Maleficent & Frozen II

I know these are late, but I was super excited to see these movies and then totally forgot to blog my thoughts about them! Better late than never, am I right? A bonus of blogging late is that hopefully everyone has already seen them so I don't have to worry about spoilers :) There's your warning - I'm not avoiding spoilers, so if you haven't seen them and don't want things spoiled, this is not a post for you!

Maleficent: Mistress of Evil.
The title had me wondering because at the end of the first movie, she was good. So now she's the mistress of evil? What happened?

The acting and cinematography was just as good as the first one. The fairy realm and creatures were amazing. I totally loved the little porcupine creature and I want one! The little mushroom guy was adorable too. I look at the story this way - if it had been an original rather than a sequel, I would have thought it amazing. But because it was a sequel to Maleficent (already a retelling), it felt more like "we need another story to use these characters again". 

I really like Maleficent. I liked the idea of seeing Sleeping Beauty in a new way. I thought it was very well done. I like this new movie too, but I think the first one was better and more original (I know that sounds odd, since it's not really original, but that's how I feel about it). Mistress of Evil is a good movie, well told for the most part (the queen's motive either came to late or was too vague for me), and beautifully done. Would I see it again? Yes. But I'd probably go for Maleficent if I were picking for movie night. Who knows? Maybe another viewing will make me like it more.

Frozen II
Oh my goodness!!! I have to say, I was kind of apprehensive about this movie. I love Frozen and I was excited to have more story, but what would they do? Would they change things? Could they make a sequel as good as the original? Would they mess everything up? I think I was waiting for the other shoe to drop the whole time and when we made it to the end, I was so happy to have a movie that was every bit as good as the first one!

We have to talk about the music. I think there are more songs in this one than the first! Olaf is just as funny as ever, but I find his solo in this movie funnier than "In Summer". I'm probably in the minority there. The music reflects the characters really well and if you can't get enough, listen to the deluxe edition. There are something like 47 songs, including several renditions of the main songs. It gets a little ridiculous.

Back to the movie. This is kind of a prequel and a sequel to Frozen rolled up into one movie. We see some more childhood and get important backstory that we need for the rest of the story. On the journey/adventure, more information is revealed about Arendelle's past and how Anna and Elsa's family played a part in all of it.

Our band of characters spends a good amount of time separated, more than I would have liked, but it is necessary to the story. Besides Olaf, this movie has an adorable little creature. Again, I kind of want one. I'm betting Hollywood creates these characters to sell merchandise, but let me tell you, it works. I have to restrain myself from buying cute stuffed animals because I don't really need them :)

Did you see either of these movies? What did you think about them?