Review: Frozen (Disney)

Set in the fictional town of Arendelle, where princesses Anna (voiced by Kristen Bell) and Elsa (voiced Idina Menzel) have always been close growing up, but something seems to be drifting them apart. That something is the fact that Elsa has magical powers, and these powers are very difficult for her to control. At one point she nearly harms her sister, inadvertently, and it is decided by their parents that the sisters shouldn’t see one another as frequently anymore. Their parents also have Anna’s memory of all this wiped by trolls (Yes, trolls). Years later, and the two girls are now adults, and Elsa is set to be crowned Queen in a big public ceremony. Anna attends and immediately attracts the attention of Prince Hans, who almost instantaneously proposes marriage to the young princess. Anna, presumably under the impression that this is totally normal, accepts, but when they tell this to Elsa, she completely flips out and once again her magical powers run amok, in full view of everyone. Elsa flees into the wilderness, as the entire kingdom becomes covered in ice and snow. Anna chases after her, and is soon joined by an affable mountain man named Kristoff, his reindeer named Sven, and a dopey snowman named Olaf (voiced by Josh Gad).

 

The big animated hit of 2013, and I certainly can’t dispute that this is indeed a well-made and enjoyable film, if a touch overrated and featuring twice as many songs as necessary. I’m not really the demo for this film, I’m not a girl, I’m in my mid-30s, can’t stand Kristen Bell, and I hate Broadway-style songs, but for a film I thought I was destined to hate…it’s even better than “Monsters University” and “The Croods”, though all three are worthwhile films. I liked this, and I can see why others love it. Good for you, it’s just a little bit opposed to everything I stand for in order for me to embrace it that fully. But you can’t help enjoying this film, try as you might.

 

Co-directed/co-written by Chris Buck (co-director of Disney’s Oscar-winning yet still somewhat underrated “Tarzan”) and Jennifer Lee (co-writer of the enjoyable “Wreck-It Ralph”), it’s well-done on every single level and easily one of the best-looking films of 2013. It’s truly beautifully designed and a very pretty film, with lovely colours, pastels in particular. Objects appear to have a weight and solidity to them, and you can almost feel the textures here. The dangling icicles in particular, seemed tangible. The human characters aren’t photo-realistic, but they are undeniably pretty and cute. Jessica Rabbit and Ariel might have new competition for the Animated Hotties throne here, as the two female protagonists are stunningly beautiful. What? You’re the one being weird, not me.

 

Loosely based on a Hans Christian Andersen tale, the story and characters are both perfectly enjoyable, and no doubt little girls will love it, even if it’s not exactly one for feminists. I liked some of the sadder, more grief-stricken early parts of the film in particular. It even managed to surprise me with two of its plot twists. I honestly wasn’t expecting a love triangle kind of situation, and that’s less me being dense, and more the fact that it is well disguised. However, the fact that I didn’t guess what the act of true love would be, is probably more on me being dense than anything. Still, I didn’t pick it, and was pleasantly surprised. I’m not sure we needed a talking snowman character, but he ultimately turns out to be the highlight of the film. The characters in the film find him somewhat creepy, and best of all, he’s an idiot. How much of an idiot? He dreams of summer. The lack of saccharine sweetness to Olaf is definitely to the film’s advantage.

 

The voice work by Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel (a Broadway veteran, and boy can you tell), and Josh Gad is excellent, so it’s a shame the other voices are pretty forgettable. I also felt the film needed to explain Elsa’s magical powers. I’m not even sure we found out exactly what Elsa was. Human? Witch? Fairy? Highlander?  Hell if I could work it out. To be perfectly honest, I think there’s too many songs here, and the rather self-conscious Broadway-style of most of the songs was just not remotely for me. I liked the songs sung by Olaf and the trolls (If they haven’t released a line of these trolls as toys, I’d be shocked), but that’s because they clearly couldn’t sing, and it amused me to no end. I also thought some of the other songs had a kind of adorkable quality to them that made them a little more palatable. I’m pretty sure one of the girls did the robot during one song. The majority of the songs, to me, sounded like a far too self-conscious attempt by Disney to set the film up to be turned into a stage musical, ala “The Lion King”. Don’t believe me? I present ‘Let it Go’. As performed here, it’s certainly better than hearing Pearl Jam do it (I’ll never ever forgive them for it), but it’s still too Broadway for me, and I’ll live quite happily without ever hearing it again. Most of these Disney films are regular animated films that just happen to have songs in them. You can’t really say that here, it’s a musical that just happens to be animated. I prefer the other type, but I understand the appeal here.

 

If you love your Broadway and Disney animation, you’ll be obsessed with this film. Me, I think it’s a pretty damn good film for its kind, and all things considered, I’m surprised I enjoyed it as much as I did. I thought it’d be a chore. Damn it, it’s kinda adorable actually. The screenplay is by Lee, with a story by the directors, and Shane Morris, loosely based on The Snow Queen.

 

Rating: B-