Frozen II (2019)

Disney fans, rejoice! The two best Disney princesses - in my opinion, of course - are back again for another fantastic adventure. In fact, the entire main cast are back, an indicator of a great sequel.

And as it happens, the creative team are the same as that of the original. Same director, same screenwriter, same songwriters, the works.

Elsa (Idina Menzel) now enjoys a relatively peaceful life as Queen of Arendelle. Supported by her sister Anna (Kristen Bell), Kristoff (Jonathan Groff) and living snowman Olaf (Josh Gad), her powers are now kept at bay. She still has them, but she seems to be able to keep them under control, such that they do not cause the devastation they used to.

However, she is still troubled from time to time by a voice that it seems only she can hear. It is a voice that seems to be calling her away into the North, away from Arendelle and into the enchanted forest she has only ever heard about in stories.

Anna (Kristen Bell) and Elsa (Idina Menzel).

When the two sisters were younger, their father told them about the enchanted forest, where another group of people lived, in harmony with each other, and with nature, even with the four spirits - Earth, Air, Fire and Water - that governed over their respective elements and kept the world running smoothly.

However, following a major disagreement between the two people groups, the elements together banished the people of Arendelle from the enchanted forest, and enclosed the entire forest in an eternal impenetrable mist.

Elsa tries to fight the urge to go to the forest and seek out the voice that is calling her, but it becomes too strong. Of course, Anna, Kristoff and Olaf are not about to let her venture into the unknown on her own, and so the stage is set for another adventure.

I’d better not mention anything else about the plot here, I’ll let you discover that for yourself.

L-R; Elsa (Idina Menzel), Anna (Kristen Bell), Kristoff (Jonathan Groff) and reindeer Sven.

The screenplay, by Jennifer Lee (who also wrote the first film), is quite good as sequels go. All the characters are just as we would remember from the first time around, and react and respond just as one would expect in every encounter and situation. I would still say, as I did when I reviewed the first film a few months ago, that Olaf is definitely my favourite character in the film; he certainly has some of the best lines, and Josh Gad infuses the character with so much life and good humour that it is impossible not to laugh out loud nearly every time he speaks.

Married couple Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez are back again too, writing a whole new set of songs for this film. And their songs are just as good this time around as they were in the first film. Just as we had “Let it Go” in the original film, we have a wonderful new anthem in this film: “Into the Unknown”, which is not only a great example of how to write a Broadway-style song (as most of the songs in this film are. Who knows, maybe this film will be adapted to the Broadway stage just as the first one has been), but also a great example of how to sing such a song, as Idina Menzel once again belts it right out of the park with her amazing voice.

Even composer Christophe Beck, who wrote the score to the first film, is back again here, and bringing the same incredible level of detail and skill to this offering. Occasionally borrowing motifs from the original songs to highlight certain sections in a way that almost qualifies them as leitmotifs, he has constructed a mammoth score that almost runs for the duration of the film. This works well in animated films in a way that it doesn’t in live-action, and it doesn’t detract from the action or emotion of the plot at any point; if anything, it strengthens them.

Anna (Kristen Bell) and Olaf (Josh Gad).

The voice cast, it should come as no surprise, are fantastic. Once again, they all sing their own parts - this hasn’t always been the case in Disney musical films - and they all do a marvellous job at it. The interactions between the characters all seem incredibly lifelike, which given the fact they would have recorded their lines separately, only makes the quality of the performance all the more apparent.

Co-directors Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee have achieved the almost-impossible: they have made a sequel that stands up well against the original. It is even a great film in its own right. You don’t have to have seen the first film to be able to follow this one, but it certainly would help.

I would recommend seeing this film on the big screen if you get the chance, it is visually and aurally spectacular. If you miss out at the cinema, just make sure you watch it on as big a television as you can (with decent sound, too).

9 out of 10.