By Chase L. Manson ’16
The ROUNDUP
Frozen- Walt Disney Animated Studios, staring Idina Menzel and Kristen Bell
7 out of 10
Two years after Disney scored a mega success with their first 3D animated fairy tale,”Tangled,” they hope to strike again with “Frozen.”
It is loosely based off of the Hans Christian Andersen’s “Snow Queen” story.
Disney had planned this adaptation ever since “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.”
“Frozen” is enjoyable and a great family feature, but in contrast to the other Disney Princess movies it certainly falls short.
“Frozen” does have positives such as the animation.
In fact, the animation is what makes this movie, as well as the music.
Elsa, the Snow Queen, has a beautiful aesthetic power in being able to turn things to ice by touching them.
It is truly beautiful and enjoyable to look at. The scene were she builds her ice castle is my favorite.
However, my only complaint with the animation is the faces. They looked a little waxy, but this is not a major issue, just a nitpick.
The music in this film is fantastic capturing the musical era days of Disney. In the theater the audiences were dancing along, and a few people were loudly singing.
That is a sign of good musicals score when everyone is fully immersed in the music.
The best song was the “Let it Go” performed by Idina Menzel. It was well sung, well animated, and just a huge blast. Menzel really stole the show as Elsa.
The characters are fun.
I really enjoy some of them and the ones I don’t like happen to be a major part of the plot.
Elsa is a bunch of fun. You feel sympathetic for her as she persecuted. She is my favorite from this movie.
Her sister, Anna, on the hand, I don’t care for.
Anna is an Arielesque character. She wants to fall in love, and that’s all she wants to do.
Anna looks very similar to Rapunzel. It’s not distracting just in some parts they do look the same.
The other character I am not fond of is Hans, who happens to be the villain. They pull a Gaston from “Beauty and Beast,” as he seems good but is really evil.
This device does not really work. In “Beauty and the Beast,” Gaston hints only at being evil. Here it completely catches you by surprise and it is done very poorly.
So some characters are hit or miss some being more memorable than other.
How’s the story? The story is okay, some problems.
However, the problems are major ones.
The story begins quite smoothly, in a typical Disney flashback form. It is well written and well timed. However, some characters basically yell the plot at you in terms of foreshadows.
You know exactly where it is going.
That is problem with “Frozen” is it’s very predictable. The audience knows where it is going in the first few minutes.
The second act is really fun, with great dialogue and great interactions. The music in this part is stellar, some of Disney’s best.
Then the third act hits and everything comes crashing down. The story begins to become clunky and it is really confusing. Also the presence of music is omitted in this act, which is very strange.
This is the place where Hans is revealed as the villain, which as previously stated really falls flat.
The only positive from this act is the twist about true love.
The true love was not a kiss from a lover but sacrificing for others. It was a nice change and was completely unexpected.
In the end, “Frozen” is not a bad movie but there are some glaring problems. In comparison to other Disney films it is very weak.
“Frozen” is better than “Tangled” but not as good as “Beauty and the Beast” or “The Princess and the Frog.”
However, “Frozen” is a nice return to animation and part of a new Disney formula. I look forward to what Disney has in store for all audiences because “Frozen” really does have some great animation and good moments.
