Plot wise, this one was a mess. It's difficult to tell what's going on, and the lore contradicts what was established in the first movie. It's quite annoying.
The charm of the first film seemed to be missing in this one. The Snow Queen 2 manages to be disappointing.
However, the character animation was better than the first movie.
The Snow Queen 2
2014 [RUSSIAN]
Action / Adventure / Animation / Comedy / Family / Fantasy / Sci-Fi
Plot summary
After the trolls' victory over the Snow Queen, Orm claims that he is destined to marry the princess and inherit great power.
Uploaded by: FREEMAN
April 21, 2016 at 06:11 AM
Director
Top cast
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Not as good as the first one...
Better than the first one!
The sequel was approximately at the level of the first part. Not a bad technical performance, dynamic and interesting plot. Many acute social issues are raised in this story. The main idea of the first part continues its logical development in the second. Once again, the viewer is shown that the main battle between good and evil occurs in the soul of every person (well, or troll), that at any moment it is not too late to go over to the side of good and truth. The movie will be interesting for both adults and children. I liked it!
More icy than magical
Found myself surprisingly liking the first 'Snow Queen' film from 2012,
though it will never go down as one of my favourites. The second 'Snow
Queen' from 2014 is actually not as bad as the review summary seems to
imply (which is an admittedly corny play-on of the film's title 'The
Magic of the Ice Mirror'), it's pretty decent but of the two films the
superior one is the first.
There are things that bring 'The Snow Queen 2: The Magic of the Ice
Mirror' down. Several of the first film's characters return here, but
they are mostly reduced to cameos and only seem to be there to tie in
with the first film. This does clutter the film somewhat and distracts
from more interesting characters like Orm and his grandmother, while
some of them are entertaining others didn't add anything. Gerda frankly
could have been left out entirely because she barely has anything to
do.
Storytelling isn't as good either. Not awful certainly, there are
tense, fun and heart-warming parts, some of it is not too hard to
follow and the messaging is beautifully done, being interesting and
giving the film heart. The pacing does tend to be a bit too slow though
and there also tends to be a clumsily disjointed and muddled feel to
the storytelling that doesn't make the film as focused as ought. Parts
of the dialogue are corny and some of the music choices don't quite
gel.
However, the animation is great. If there is anything that is an
improvement over the first, it is that the character designs are more
appealing and refined with smoother movement. Once again the colours
are lavish and atmospheric, the backgrounds are meticulous in detail
and there was certainly a lot of attention put into the little things
as well as the big effects. Much of the music, mostly the scoring, is
rousing, haunting and rousing.
As said, 'The Snow Queen 2: The Magic of the Ice Mirror' does have some
heart, fun and tension and the message is a good, clear and
well-intended one delivered in a way that makes its point but not in a
preachy way.
Orm is an interesting character, the entertainment value and conflicted
edge the writing brought makes him more than a standard archetype. The
grandmother steals all her scenes. The voice acting is serviceable.
In summary, not exactly magical but not a sequel to be left cold by.
6/10 Bethany Cox