Frozen II

Somebody super jaundiced might dismiss this film as mostly a collection of music videos of varying quality. Not me though—I learned my lesson from the first outing: there’s more here than meets the eye, at least at first glance. I’m not sure the plot makes a lot of sense, beyond its service as a means to creating its ultimate end, which affirms what has been hinted at all along: that one sister is the real ruler of things, while the other one is more of a symbol, or a figurehead, or perhaps just a metaphor for powers greater than the human world. That’s not really what tends to drive movies for kids, so we get the story we get here. Mostly, it’s entertaining, occasionally touching, every once in a while awkward (and maybe even a bit cringeworthy), and it’s packed with musical numbers that are, if not quite a match for the now classic songs of the first flick, at least good enough to hold their own here. (The Lopezes certainly do have a way with the music and lyrics.) It definitely feels like this should be the saga's second and last part, even with the announced plans for a third installment. After all, it would be a singular irony if it turns out that these, of all people, can’t find the wisdom to let it go.