Frozen 2

Elsa (Idina Menzel) hears a voice from afar and knows she is meant to answer it – especially when Arendelle comes in danger. Alongside her sister Anna (Kristen Bell), Kristoff (Jonathon Groff), Olaf the snowman (Josh Gad) and Sven the reindeer, she’ll embark on an adventure and uncover a mystery connecting her identity to an enchanted forest.

‘Frozen 2’ arrives six years after its predecessor (once the highest grossing animated feature of all time, it has just recently been overtaken by last summer’s ‘The Lion King’) and you can tell those behind it really wanted to make a worthy sequel. Emotions run high and the risks taken by the characters are greater than ever before. There’s more magic, more music, plenty of fun to be had and a sense of awe-inspired by the accomplished follow-up.

The animation is more vibrant and beautiful than ever before. The texture of the water and trees are especially impressive, and the ocean scene teased in the trailer is exquisite. The breadth of the characters' facial expressions make for an even more emotive feature than the first ‘Frozen’.

While the plot is darker than before, there’s plenty of laughs in the movie too, provided by Olaf’s oafishness (his “did you knows” recall Donkey from ‘Shrek 2’ and his “are we there yets”); a summary he provides of the first ‘Frozen’ to the new characters is particularly hilarious. There’s also Kristoff’s tendency to say the wrong thing which leads to some cute, funny couple moments with Anna. For those of you who came for the music, Idina Menzel gets not one but two showstoppers in “Into the Unknown” and “Show Yourself”.  Meanwhile, Jonathon Groff finally gets his own number, and a catchy one at that, in “Lost In the Woods”.

The sisterly love continues to be a major hook for the film and the boys are just a hoot. If you came for more songs, more emotion and character development, you won’t be disappointed. The only downside is that while the mystery to it all excites as it unravels, the payoff is somewhat disappointing. Still, it’s the best animated feature of the year and an impressive follow-up.