Frozen II

[Clindor]

New clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2W36KbSh8E

[Musical Master]

The first reviews have come out due to the embargo being down today. 84% on Rotten Tomatoes so far.

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/frozen_ii

[Disney's Divinity]

******MUSIC SPOILERS****
I broke. The soundtrack was on my doorstep and I couldn’t wait another month or more before I actually see the movie to listen.

I love nearly every song. “All Is Found” is beautiful and I definitely feel much differently from everything I’ve read here about “Some Things Never Change.” I loved it. I think it, "Lost in the Woods," and “The Next Right Thing” are my favorites right now. Neither “Into the Unknown” nor “Show Yourself” are like “Let It Go” to me—which I consider a good thing, because I don’t want the film to come off like a knockoff version of the first the way the DTV cheapquels of yesteryear always did. “ItU” has a much more atmospheric feel, and not just because Idina’s voice is in the stratosphere, lol. Of the two, I think “Into the Unknown” is my favorite. Kacey Musgraves’ version of “All Is Found” is ethereal and PATD’s version of “Into the Unknown” is imperfect, but not bad.

Just got to “When I’m Older.” It’s good for what it is, the same way as “In Summer,” although I’ll probably listen to it less than the rest. I imagine the scene will really make this song, just like for “In Summer”—since they’re mostly there for comedy anyway. Weezer’s end credit song was okay, too, even though I don’t know who they are.

I was acclimated to enjoy this anyway, because I’ve enjoyed all of Avenue Q, Frozen, and Book of Mormon + “Remember Me” from Coco. But it lived up to most of my expectations and now I'm looking forward to how the scenes themselves might lift the music even more. I only wish we had an Anna-Kristoff duet, but I’m guessing that will happen in Frozen 3. Since I would expect three to be last in the series, an Anna-Kristoff duet at the beginning of three would be a nice reflection of the beginning of the first Frozen, when Anna was alone and singing to herself.

EDIT: One thing I do like better about Urie's version of "Into the Unknown" is the end because the voice sings first and then it's like he's responding to it, where the end of like Idina's version, she's the one that begins that ending part where they're singing together.

[Sotiris]

The first reviews have come out due to the embargo being down today. 84% on Rotten Tomatoes so far.

I'm surprised it's starting with such a score. I was expecting higher. The most common complaint of the negative reviews is that it features too many narrative elements and lacks cohesion.

[D82]

^It's not a bad score, but Ralph Breaks the Internet, the other recent sequel from the studio, by comparison started with a 91% rating last year.

Regarding the songs, I was wondering why everybody seemed to have listened to them already when supposedly the soundtrack doesn't come out until Friday. But, of course, there are some territories where it's already the 15th and I guess it has been leaked from there. I know they'll soon be available legally where I live, but I couldn't wait to hear them, so I downloaded them from a link I finally found.

I have to listen to them more times to judge them properly, but my first impression is that they are not bad. "All Is Found" was better than I thought, and so was "Some Things Never Change". "When I'm Older", though quite short, is nice too. "Lost in the Woods" is quite catchy and it could become my favorite, however I think the best one is probably "Into the Unknown". Regarding "Show Yourself" and "The Next Right Thing", I think I'll have to listen to them more times to have an opinion, but none of the two sounds bad.

[JeanGreyForever]

Generally the critical rating tends to go down after the initial release right? At least, that was the case for the live-action remakes.

[Musical Master]

I'm so excited to hear the songs tomorrow that I can't believe it's finally here! It was only yesterday when everyone was speculating about them.

[D82]

Disney UK has posted this video announcing an album launch event with a live Q&A with Idina Menzel, Josh Gad and Jonathan Groff that will take place this Friday at 5.45pm GMT. I guess that's when the soundtrack will be available in Europe? Because so far, it hasn't been released here, though it's already the 15th in this part of the world.

Here's another interview with the Lopezes where they perform "Into the Unknown" at the end: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HH7uGmerEQ

And here are the lyrics for three of the songs (spoilers especially in the last two):

"Lost in the Woods": https://upthenorthmountain.tumblr.com/p ... -the-woods
"Show Yourself": https://wintersovereign.tumblr.com/post ... h-of-me-is
"The Next Right Thing": https://upthenorthmountain.tumblr.com/p ... ight-thing

[Clindor]

Tomorrow’s the big day I guess!

[Farerb]

I guess people might like When I'm Older if they like hearing Josh Gad screaming in their ear.

[estefan]

The unusual thing about the hand-waving of "Frozen Fever" and "Olaf's Frozen Adventure" in the promotional interviews is that in the post-credits scene for "Frozen 2", the tiny snowmen born from Elsa's cold in "Frozen Fever" appear.

[JeanGreyForever]

The unusual thing about the hand-waving of "Frozen Fever" and "Olaf's Frozen Adventure" in the promotional interviews is that in the post-credits scene for "Frozen 2", the tiny snowmen born from Elsa's cold in "Frozen Fever" appear.

My guess was that we'd see them if Hans wasn't the surprise character for the end-credits scene.

[D82]

The soundtrack is already available to stream and buy: https://twitter.com/DisneyMusic/status/ ... 5675195393

[taei]

I've been trying super hard to avoid spoilers for this movie (although Disney marketing is making that really difficult)... But is it me, or is the deluxe album only available via streaming? I was hoping to get it to match with the soundtrack of the first movie..

[Sotiris]

Here's my review (and ranking) of the soundtrack.

Show Yourself
Great song. While it doesn't showcase Idina's voice the way Into the Unknown does, it both has an arresting intensity and a strong melody. If Disney had submitted this to the Oscars alongside Into the Unknown, the soundtrack could have snagged two nominations.

Into the Unknown
Another great song. It has a memorable tune and a mysterious, alluring atmosphere. The vocal competition between Iduna and Aurora makes it even more striking.

All Is Found
A pleasant yet familiar-sounding lullaby. The instrumentation sounds very Celtic; it feels like something out of the Brave soundtrack.

Home (Outtake)
Cute song but feels "small" for an opening number. It has a folk sound that I like. I much prefer it to Some Things Never Change.

Lost in the Woods
While it tries too hard to imitate an '80s power ballad, it's nice nonetheless. I feel it could have used stronger vocals. Groff has a soft voice and this sort of song needs stronger pipes.

The Next Right Thing
While I appreciate the intense emotion and Kristen's strong performance (it reminded me of Hathaway's performance of I Dreamed a Dream), the song needed more focus in terms of structure - it was all over the place - and a better melody.

I Seek the Truth (Outtake)
A quite bland, forgettable song. I'm so glad they scrapped it and wrote Show Yourself for this sequence instead.

Get This Right (Outtake)
Another '80s-inspired song for Kristoff, this time a comedic one. The humor is juvenile and kind of gross and the tone out of place. It was rightfully cut.

Some Things Never Change
It's just OK. It's somewhat catchy but in an annoying kind of way.

Unmeltable Me (Outtake)
Another obnoxious Olaf song but slightly less awful than the one we got.

When I Am Older
This is probably the worst song in the Frozen franchise. It's completely unnecessary and cringe-worthy. Josh is literally screaming into your ear. It should have been cut.

Overall, it's a well-crafted soundtrack. There aren't any breakout hits like Let It Go or For the First Time in Forever but it makes up for it by being more consistently good throughout.

[Farerb]

Sotiris, I mostly agree with you. I liked Lost in the Woods best, but all the songs are good, except When I am Older. I listened to it while at work with head phones and suddenly I heard him screaming and it was so annoying. I also agree about Some Things Never Change, it's decent but not great and annoyingly catchy. After listening to the soundtrack a few times I'll say that it's better than the first and even more mature despite not having a hit like Let it Go, which actually might be a good thing.

Funny things I thought after listening, All is Found reminds me of the lullaby from The Hunger Games. Show Yourself reminds me of I am Moana, but longer.

[Musical Master]

Disney Divinity, I most definitely agree with you and even though I think that "When I Am Older" is the weakest song of the entire score, it's still pretty dang good for Disney standards. To me, this is an incredible soundtrack that is a HUGE step up from the first film, that I'm debating if this is equal to Moana's soundtrack or actually better.

A lot more listens are going to happen for a while until next weekend.

[Sotiris]

Generally the critical rating tends to go down after the initial release right? At least, that was the case for the live-action remakes.

That's almost always the case. It has already gone down to 82%. I predict it will stabilize at a high 70s score. Perhaps at 78%?

But is it me, or is the deluxe album only available via streaming? I was hoping to get it to match with the soundtrack of the first movie..

The deluxe edition is only available digitally to either stream or buy. If you want a physical album you can import the Japanese collector's CD.

Show Yourself reminds me of I am Moana, but longer.

It's certainly similar conceptually and structurally. Show Yourself incorporates All Is Found the same way I Am Moana integrates Where You Are.

[Disney's Divinity]

Disney Divinity, I most definitely agree with you and even though I think that "When I Am Older" is the weakest song of the entire score, it's still pretty dang good for Disney standards. To me, this is an incredible soundtrack that is a HUGE step up from the first film, that I'm debating if this is equal to Moana's soundtrack or actually better.

A lot more listens are going to happen for a while until next weekend.

For me the first is better, but it depends on how you look at it. I think this one is more consistently great, whereas the first has higher highs (“Let It Go,” “For the First Time in Forever,” “Do You Want to Build a Snowman?”) with low-lows (“Fixer Upper,” Demi’s end credit song). “When I’m Older” is probably the worst here, and it’s still much better than those two—probably on the same level as “In Summer,” if not a little better. We’ll have to agree to disagree on Moana; I think it’s below both the Frozen soundtracks, although still good. Yeah, I've been listening to this on repeat for the past two days.

I've been trying super hard to avoid spoilers for this movie (although Disney marketing is making that really difficult)... But is it me, or is the deluxe album only available via streaming? I was hoping to get it to match with the soundtrack of the first movie..

Yes, it’s a shame. I had asked about it myself earlier in the thread because I had wanted to have the Deluxe in physical form, too. For what it’s worth, the packaging for the soundtrack is still nice, if much slimmer. I always prefer a physical release to digital; I'll pick up everything else digital-only later.

[Musical Master]

For me the first is better, but it depends on how you look at it. I think this one is more consistently great, whereas the first has higher highs (“Let It Go,” “For the First Time in Forever,” “Do You Want to Build a Snowman?”) with low-lows (“Fixer Upper,” Demi’s end credit song). “When I’m Older” is probably the worst here, and it’s still much better than those two—probably on the same level as “In Summer,” if not a little better. We’ll have to agree to disagree on Moana; I think it’s below both the Frozen soundtracks, although still good. Yeah, I've been listening to this on repeat for the past two days.

Yeah, we may agree to disagree with Moana's soundtrack; some love it (like me), some really don't. After listening to both the songs and score some more, I have concluded that Frozen II is above the first one and surprisingly better than Moana. I think the Lopez's and Beck should be extremely proud of what they've done.