Frozen II: Stunning visuals but...

Well, I won't go to The Rise of Skywalker because I don't want to give Disney any of my money.  So, what do I do?  I drop $47 on Disney by taking my family to see Frozen II.  I feel dirty... 

But, my kids loved the original Frozen so much back in 2013 that it was inevitable that they would want to go to the follow up and tonight was the night.  Was it worth it?

Yes and no.  The animation in this movie is light years ahead of what was on offer in 2013 in the original Frozen.  The visuals in Frozen II are absolutely stunning.  This was one of the first things that my family and I talked about as we left the theatre. 

Many of the songs were good, although not as consistently memorable as in the first film.  There is one number called "Lost in the Woods" that is sung by Christophe that, while not necessarily a bad song, is out of place (it sounds like a 70's album-oriented rock ballad) and the animation choices that were made in this sequence look like something out of a bad 80's music video.  The rest of the songs though are good and very much in the mold of those from the original movie.

My family and I were somewhat less enthusiastic though about the story.  It just didn't seem to have the same impact as that in the original film (which is based on an actual fairy tale).  This second installment seems a bit forced in places (back to my comments about the bad 80's music video vibe at one point in the movie).  Is it entertaining though?  Yes.  Did my children like it as much as the original?  They were split on this one.  My older kid liked it better than the first film while the younger one preferred the original.  I think that this may have something to do with the filmmakers' attempt to deal with the fact that this film has come out six years after the original and the core audience is now also six years older.  I think that my older daughter was more in tune with the "growing up" themes that are found throughout the story.

So, would I spend $47 on this particular film again?  Probably not.  Although it was almost worth it for the stunning visuals.  That I've given Disney any of my money is hard to swallow after what they have done to Star Wars.  But, I guess they should get a pass on this one given that Frozen is a property / franchise that they created.  I can't hold that against them.