnd while that’s certainly not the focus of Frozen 2, there were enough hilarious “meta moments” that it definitely deserved a nod here. There are also some fun Easter Eggs. Look for an adorable one in the opening sequence of the film!

10. More emotional than the original. Overall, Frozen 2 is filled with more emotion than the first one (and often times that’s the mark of a better movie for me). Those emotions run the spectrum too. We found ourselves absolutely cracking up MULTIPLE times. No surprise that Olaf is HILARIOUS (even more so than in Frozen), but there are good laughs with a number of the characters. And while there is some great comedy, there are also some serious tear-jerker moments. In fact, there’s a whole song about grief. So, I teared up at least 3 times in the movie. No ugly crying, but I could have gone there if there had been just a few more moments during a particularly sad scene. So be prepared to feel ALL the feelings! 

So there it is – 10 reasons why Frozen 2 is not only a very worthy sequel, but is a rare gem where the sequel is actually better than its predecessor! Oh…and be sure to stay all the way through the credits as there IS an end credit scene! And it’s adorable! Plus, you’ll get to listen to Panic! At The Disco and Weezer during the credits!

A note for parents…

This feels odd including for an animated show like Frozen 2 but I’ve already been fielding questions on “how it is for kids?”, so I thought I would go ahead and include my usual note here. Though honestly, if your kids have seen Frozen, there will be no escaping seeing Frozen 2 (nor should there be).

With that said, I would NOT take kids to see this who haven’t seen the 1st movie (if that’s even possible 😉 ). Also, do know going into it that the movie overall is a little darker and more mature. That doesn’t mean that there is anything inappropriate (language, sex, etc), because there’s really not. But, it’s more mature because the characters are more mature. They have aged six years. They’re FULL adults now – no longer teenagers. They even look a little older. Plus, the whole premise of the movie is more adventurous. So, there’s just more peril and intensity in this movie overall (you even hear it in the music). The movie also deals with grief. If you want more specific details, you can keep reading but do know that there is a sort of spoiler-alert here. I’m going to be as vague as possible to not fully give anything away. But here’s your warning in case you want to stop reading now…

*MILD FROZEN 2 SPOILER ALERT*

With the adventure and peril, comes death. Death is confronted a few different times in this movie. You actually see at least one key character die. And it’s HEARTBREAKING. Now, without giving everything away, I’ll say that your kids should leave the theater feeling ok and not sad anymore. BUT…in that moment, you might be dealing with a crying kiddo. There were definitely tears in our family. So, you just might want to be prepared for that going in. Even with that, we LOVED the movie! With all of that said, I HIGHLY recommend getting your tickets for opening night! Frozen 2 opens in theaters nationwide on November 22, 2019! 

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I’m Sara, a mom to three adorable boys living in the Arizona desert. As a former teacher, I love sharing my passions with others. So, have a look around for creative inspiration about cooking, creating, celebrating, traveling with kids, and more everyday mom endeavors!

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