Directing: B+
Acting: B
Writing: B
Cinematography: B+
Editing: B+
Animation: B+
Music: B

It’s been six years since Frozen unleashed itself onto the zeitgeist, inexplicably striking a cord with millions of children—particularly little girls—the world over, creating a generation obsessed with one animated feature to an extent not seen in at least two decades. In all likelihood, Disney could never have predicted such a visceral audience reaction to a movie that was merely lots of fun and yet so clearly not a “classic” in the same way many of its earlier films were. What absolutely could be predicted was that they would come back with a sequel, although waiting six years was an unusually long time. (Pixar has several sequels after many more years than that, but Pixar is in a separate category from Disney Animation Studios.) All those kids who were little in 2013 aren’t so little anymore.

But, plenty more little kids have been discovering Frozen in the years since, and as such it is hardly a surprise that Frozen II will be by a wide margin the #2 movie of Thanksgiving weekend. Does it stack up to its predecessor, then? I’d say it does. Granted, it has no standout, immortal track like the original’s “Let It Go,” but to be fair, the producers of the first film probably had no idea they had lighting in a bottle six years ago. They seem somewhat to try repeating it with the song “Into the Unknown” this time around, and the effort shows. That rarely works.

In spite of that, I found myself rather enamored with Frozen II, and even its music. Just because it has nothing that stacks up to the catchiness of “Let It Go” does not preclude its own music from being quite lovely—and it is. I even got a little misty-eyed a couple of times just listening to the songs in this film. That could be because I am just a sentimental old sap, or maybe the music is actually good. The singing certainly is, what with the likes of Idina Menzel (as Elsa), Kristen Bell (as Anna), Jonathan Groff (as Kristoff) and even Josh Gad (as Olaf) on all of the vocals.

There’s not much point in getting into the plot of this sequel, except to say that the magical harmony of this universe is threatened, and sisters Elsa and Anna must help each other to save it. Once again, they do this on their own terms, without waiting for a man ot be their hero. It should be stressed as well, though, that the male characters here are hardly useless; feminism, even as subtext, does not render men pointless. In fact, both Kristoff and Olaf lend this film its greatest charms. And all of this is to say, it’s pretty much more of the same as what we saw before. But, what’s the problem with more of the same when what we got before was quite wonderful? Frozen II is a welcome reminder of magical storytelling done right.

It could even be argued that the original Frozen need not be seen first to understand and enjoy Frozen II, although it certainly provides some depth of understanding of the sisterly relationship between Elsa and Anna. The animation is very well rendered, particularly the depiction of a rush of water through a fjord, and a water-horse with running streams as its mane. Ultimately, Frozen II is a feast for the eyes as well as the heart.

The only major drawback was as soon as the end credits began and so did Panic! at the Disco’s rendition of “Into the Unknown,” and trust me, that’s the right moment to “nope” right out of there.

*A captivating experience, same as before.*

Overall: B+