Reflections upon Frozen II

It's hard to believe, with the movie in question being in the theater for almost two months now, but we finally saw Frozen II. A few random thoughts:

• It was surprising to me at first that Kristen Bell was listed first in the credits rather than Idina Menzel. But the more I think about it, the more sense it makes. This really is Anna's story more than it is Elsa's. Elsa is the catalyst, but this is really about how Anna makes it through the valley of her deepest sorrow and demonstrates the will to triumph nonetheless. Anna evenhad the best song (see below). People talked about how empowering, especially to young girls, Frozen was back in the day. This movie takes that message up to eleven.
• It's hard to think of this movie as a sequel to Frozen. The tone is just so different. This ain't no typical Disney princess movie. It feels more...I don't know, more grown up, maybe. Higher stakes, both for Anna and Elsa and for everyone around them. More emotionally jarring. More intense in its action and emotional impact. Much darker in its implications. Even with Olaf's occasional funny bits, this isn't a comedy. It's a full-on drama.
• The fact that "Into the Unknown" won the Golden Globe and Oscar nominations for best original song proves to me that the people who make these decisions aren't paying attention. "The Next Right Thing" and "Show Yourself" are both much more worthy candidates. As one internet commenter said about "The Next Right Thing", "I know everyone is freaking out about Elsa but this song here, this song is going to save lives." Heck, for my money, even "Lost In the Woods" is a better song. Which is not to disparage "Into the Unknown"; it's a solid musical offering. There are just two or three songs that are even better.
• Speaking of "Lost In the Woods", the Weezer pop cover during the end credits was good. But if I'd been in charge, I would've gone for broke and tried to get Peter Cetera to sing it. Or failing him, the current lead singer of Chicago (Neil Donell). That would've been awesome.
• And speaking of "The Next Right Thing", this song has a beautiful and powerful message. We all hit rock bottom sometimes. We all wonder sometimes how we can go on when all seems lost. This song is a powerful affirmation that there is life and hope and light and meaning. Whatever has been lost, there is always the freedom to choose. To make one decision. To do that next right thing, small and inconsequential though it may seem. We can't do everything. Sometimes, we feel like we can't do anything. But we can always do something--the next right thing.
• This doesn't happen to me very often, but as soon as the idea of the Fifth Spirit came up, I knew how it was going to work out. I couldn't really figure out the mechanism, but I saw the outcome. That's pretty impressive for me.
• My nonverbal ten-year-old daughter LOVED this movie. She bounced and giggled and laughed through the entire thing. My precocious six-year-old son didn't like it as much. In fact, Mom had to take him out for a few minutes at one point because he was scared. That's understandable; as mentioned above, the movie was pretty intense in places. But he liked the ending, because he knew that Elsa was going to a party with her family.

All in all, I enjoyed this movie quite a lot. It's definitely not the same as the original...and that's not a bad thing.