Frozen II (2019)
★★ — Frozen II (2019)
Frozen II arrived in November 2019, six years after the original Frozen became one of the highest-grossing animated films ever made and turned "Let It Go" into an inescapable cultural phenomenon. The returning directors, Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck, had co-helmed that first film together, with Lee also serving as co-writer on the sequel alongside Allison Schroeder. Walt Disney Animation Studios reportedly invested around $150 million in production, a figure that reflects both the franchise's commercial weight and the studio's ambition to push its animation technology considerably further. The film represents something of a rarity in Disney's history, a direct theatrical sequel to one of its modern musical properties rather than a straight-to-video follow-up, and it went on to gross well over $1.4 billion worldwide, comfortably ranking among the biggest animated releases of its era.
It’s hard to deny that Frozen 2 looks impressive, the animation is stunning, a clear leap forward from the first film. The forests are lush and mystical, the elemental spirits beautifully realised, and the sequence with water horses galloping through the tide is pure visual magic. On a technical level, it’s Disney at its most polished, with rich colours, intricate detail, and effects work that borders on photorealistic. But beneath the gloss, the film is hollow. The story meanders through myth and memory without ever finding a clear purpose. “Go East” isn’t a plot, it’s a placeholder, and much of the film feels like characters walking (sometimes literally) from one vague revelation to the next. The mystery of Elsa’s powers is finally addressed, but the answers are underwhelming, wrapped in half-baked lore about enchanted woods and colonial guilt that’s introduced and dropped without real depth. The songs, while competently sung, lack the spark of the original. “Into the Unknown” has one good hook and little else, and none of the new tracks come close to matching “Let It Go” or even “For the First Time in Forever.” The humour falls flat, the emotional segments feel manufactured, and the characters spend most of the film reacting rather than growing. Even Anna and Elsa, once compelling in their differences, are reduced to archetypes, the fearless sister, the mystical loner. It’s not offensive, not badly made, just entirely forgettable. A film that mistakes scale for substance, spectacle for soul. The first Frozen had heart, charm, and a genuine emotional core. This one has wind, fire, water, earth… and very little else. A step forward in animation, but two steps back in storytelling. Soulless, uninspired, and ultimately pointless.
Rating: ★★ | Year: 2019 | Watched: 2025-07-31
Where to watch (UK)
Stream: Disney Plus
Rent: Apple TV Store · Rakuten TV · Amazon Video · Sky Store
Buy: Apple TV Store · Rakuten TV · Amazon Video · Google Play Movies
Physical: Amazon UK
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Related on Movies With Macca
More from Jennifer Lee: Frozen (2013)
More with Idina Menzel: Frozen (2013)
More from the 2010s: Wonder (2017) · Beautiful Boy (2018) · The Witch (2015) · What We Do in the Shadows (2014)
More family: Alice in Wonderland (1951) · Wonder (2017) · Kirikou and the Wild Beasts (2005) · Anastasia (1997)
More animation: Fantastic Planet (1973) · Alice in Wonderland (1951) · Mononoke the Movie: The Phantom in the Rain (2024) · Mononoke the Movie: Chapter II - The Ashes of Rage (2025)
