Sorry, Olaf: “ 2” is not a movie worth melting for

Spoiler warning for “Frozen 2.”

graphic by Melody Tang I bought tickets to watch “Frozen 2” three days after it hit theaters. When I walked in, I expected to see reclining seats filled with young children, dolled up with ’s iconic braids or ’s dresses. To my surprise, the theater was filled with adults, most of whom were probably much older than me. There were only three kids — around the age of five or six — in the theatre, all sitting together in the row behind me. It has been six years since the first “Frozen” movie. At the time it was released, I was 11 years old, and like many others my age, I was obsessed with the soundtrack. Finding me belting the lyrics to “” in the shower was a common occurrence. It’s easy to understand why the movie became such a phenomenon. Besides its stellar soundtrack, the storyline focused on familial love between two sisters and showcased Elsa’s journey to accepting herself and her powers. “Frozen” had two strong female characters that were more than love interests, and it resonated with young women who were tired of conventional Disney romances. At age 17, my feelings for “Frozen” hadn’t changed. I was excited to see the sequel, and I hoped that it would at least live up to the original. Unfortunately, it seems that the age-old ‘bad sequel curse’ is difficult to escape. In “Frozen 2,” Elsa reigns as the queen of Arendelle. Their lives seem peaceful and perfect, filled with feasts and Friday night charades. However, a mysterious voice plagues Elsa, and when disaster strikes soon after, the citizens of Arendelle are forced to evacuate their Sorry, Olaf: “Frozen 2” is not a movie worth melting for

kingdom. Elsa, Anna, Kristoff, Olaf, and embark on an adventure to the mysterious misty forest of Ahtohallan for an answer to the turmoil at home. Inside the forest, they discover a 34-year-old war between a group of soldiers from Arendelle and the Northuldran people. Therein lies one of the major problems with “Frozen 2”: there’s no clear antagonist. We don’t have a Prince . Of course, movies can still be good with abstract antagonists. But in this case, the plot becomes messy and convoluted. “Frozen 2” tries to tackle too many things at once: the conflict between Arendelle and the Northuldran people, the history of Arendelle, and the origin of Elsa’s ice powers. The sequel also packs in new information that was never foreshadowed in the first movie, such as the story of a magical river of memories. Disney clearly wanted to create a story that could stand on its own beyond “Frozen” nostalgia, because the target demographic that they reached with “Frozen” has now grown up. But by adding so many new ideas and characters, the audience was distracted by concepts that never really went anywhere. The other issue I had was with character development. In the first movie, Anna is depicted to be stubbornly independent and brave. She ventures out to persuade Elsa to return to the kingdom, and when Hans attempts to murder Elsa, she risks her life to save her sister without any weaponry or protection. In the sequel, Anna oddly latches herself on to Elsa and refuses to let her sister do anything on her own, out of an unhealthy attachment to Elsa that stems from her immense fear of losing another family member. However, Elsa pushes Anna away and wants to continue the quest on her own to protect her, reasoning that Anna would be better staying safely behind. After Anna learns that Elsa has frozen to death and watches Olaf disappear à la “Avengers: Infinity War,” her supposed motivational anthem, “The Next Right Thing,” overshadows and undermines the trauma she has experienced. It sounds like a cry for help rather than empowerment. Despite these criticisms, “Frozen 2” is still a visually stunning and audibly enjoyable movie. Accompanied by gorgeous imagery, Elsa’s new power ballads “Into the Unknown” and “Show Yourself ” are sure to please people of all ages. And there are small moments that made me smile. Kristoff finally has time to shine with “Lost in the Woods,” as he laments over failed attempts to propose to Anna. The whole scene is a throwback to the 80s, complete with dramatic posing on random trees and reindeers serving as background vocalists. In a later part of the film, Elsa reaches the island of Ahtohallan and sees special memories from the Sorry, Olaf: “Frozen 2” is not a movie worth melting for

past, cringing at her old self strutting across the balcony during “Let It Go.” Even though these jokes may have flown past kids’ heads, it was Disney’s subtle way of acknowledging its adult audience. In general, “Frozen 2” compensated far too greatly for a grownup audience. I appreciated the meta jokes that were thrown in quietly, and I would rather that Disney go down this subtler route for trying to mature future sequels, rather than beefing up the story so much that it requires copious amounts of boring exposition. “Frozen 2” wants to be an origin story, but it takes on too much in the process, pushing characters in the wrong direction and leaving audiences in the cold.