Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		5.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

Frozen II 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman February 17, 2020

When Frozen launched in 2013 and became a worldwide frenzy, a merchandise moving behemoth and a staple of family rooms the world over, it was only inevitable that a sequel would emerge: that's just too much popularity and too much staying power -- and too much money -- to ignore. Perhaps the real surprise though, was how long it took Disney to bring the second film to the market. There have been some short film interludes along the way (Olaf's Frozen Adventure, Frozen Fever) but Disney chose to not rush the process, perhaps allowing the anticipation to grow, waiting for just the right time to strike at, maybe, that magical economic intersection of audience demand and global interest that has fallen from frenzied yet remained high enough to hold relevancy. Or, maybe, it was just a matter of finding the right script. Whatever the case may be, Frozen II doesn't live up to the original, even with all this time to polish the plot and get a grip on what fans want from the franchise. This is a solid film but it feels a little disappointing in its sum, lacking the vision, rhythm, heart, and approachability that made the first a massive success.

As girls, Anna (voiced by Hadley Gannaway and Livvy Stubenrauch) and Elsa (voiced by Mattea Conforti and Eva Bella) were told the tale of the Enchanted Forrest, wherein occurred a great battle between the kingdoms of Arendelle and Northuldra that killed their grandfather and angered the great spirits - - Earth, Fire, Air, and Water -- who consequently covered the land in mist and held the combatants inside. Only the girls’ father, Agnarr (voiced by Alfred Molina), escapes with the help of an unseen but beautifully vocal ally. Years later, Queen Elsa (voiced by Idina Menzel) hears the same call, drawing her to the supposedly mythic forrest that she and her adventurous friends and family -- Sister Anna (voiced by Kristen Bell), Anna’s boyfriend Kristoff (voiced by Jonathan Groff), Kristoff's reindeer Sven, and snowman Olaf (voiced by Josh Gad) -- discover to be a very real boundary. The mist rejects an approaching Kristoff and Olaf but opens to Elsa’s touch. The five enter the mist and are quickly pulled through to the other side where they meet what remains of the long entrapped warring factions, including one of Arendelle’s most storied warriors, Mattias (voiced by Sterling K. Brown). As the truth about the mist, the war, and the world comes into focus, Anna and Elsa are tested, physically and emotionally, like never before in a land shrouded in darkness, mystery, and an unthinkable reality.

Like its predecessor, a story of family and discovery through the prism of a mysterious past, Frozen II is also a film about family and discovery through the prism of a mysterious past. But rather than learn about one another, Anna and Elsa learn about the world in which they live and their family's, and their home's, place in it. And what they learn is not always good. The film explores dark themes and without hesitation takes its characters on a perilous journey that is more dangerous to their souls than it necessarily is to their bodies. It's not particularly compelling, but it's not particularly criticizable, either. It's dark and safe at the same time, dark for its foreboding locations and unsettling revelations, safe for not pushing harder than it does and not branching out quite so widely as one might have expected, or even reaching with more tenacity. It's a difficult film to critique. It does its thing very well, but because it's not a tonal clone of the original some might find it more off-putting. It's certainly less catchy, narratively and musically, but the filmmakers had little choice but to build rather than recycle. It's a fine complimentary film, just not the end-all, be-all like the first.

The movie proves to be as technically capable as one would expect. The voicing and animation work are terrific, and the filmmakers push the technology and rearrange the setting just enough to heighten the visual awareness while staying true to the Frozen world and established landscape details. Less, well, frozen and more organically structured, the film removes the characters from the endless wintery ice and snow and cool blues and silvers and whites so prevalent in the first film, replaced here with a wider array of diverse natural tones that still hold a selection of familiar Frozen colors that greatly expand with the adventure taking place in a world that blends misty mystery with natural splashes of fall foliage. Unfortunately none of the new characters are particularly interesting, but in terms of both digital design and vocal life-giving each of the newcomers fit into the world as effortlessly as they should.

Frozen II 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The included screenshots are sourced from a 1080p Blu-ray disc.

Frozen II's 2160p/HDR UHD presentation does not radially transform the movie's visual landscape when compared to the Blu-ray, but it does solidify it, and noticeably in most shots, scenes, and sequences. The picture is appreciably, though not dramatically, sharper and more clear. See increased visible complexity on Olaf's snowy body (bumps, snowflakes), Sven's hair, Anna and Elsa's freckles, and plenty of environmental details, from manmade structures in Arendelle to the natural world within mist that is the Enchanted Forest. The resolution increase aids the material, sometimes greatly, sometimes marginally, but there's not a shot in the movie that does not elevate its visual stature with the additional horsepower behind it. Likewise, the HDR color spectrum offers a fine-point solidification of the movie's diverse color palette, which includes Elsa's icy blue powers, the Forest's bold fall colors, or Olaf's orange nose, which might be one of the most obvious improvements against his, literally, snow white body, which is itself of a rather significant improvement over the Blu-ray version, which looks milky and flat in comparison to the UHD's intense presentation. Many nighttime and low light shots enjoy more lifelike black depth and shadow detail as well. As with the Blu-ray, there are no compression issues of which to speak, and source imperfections are never spotted. The picture is gorgeous top to bottom, end to end. Even if it's only incrementally to moderately improved over the Blu-ray, this is easily the best home representation; this is the one fans are going to want.

Frozen II 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

As per standard Disney operating procedure, the UHD includes height channels whereas the Blu-ray (DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1) does not. This Dolby Atmos track is, like the UHD picture it accompanies, a solid improvement over the Blu-ray, even if it remains slightly imperfect as it is. The sense of more natural, more fluid, more precise spacial immersion is obvious, notably in the largest, most intense and sonically demanding songs ("Into the Unknown") but also in more gentle sonic activities such as rustling leaves and blowing winds within the Forest, which do increase in intensity from time to time. Like the Blu-ray, there is no trouble with volume at reference, calibrated listening levels. The low end output is a little more substantial here, too, but dynamics remain cramped, such as during that tornado scene in chapter eight, referenced in the Blu-ray review, which never can quite come together despite the prodigious surround content and low end output that comes right at the end rather than engage through the whole sequence. Additional opportunities for low end output are hit and miss as well. Overall clarity is excellent, at least in terms of what's here, whether music, action immersion, or dialogue, which does remain center positioned, well prioritized, and flawlessly detailed for the duration. It's very much a good listen in total, but the lack of finish and finesse are disappointing.

Frozen II 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Frozen II's UHD disc includes no extras beyond the option to watch the movie with karaoke-style lyrics. The bundled Blu-ray, on the other hand, includes featurettes, deleted scenes, outtakes, music videos, and more. A Movies Anywhere digital copy code is included with purchase. This release ships with an embossed slipcover.

• Sing Along with the Movie: As the film plays, song lyrics appear on-screen, karaoke style. This feature is available under the "Play" menu screen option.
• Outtakes (1080p, 2:26): Humorous moments from the voice recording sessions.
• Did You Know??? (1080p, 4:27): Fun facts about, and hidden secrets found in, the film.
• The Spirits of Frozen 2 (1080p, 12:02): A look at the well researched spirits -- Air, Earth, Fire, and Water -- that appear in the film.
• Scoring a Sequel (1080p, 3:49): Inside the recording studio with Composer Christophe Beck, who discusses musical themes and merging song and score.
• Deleted Scenes (1080p, 17:58): Director Chris Buck and Writer/Director Jennifer Lee introduce. Included are Prologue, Secret Room, Elsa's Dream, Hard Nokk's, and A Place of Our Own. Scenes are presented in early conceptual stages.
• Deleted Songs (1080p): Included are "Home" (4:22) and "I Wanna Get This Right" (6:24). Once again, Buck and Lee introduce and the scenes are presented in early conceptual stages.
• Gale Tests (1080p): Exploring the process of constructing an "invisible" character. Included are Gale Test (3:01), essentially a finished animated shot, and Hand Drawn Gale Test (0:55), an early animated concept. Buck and Lee introduce.
• "Into the Unknown" in 29 Languages (1080p, 3:07): The song transitions from language to language, seamlessly.
• Music Videos (1080p): Included are "Into the Unknown" (Panic! At the Disco Version) (3:16) and "Lost in the Woods" (Weezer Version) (3:06).
• Song Selection (1080p): Instantly jump to any of the film's songs with karaoke-style lyrics. Included are "All Is Found" (1:55), "Some Things Never Change" (3:39), "All is Found Reprise" (0:26), "Into the Unknown" (3:14), "When I Am Older" (1:51), "Lost in the Woods" (3:01), "Show Yourself" (4:18), and "The Next Right Thing" (3:31).

Frozen II 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Frozen II had a lot to live up to and probably too many expectations to reasonably meet. The film builds on the characters and the world, not the story, explored in the original. It's desperate to find its own identity while holding tight to the core successes that made the original a timeless hit. It does those things well enough, but not with the skill and finesse expected of it. Frozen II was never going to please everyone, and only a few will likely find it superior to the instant classic original. Praise the film for not simply regurgitating the original, even while holding tight to similar themes of discovery, but there's a fairly drastic shift in tone, too, all told failing to put together wonder, spirit, story, humor, and heart with the same expert precision as its predecessor. Disney's UHD delivers very satisfying 2160p/HDR video that fine tunes the material beyond the Blu-ray's limits. The Atmos track is slightly better, too, but like its Blu-ray counterpart proves problematic. Extras are not particularly engaging but the content is about as-expected if the first film's Blu-ray release is a guide. Recommended.