(Note that there will be spoilers, so abstain from reading if you don't like that sort of thing. Skip to the bottom for my final verdict)
At first, I was mixed on whether or not I should see it. There was a sea of favorable reviews, some comparing the film to the gold of the Disney Renaissance. On the other hand, I wasn't too sure if I'd like it. I thought it would be another drastically overrated movie. So that's why when I actually (and reluctantly) went to see Frozen, I had incredibly high expectations for it and made sure to be extra analytical during the movie.
And I will admit it lived up to those expectations and even surpassed them.
Here's the main synopsis. Two girls of royal descent, Anna and Elsa, grow up together with their family. However, Elsa has magical powers of ice, and ends up inadvertently injuring her little sister Anna with them. Anna is healed, but is left with no memories of the incident or of her powers, and Elsa is isolated from childhood because she needs to learn to control the powers. Many years pass, and we see it's Elsa's coronation. While it goes swimmingly at the beginning, things quickly go downhill when Anna angers Elsa and her powers are revealed in front of the whole kingdom. Elsa flees to the mountains while Anna goes to find her, and the movie goes from there.
I felt that this movie excelled in every department. The animation was fluid, the backgrounds were beautiful, the designs were superb, it felt great to see it on the big screen. The voice acting was wonderful as well, particularly Idina Menzel, Jonathan Groff, and Josh Gad. The characters really came to life. They were all very well rounded individuals. Even some background characters had very defined personalities and made me laugh (that Swedish salesman though... Haha). I do feel that Anna started out, well, annoying and overly optimistic. She had some decent moments, but it wasn't until the middle of the film that she became a good character. In fairness, though, it does make the character development more pronounced (and did provide a contrast to Elsa), so I can't complain too much about it.
The music is stellar. Not kidding. The movie itself is very stage musical-esque (which is something I am fond of). The lyrics, expertly penned by Robert and Kirsten-Anderson Lopez, captured the very essence of the characters and the situations portrayed in the song. Ranging from light-hearted to melancholy, the music meticulously pinpoints all emotion. The film score was excellent as well. Overall, I would have to say that the music of the film stuck out to me the most. To this day, "Let It Go" has not left my head.
The story itself was great as well. It was full of nifty surprises and other neat details, and all of the main characters developed over the course of the story. I was captivated within the first ten minutes alone. I feel that the ending was wonderful. At first, I thought, "Oh gee, another generic Sleeping Beauty ending, there's gonna be a true love's kiss, every thing's gonna go back to normal, uggghhhh". But wouldn't you know it? Disney didn't do that FOR ONCE. It was not the true love's kiss this time, but rather was the sisterly bond between Elsa and Anna that brought Anna back to life. That's a genius idea! Why can't more Disney films break the mold and do something unique like Frozen did?
Granted, this film is not flawless. My two most prominent complaints come in the form of one of my favorite characters in the movie: Olaf.
Before you begin the hate mail, I said I enjoyed Olaf. He was a witty and adorable character, and his solo song was short and sweet. So what's my problem with him? For starters, he seems a bit too happy in very tense moments. And this tends to ruin it for me. Now I'm all for humor, but when it appears in the most inappropriate times, it's just really dumb. It's like Donna Noble in Doctor Who. In her first few episodes, she was exactly like this. She wouldn't care if her life was endangered by a fierce alien. She'd just be sassing everybody in her sight. And it got on my nerves.
My second problem was during the scene where Olaf and Anna were sitting in front of the fireplace. Olaf had come to comfort Anna and keep her warm, but soon gets fascinated by the fire. Apparently oblivious of Anna's warnings and protests, he insists on staying with Anna until help comes. He eventually acknowledges the fact he is melting, and states in a very heartfelt way that "some people are worth melting for". And just when he's about to melt... He says, "But not at this moment!" and dashes away from the fireplace. And it's like it never happened.
This I do not understand. His death would've been amplified because Olaf is an audience favorite and the emotional buildup leading up to that bit was overwhelming. If he died then and there, I'm pretty sure the audience would've been in tears. And DON'T SAY IT'S BECAUSE IT'S A DISNEY MOVIE. There have been plenty more deaths in Disney. Also, he could've been brought back to life at Elsa's leisure at the end, so everything would've ended up all sunshine and rainbows anyways. Seriously, that was just dumb.
But really, those were just two complaints out of the whole movie. What Frozen has more than makes up for it. Almost everything down to its icy core is painstakingly perfected, and I would more than highly recommend this for anyone.
FINAL VERDICT:
9.5/10
And I will admit it lived up to those expectations and even surpassed them.
Here's the main synopsis. Two girls of royal descent, Anna and Elsa, grow up together with their family. However, Elsa has magical powers of ice, and ends up inadvertently injuring her little sister Anna with them. Anna is healed, but is left with no memories of the incident or of her powers, and Elsa is isolated from childhood because she needs to learn to control the powers. Many years pass, and we see it's Elsa's coronation. While it goes swimmingly at the beginning, things quickly go downhill when Anna angers Elsa and her powers are revealed in front of the whole kingdom. Elsa flees to the mountains while Anna goes to find her, and the movie goes from there.
I felt that this movie excelled in every department. The animation was fluid, the backgrounds were beautiful, the designs were superb, it felt great to see it on the big screen. The voice acting was wonderful as well, particularly Idina Menzel, Jonathan Groff, and Josh Gad. The characters really came to life. They were all very well rounded individuals. Even some background characters had very defined personalities and made me laugh (that Swedish salesman though... Haha). I do feel that Anna started out, well, annoying and overly optimistic. She had some decent moments, but it wasn't until the middle of the film that she became a good character. In fairness, though, it does make the character development more pronounced (and did provide a contrast to Elsa), so I can't complain too much about it.
The music is stellar. Not kidding. The movie itself is very stage musical-esque (which is something I am fond of). The lyrics, expertly penned by Robert and Kirsten-Anderson Lopez, captured the very essence of the characters and the situations portrayed in the song. Ranging from light-hearted to melancholy, the music meticulously pinpoints all emotion. The film score was excellent as well. Overall, I would have to say that the music of the film stuck out to me the most. To this day, "Let It Go" has not left my head.
The story itself was great as well. It was full of nifty surprises and other neat details, and all of the main characters developed over the course of the story. I was captivated within the first ten minutes alone. I feel that the ending was wonderful. At first, I thought, "Oh gee, another generic Sleeping Beauty ending, there's gonna be a true love's kiss, every thing's gonna go back to normal, uggghhhh". But wouldn't you know it? Disney didn't do that FOR ONCE. It was not the true love's kiss this time, but rather was the sisterly bond between Elsa and Anna that brought Anna back to life. That's a genius idea! Why can't more Disney films break the mold and do something unique like Frozen did?
Granted, this film is not flawless. My two most prominent complaints come in the form of one of my favorite characters in the movie: Olaf.
Before you begin the hate mail, I said I enjoyed Olaf. He was a witty and adorable character, and his solo song was short and sweet. So what's my problem with him? For starters, he seems a bit too happy in very tense moments. And this tends to ruin it for me. Now I'm all for humor, but when it appears in the most inappropriate times, it's just really dumb. It's like Donna Noble in Doctor Who. In her first few episodes, she was exactly like this. She wouldn't care if her life was endangered by a fierce alien. She'd just be sassing everybody in her sight. And it got on my nerves.
My second problem was during the scene where Olaf and Anna were sitting in front of the fireplace. Olaf had come to comfort Anna and keep her warm, but soon gets fascinated by the fire. Apparently oblivious of Anna's warnings and protests, he insists on staying with Anna until help comes. He eventually acknowledges the fact he is melting, and states in a very heartfelt way that "some people are worth melting for". And just when he's about to melt... He says, "But not at this moment!" and dashes away from the fireplace. And it's like it never happened.
This I do not understand. His death would've been amplified because Olaf is an audience favorite and the emotional buildup leading up to that bit was overwhelming. If he died then and there, I'm pretty sure the audience would've been in tears. And DON'T SAY IT'S BECAUSE IT'S A DISNEY MOVIE. There have been plenty more deaths in Disney. Also, he could've been brought back to life at Elsa's leisure at the end, so everything would've ended up all sunshine and rainbows anyways. Seriously, that was just dumb.
But really, those were just two complaints out of the whole movie. What Frozen has more than makes up for it. Almost everything down to its icy core is painstakingly perfected, and I would more than highly recommend this for anyone.
FINAL VERDICT:
9.5/10
