Here is What the critics are saying about 'Frozen 2'

In the interim between Disney's final traditionally animated princess flick, The Princess and the Frog (2009), and the overwhelming, the current era of Disney+, mystical, CGI-animated female empowerment got the spotlight in both Brave (2012) and Frozen (2013). However, only one of those movies got a highly anticipated sequel six years after its release: one starring Kristen Bell and Idina Menzel as duo-female leads, backed by the goofy Josh Gad and Jonathan Groff.

Frozen 2 follows the original's protagonists, Elsa, Anna, Olaf, and Kristoff, as they journey through an enchanted forest to uncover the truth about Anna and Elsa's lineage. Film directors Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck, song-writing duo Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez, and writers Lee and Allison Schroeder reunited to create the sequel, which premieres in theaters on November 22, 2020.

Following are the views of critics, read on to see what critics thought of the ambitious sequel to Frozen, the highest-grossing animated film of all time for five years after its release.

Frozen 2 has a decidedly different tone than the original film

Kate Erbland from IndieWire says, 

Still, fans of the Disney feature have long clamored for a sequel to the musical charmer, if only to spend more time with a cadre of cute characters (including, of all things, a hammy reindeer and Josh Gad as a sentient a snowman who has zero right to be as cute as he is) inside an inventive new world.... Perhaps they should have been careful what they wished for, if only because it’s about to be upended by a fresh new story.

Christian Holub from Entertainment Weekly says,

Interestingly, Frozen 2 doubles down on some of the darker elements of the original. After spending Frozen yearning for his own death-by-sunshine, Olaf now openly wonders if anything in the world is permanent. The horrible off-screen death of Anna and Elsa’s parents, already difficult enough to explain to an inquiring child, now becomes a central focus of the plot… Frozen 2 stops just short of letting old things die, but earns kudos for acknowledging that royal families don’t exactly gain their power because of how kind and generous they are.

Peter Debruge from Variety says, 

“Frozen II” is anything but a mindless remake… this gorgeous, glittering reunion of siblings Anna (Kristen Bell) and Elsa (Idina Menzel) proudly flaunts its own identity, even while taking care to incorporate so much of what worked about the original — like a steady stream of wisecracks from wonderstruck snowperson Olaf (Josh Gad)…In a way, songwriting couple Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez set this challenge for themselves by creating such a memorable Broadway-style soundtrack for the first movie, and here, the first couple songs (including the forgettable “All Is Found”) feel second best…

Richard Lawson from Vanity Fair says, 

The directors—Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck—and writers—Lee and Allison Schroeder—grasp for a new mythos to match the original’s, but come up woefully short. In that striving to justify a sequel, the Frozen team is forced to go bigger, grander, more existential, while still keeping things accessible to children. One might assume... that at least one of these sweaty songs is bound to recapture the old magic. They all sound fine, and are sung with the usual bombast by Idina Menzel (as Elsa) and, finally getting a belter, Kristen Bell (as Anna). And yet... not a half-hour after seeing the movie, I couldn’t call up a single melody.

Justin Chang from L.A. Times says,

Their latest adventure feels darker yet less consequential then the last one; the mythology is somehow both overly complicated and oddly perfunctory.

Peter Bradshaw from The Guardian says,

Part of the strangeness of watching Frozen II is wondering if there will be a specific “sequel” to Let It Go, a new number that takes its sentiments forward in some way, and it is simultaneously a mild disappointment and a vague relief that there isn’t, or not exactly, although there are some hummable, catchy tunes.

Matt Goldberg from Collider says,

Even the songs don’t have that same punch this time around. Songs like “Into the Unknown” and “Lost in the Woods” are certainly catchy, but there’s nothing in here that I think will take the world by storm like “Let It Go”. If anything, songwriters Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez kind of play into their weakest aspects with a song from Anna that veers into Randy-Newman-sing-about-what-you’re-doing territory.

Frozen 2 debuts in theaters on November 22, 2019.