After rewatching Frozen, I realized that the film as a whole was far from perfect.  With endless plot holes, a basic pop soundtrack, and a familiar story, it was hard to appreciate the original film.  I recall liking it the first time, but maybe it was just catchy and really stuck in my head for the months following.  While Frozen 2 still has a lack of needed explanation for certain plot lines, it is a definite step up from the first film.  This is already a contested opinion between fans young and old, but I stand by it for the following reason...

To start, the music in the sequel holds more weight.  Children may not like every song as much as they did for the original film since none of the tunes have stuck as much as "Let It Go".  The break-out song of this film was marketed to be "Into the Unknown", which is not the most creative song on the soundtrack, but still seems craftier than "Let It Go".  Kids might struggle to catch on to the melody, but the lyrics are more fulfilling and Idina Menzel's (Enchanted​) voice carries it quite well.  Her voice truly defies gravity and is such a treasure to the listener.  Along with the new hit, audiences can enjoy a cheesier song from Olaf and a hard-hitting love ballad from Kristoff.  Olaf's song is similar to his debut in Frozen, but Kristoff brings older viewers the nostalgia of artists like Meatloaf or REO Speedwagon.  It's a fun and intentionally ridiculous 80s tribute.  These songs are a treat for adults and kids alike.

Furthermore, the voice work and script for this follow-up are more exciting and creative.  While Olaf did not have too many lines in the original film and still annoyed me, it appears he has more lines in the sequel but never comes off as overly annoying.  Idina Menzel, Kristen Bell (Veronica Mars, Forgetting Sarah Marshall), Jonathan Groff (Mindhunter), and Josh Gad (Beauty and the Beast, 21) round out the cast again with a few extra voice actors in minor roles.  Menzel and Bell voice the young sisters so fittingly.  Gad plays a slightly more matured Olaf, but still sounds like a curious snowchild.  The big breakout for me with this film was Groff's ability to sing.  I'm a big fan of Mindhunter and Groff's character in the Netflix show is so different from Kristoff; it took me a while to realize they are played by the same person.  I can see this ensemble making a few more films together if everyone stays aboard the wintery franchise.

While I do like the sequel more than the original, there are a few choices that are flawed and leave the viewer pondering.  A couple of the things that were left unexplained in the first film are brought back and explained in this film, but this film has characters choose certain paths that are unnatural.  At one point, a main character (trying to avoid spoilers still) makes a choice that contradicts everything the film sets up.  It left me scratching my head and wondering if they just couldn't figure out a better way to progress the plot.  I still give praise to this plot for being more original than the first film, with no real villain for the sisters to face off with.  This is more about character development than it is about a battle at the end, creating a refreshing story for Disney.

I would go amiss without mentioning the visual effects.  I saw the film in Laser IMAX and it was totally worth the big screen experience.  The ice shimmers across the screen and while there is not a lot of real action sequences, there are quite a few moments where the beautiful landscape shines bright with the reflecting snowy overlay.  There was one point where the pine trees looked so realistic that I had to do a double-take and look away from the screen for a minute.  It truly is amazing what modern technology has done for artists and animation studios.  

The Bottom Line: This darker sequel progresses the characters that kids and adults already love, but has flaws that are left unexplained and contradictory.

Score: 7/10

Mulan will remain as one of Disney's best films for a long time.  Personally, the film is categorically within my top three Disney films.  After 20 years, the animation and effects are still clean and superb.  The music never gets old and the story about a girl saving China to bring honor to her family and nation still remains relevant.  There are a lot of broad themes throughout the film that make the viewing a learning lesson, and yet the storyline is extremely entertaining to watch.  There is action for kids to maintain their attention span, but also moral values to keep Mulan as a tool for adults to teach from.

The cast clearly put in effort during the voice acting sessions, bringing out strong characters and whimsical scripts to accompany them.  Miguel Ferrer (Traffic) is terrifying as the lead villain, Shan-Yu.  Yet, Eddie Murphy (Coming to America, Shrek) as Mushu is hilariously exaggerated.  At the center of the story is of Mulan, voiced by the charming-but-tough Ming-Na Wen (Street Fighter).  The list of voice actors go on-and-on as the film is densely packed with characters to support Mulan's journey.  While the voice actors are important, the directors chose to use different actors for the singing portions which are crucial to Disney's cinematic formula.

Mulan has the most recognizable soundtrack out of every Disney film with hits including "Reflection", "I'll Make a Man Out of You", and "A Girl Worth Fighting For".  Donny Osmond's (Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat) voice provides the overly-masculine Shang tracks.  Lea Salonga (Aladdin) provides a powerful counter to Osmond's Shang.  One of the themes portrayed through the music is the role of gender in modern society.  For a 1998 film, Mulan was progressive and remains progressive the more we learn about Hollywood's scandals.  I look forward to the live-action remake that is set to release in 2020, but I hope that they can keep the messages from the original film and modernize them even more.

The Bottom Line:  Mulan gives audiences the hero it needs and questions gender roles in a way that adults and children can both understand clearly.

Score: 9.8/10

Image credit: ​By Gkaidan - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=67121492

Disney's newest outing in live action remakes stands true to the success of the original animated film.  The "tale as old as time" remains relevant to society with it's depiction of love and different levels of societal classes.  Beauty and the Beast has deeper messages hidden in its storyline, but is still enjoyable as a family film filled with charm and attraction.  Sticking to a storyline that has already been put to the test on the big screen can be hard, but Bill Condon's (Dreamgirls) direction gives the film a fresh setting and jaw-dropping effects.  Throughout the film, animation still prevails with normally inanimate objects.  Lumiere (played by Ewan McGregor [Trainspotting, Star Wars]) shines as bright as he did in the original film, and Cogsworth's (played by Ian McKellen [The Lord of the Rings]) gears turn once again in the new adaptation.  The two actors for these roles heavy lifting with their voice acting roles.  While McGregor was able to charm as Lumiere, I'm not sure that I buy his French accent.  It was a bit over-the-top, but it did not detract too much from the film.

The best roles are saved for two very prominent actors of our time.  Dan Stevens (The Guest) is unrecognizable as the beast, which is a good thing.  After the opening scene, we get a scary image that takes time to gain the audience's trust.  His role is much different from his other works.  Stevens seems to be one of the most versatile actors in Hollywood right now.  

Speaking of versatile actors, Emma Watson (Harry Potter) graces the big screen once again as an iconic Disney character.  In this remake, Belle is different from the original film.  This time, she is a much more empowered character.  Watson's work on feminism clearly made its way into the film, proving that equality in movies is possible.  No one could do a better job in this role than Watson, and no one is more fitting.  Condon makes it very clear that this story is more based around Belle than it is around the beast.  

Of course, this wouldn't be a Disney live action adaptation without a reworking of the original score.  Usually, pre-recorded performances distract me from the screen as I watch clear lip-syncing.  However, I applaud Beauty and the Beast's sound crew for making the singing look as realistic as possible.  Sure it is not as authentic as the Les Miserables performances, but this is as good as it gets!  The massive scale choreography is also exciting to watch as the cast dances to iconic songs such as "Belle", "Be Our Guest", and the titular song "Beauty and the Beast".  Of course, "Gaston" remains as one of my favorite Disney songs ever with a job well done by Josh Gad (Frozen) and Luke Evans (Fast & Furious 6).  These familiar names play off of each other with a grand stage presence.  Evans is menacing as hell and Gad brings another wimpy character to life.

The Bottom Line: Beauty and the Beast ​brings back a tale as old as time with grandeur and charm-filled acting that could only be produced by the familiar faces in the cast.

Score: 9.3/10

Image credit: ​By http://flickr.com/photos/nieve44/ - http://flickr.com/photos/nieve44/418072188/, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2099783

When Across the Universe was first pitched, I am sure there was backlash to the project.  Creating a film about a highly critiqued war effort is one thing, but using the Beatles's discography to progress the story is a whole other monster.  As a Beatles fanboy I can appreciate the covers throughout the film, even if the film falls short of being a masterpiece.  Jim Sturgess (21, Cloud Atlas) shows off his talent in singing and acting as the main star in the film.  Kudos to Evan Rachel Wood (The Wrestler) as well, who has now proven that she is a major star in Westworld.  Awesome cameos from Bono (Click, Batman Forever), Joe Cocker (Iron Man 2, The Pursuit of Happyness, Flight​), and Eddie Izzard (Valkyrie) round out the film's soundtrack.

The one area where the film falls flat is the storyline.  The storyline occurs over a long period of time as Jude (played by Jim Sturgess) grows up.  The film parallels his life with current events of the time period.  At times, the metaphors seem to push too hard towards a very heavy anti-war message.  I like the message, but it's a bit too heavy a lot of the time.  Odd interactions seem out of place along the way as well.  At points, I wish that a lot of the film was cut out because it is irrelevant to the storyline.  It was really cool that the filmmakers tried to use as many Beatles songs as possible, but sometimes they distract the flow of the film.

Coming out in 2007, Across the Universe used innovative tools to create a visually striking piece of art.  Kaleidoscope images cross the screen during Bono's performance of "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds", portraying the psychedelic style of the late Beatles music.  My favorite part of the movie occurs during a scene about the army draft.  The scene starts off with a horrifying image of Uncle Sam reaching out of a poster to grab a conscripted soldier.  The choreography is grand and the song fits perfectly with the scene, displaying the political messages embedded in a lot of the music by the Beatles. 

The Bottom Line: Even with a flat storyline, Across the Universe is a spectacle based around an anti-war message embedded in iconic Beatles songs.

Score: 6/10

This was definitely one of my most anticipated films of 2016.  After Whiplash, I was left counting down the days until the next film that would be under the direction of Damien Chazelle.  Little did I know that his next project would be a gleeful movie musical, and an extremely good one!  Chazelle's genre seems to revolve around jazz and drama.  Yet, he is capable of creating successful films with completely different tones.  After coming out of the theater, I was left with a craving for jazz.  I've never been a big jazz listener, but Chazelle's new movie further peaks my interest in the musical style that dates so far back in time.  

I'm not one to smile much during a dramatic film, but I found myself smiling throughout every scene in La La Land.  It is majestic, magical, and beautifully shot.  There are long takes that must have taken a long time to coordinate in the perfect manner that is produced.  At times, the characters float around on the screen.  The glitz and glamor of an older Hollywood is constantly popping up in every scene.  Yet, we also get a glimpse of the problems that have haunted Hollywood since its conception.  As smooth jazz melodies play, the typical viewer should fall into a trance of pure musical joy.

In order to create a strong musical, there are three key features necessary.  First, you need a good story.  The story for La La Land is somewhat ambiguous, causing some confusion along the way.  Still, the simplicity of a love story ties the frays as the story becomes deeper than a simple meeting between star-crossed lovers.  To create a strong musical, you clearly need good music that is relevant to the storyline.  From the get-go, La La Land introduces us to classy jazz numbers which often lead up to strong vocal performances.  Finally, you need to have a cast that can perform well on a stage and sing the various musical numbers.  This is probably my favorite role that Emma Stone (Birdman, The Amazing Spider-Man) has ever been in, and quite possibly my favorite role for Ryan Gosling (Drive, The Big Short).  Both of them sing their hearts out and create deep characters with their strong performances.

The Bottom Line:  La La Land captures our hearts as we cannot help but smile at the magic that comes from combining Hollywood's cinema and Broadway's musicality.

Score: 9.7/10

Image credits:
By Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America - Emma StoneUploaded by maybeMaybeMaybe, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=22894460
​By Elen Nivrae from Paris, France - Ryan Gosling, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=41215867