On November 28, the continuation of the Disney animated fairy tale Frozen went on sale in Russian hire. The action of the new film takes place a few years after the events of the first part. In the story, Queen Elsa, together with her sister Anna, leave Arendelle and go to the far North to learn about the past of her kingdom.
The characters familiar to the viewer from the first part travel with them - the beloved of Anna Kristoff, his deer Sven and the snowman Olaf. On the way to the North, the sisters from Arendell will not only face danger, but also disappointment: they will discover the secret of the family, and Anna and Elsa will have to find out who their grandfather actually was.
The sequel was staged by the authors of the first part - Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee. Idina Menzel (Elsa), Kristen Bell (Anna), Jonathan Groff (Kristoff) and Josh Gad (Olaf) returned to voicing the characters. The caste was joined by Evan Rachel Wood, Sterling K. Brown and Alfred Molina.
The sequel that will hit the big jackpot
The creation of the “Frozen Heart” sequel was hardly called into question: after the sensational success of the first part, which earned more than $ 1 billion at the box office and became the highest grossing animated film of history (until the summer of 2019, when the photorealistic remake of “The Lion King” came first), work on the sequel was only a matter of time.
The creators faced a difficult task, which in essence arises before any filmmaker who wanted to put on a continuation of the hit: it is necessary to meet the high bar set by the first part. Assessing how much the authors of Frozen 2 managed to get in the tone of the first film, the critics split into two camps.
According to some, in an animated sense, Frozen will not disappoint the viewer. Reviewers note that the second part adopted the style and retained the magic of the first.
“The second“ Frozen ”is even better than the first, amazes with its animation, maturity and melody of the soundtrack. You can call this sequel "Icicle Strikes Back," writes New York Post's Joni Oleksinsky.
That the sequel is not inferior to the first film in terms of animation, noted Rolling Stone critic Peter Travers. He believes that "Frozen 2", among other things, will also be remembered due to the high-quality musical accompaniment.
“The songs (once again the award-winning married couple Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez became the authors) are attractive and quickly remembered. The animation is wonderful - just look at what the wizards of computer graphics do with water - the element that is most difficult to portray in the animation, ”he added.
However, to some critics the musical component of the sequel in comparison with the first series seemed rather mediocre. According to reviewers, the couple Lopez did not think through the content of musical compositions.
“What disappointed most? Music. In Frozen, even minor songs were thought out. The sticky main song “Let It Go. - RT ” has a deeply meaningful text, even if sometimes they don’t notice it because the song was played everywhere, ”says The Washington Post's Kristen Page-Kirby.
Professional reviewers complain that the authors of the sequel did not develop the characters in the new part and did not define an agenda for each of them. In addition, the plot of the sequel is predictably inferior to the essence of the first film, critics say.
- © Shot from the movie "Frozen 2" (2019)
“The story arches of the characters are pretty obvious and not well thought out to satisfy the viewer. There is no clear antagonist in the film; instead, we see suspicion of either one or another character and a mismatch with expectations. It seems to me that the sequel is inferior to the first film in the complexity of the plot and characters, ”writes Mark Hughes of Forbes.
The critics see the lack of development of the script, including inappropriate humor and the presence of storylines, some of which carry no meaning. At the same time, professional reviewers are in a hurry to note: meeting the standard set by the first film is very difficult and the viewer will deliberately meticulously evaluate the new picture.
“And yet, those who want to relax and, of course,“ let go and forget ”(a reference to the song Let It Go. - RT ) will like a lot,” said CNN's Brian Lowry.
In his opinion, the strategy of moving away from the main “components of the original story” chosen by the authors turned out to be winning: “The action takes place three years after the events of the first film, and the relations of the heroes develop, in parallel there are references to the sins of the past.”
The world premiere of the continuation of "Frozen" took place on November 7. According to foreign media reports, the cartoon has already set a record by collecting more than $ 350 million in the very first days of rental worldwide.
The critics' opinion, which was imperfect in the opinion of critics, was already praised by the audience - for example, the audience rating of the cartoon on the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes is 93%. However, critics are convinced that the “sequel syndrome” will not prevent the “Frozen 2” worthy to perform at the box office.
“The cautious, balanced and meticulous approach of Disney, striving to continue the franchise, while maintaining maximum fidelity to the original, resulted in a sequel that undoubtedly will appeal to many fans of the first cartoon and will collect a big box office. However, it doesn’t leave the feeling that the picture is predictable, consciously avoids risks and is tailored to standard patterns, ”concluded Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter.