本文选自《华盛顿邮报》11月22日刊文章。《冰雪奇缘2》是2013年电影《冰雪奇缘》的续集，于2019年11月22日在中国内陆上映，同步北美，上映的首个周末，全球票房总计约3.5亿美元。这部电影毁誉参半，毕竟是迪士尼出品，电影制作功底雄厚，技术可以说是世界顶级水平，整部电影画面美轮美奂、特效精美绝伦，从视觉效果讲，可以说是炫技式呈现。但是与第一部带给人的惊艳相比，第二部在故事和人物塑造上明显缺乏创新，影片中也没有一首歌能与第一部的《Let it go》相提并论。有人说《冰雪奇缘》给人多大惊喜，《冰雪奇缘2》就给人多大失望，你怎么看？欢迎留言。
由于篇幅较长，本文节选原文标题和全文重点段落进行精讲。
选文精讲
Sequel brings lukewarm leftovers 续集带来不冷不热的延续
Once-cool concept thaws into a boring and muddled mess
Once upon a time, Disney sent its subpar sequels to the kingdom of Straight-to-Video — a magical land filled with such titles as “The Return of Jafar,” “Cinderella II: Dreams Come True” and “The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea.” It was a happier time, one that is now apparently over, as “Frozen II” hits theaters. That’s slightly unfair. The sequel to the 2013 animated blockbuster is much better than, say, “Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World.”
- Straight-to-Video: 字面意思是“直接到视频”，一般是指电影的劣质续集不在电影院上映，带有贬义。
从前，迪斯尼把它没达到水准的（电影）续集送到了不在电影院上映的（电影）王国——一个充满魔幻色彩的国度，那里有很多诸如“贾法的回归”、“灰姑娘2:梦想成真”和“小美人鱼2:重返大海”这样的电影。随着《冰雪奇缘2》上映，那段更快乐的时光现在似乎已经结束了。这么说有点不公平，这部2013年的动画大片的续集比《风中奇缘2:新世界之旅》要好得多。
But “Frozen II” is still a disappointing continuation of the story of Queen Elsa and Princess Anna of Arendelle. It’s been a few years since Elsa (voice of Idina Menzel) learned to embrace her icy powers and settled on her throne. Little sister Anna (Kristen Bell) is still with hunky lunk Kristoff (Jonathan Groff).
但《冰雪奇缘2》对埃尔莎女王和阿伦德尔的安娜公主的故事延续依然让人失望。自埃尔莎(伊迪娜·门泽尔配音)学会拥抱她的冰冷力量、坐上宝座已经过去好几年了。小妹妹安娜(克里斯汀·贝尔配音)仍然和结实的呆子克斯托夫(乔纳森·格罗夫配音)在一起。
And may I say that it is nice to see a Disney princess in a long-term, stable relationship that suggests a real happy-ever-after? Living snowman Olaf (Josh Gad) continues to hang around, though now he has a fixation on the temporary nature of existence, really. Otherwise, things are going well in the charmingly Nordic kingdom, right up until Elsa begins hearing a lone voice singing from afar. Not long after the song begins — although only Elsa can hear it — the people of Arendelle experience some oddities, culminating in an earthquake that sends the entire population heading for the hills.
我想说的是，看到迪士尼公主拥有一段长期稳定的感情，这样的大团圆结局很好吧？活着的雪人奥拉夫(乔什·盖德配音)继续闲逛，尽管现在它对存在的短暂本质有了固定的看法。在迷人的北欧王国，一切都很好，直到埃尔莎开始听到一个从远方传来的孤独的声音，在这首歌开始后不久——尽管只有埃尔莎能听到它——阿伦德尔的人们经历了一些奇怪的事情，最终，一场地震把所有人都送进山里。
Elsa, Anna, Olaf and Kristoff, along with his reindeer buddy Sven, travel even further into the mountains, eventually coming upon an impenetrable mist — impenetrable, that is, until Elsa touches it. Beyond the veil they find two groups who have been trapped, and at one another’s throats, for 30 years: the first being several soldiers from Arendelle, and the second an Inuit-like tribe of magic-embracing people called the Northuldra.
- impenetrable: 不可穿透的、不可穿越的
- at one another's throats: 针锋相对、相互争吵、厮杀
埃尔莎、安娜、奥拉夫和克里斯托夫，以及他的驯鹿伙伴斯文，来到深山，最终遇到了一层无法穿越的迷雾——那是无法穿越的——直到埃尔莎碰触到它。在雾霾之外，他们发现了被困在这里的两群人，他们互相厮杀了30年：一伙人是来自阿伦德尔的几名士兵，另一伙人是一个被叫做Northuldra的类似于因纽特的部落，他们信奉魔法。
Yes, “Frozen II” is a let down when compared with the original. But it’s also a lackluster disappointment on its own — a pale shadow of what it could have been. It’s hard to see how the same team who made something so cool in 2013 could deliver something so — there’s no other word for it — lukewarm.
是的，《冰雪奇缘2》与第一部相比确实让人失望，但它本身也是单调乏味的——一个苍白的影子。很难想象同一个团队在2013年创造了如此酷炫的作品，现在却交出如此——没有其它词汇可以形容——不咸不淡的作品。
爱我，请给我“在看”
