I guess, given the fact that critics haven’t held back, you can pan a movie aimed at children.

It’s been a good six weeks since we showed you the official trailer for Frozen II, and the film is set to hit cinemas next Friday, November 22.

Critics have clearly seen it already, and it’s fair to say the reviews haven’t exactly been glowing.

The bar was set pretty darn high, with the first movie one that parents could bearably sit through, but don’t expect the same level of magic this time around.

To start, here’s the BBC:

…the catchy Broadway show-stoppers have been replaced by thudding rock-opera power ballads; the glacial clarity of the coming-of-age theme has been replaced by a flurry of mythological codswallop…

Lacking any real jeopardy, Frozen II is a meandering psychedelic journey involving standing stones, elemental spirits, time-warping glaciers, the Dark Sea, and a supernatural fog…

Narratively, Frozen II is a mess, an avalanche of half-formed ideas which might have been more suited to a spin-off novel or a video game, and which leaves us asking WTF, or What The Frozen?

…Younger Elsa and Anna fans, on the other hand, will either be covering their eyes in distress or scratching their heads in confusion. Frozen II will leave them cold.

Whilst that sounds like a one-star review, the BBC critic actually gives it two.

The Guardian gives Frozen II three stars, but outright praise remains hard to come by:

I couldn’t help feeling that there is something a bit underpowered and contrived about the storyline in Frozen II: a matter of jeopardy synthetically created and artificially resolved, obstacles set in place and then surmounted, characters separated and reunited, bad stuff apparently happening and then unhappening. At times, Frozen II almost felt like an extended bonus featurette that could have gone with the Blu-ray edition of the first film…

I believe it’s called cashing in, because this sequel is still going to print money.

To finish, let’s see what Vanity Fair has to say:

…from my sorry adult view, this sequel is entirely unnecessary, except in its duty to serve the needs of capital…

The film’s plotting relies on quick realizations and easy fixes. That’s not exactly rare in children’s entertainment, but there’s little effort to even half-disguise Frozen 2’s plot developments as organic…

Plenty of children will find it special, I’m sure. And maybe that’s all that matters. From my coldhearted grownup perspective, though, Frozen 2 pushes itself out on its own ice floe and it’s all too easy to, well, let it go.

Sounds like this might be one that the parents are forced to sit through, whilst the kids have themselves a good time.

Parenting 101, really.

[sources:bbc&guardian&vanityfair]