Hello, and good evening everybody. I realize it's been a LONG while since I last posted a review so...
*Insert obligatory "Let It Go" variation here*
Now I realize that this film, by some people's standards, is considered "old" given the fact that everyone was OBSESSED with it back when it came out and everyone was singing the soundtrack to death, but I figured that of all the Disney movies in my library, this one would be of noteworthy discussion. Well, I'll tell you one thing: it isn't JUST because "Let It Go" is a catchy song that gets stuck in your head and has the capacity to infest the Internet with various covers and parodies. As always I will be providing much critical perspective as to what makes Disney's Frozen a great, if not cool (no pun intended) movie for all ages -- and I solemnly swear this review won't be littered with tired "cool" puns from this point onward.
***SPOILERS FROM THIS POINT ON***
First things first, the plot isn't your average Disney Princess movie. The story follows two -- that's right, two -- princesses, Anna and Elsa of Arendelle. The film revolves around the two of them being separated due to the dangers of Elsa's ice powers, which she continues to struggle with even after their parents, the King and Queen, tragically die at sea. As if that weren't enough, Elsa later becomes what I consider to be the first "Disney Queen" and accidentally reveals her powers to the world, inadvertently setting off an eternal winter in the process. Now it's up to Anna to get her sister to reverse what she's done even if it costs her her life.
Simple as it sounds, one of the many reasons I enjoy the story is the amount of depth it has both in narrative and thematic elements. The main thing that strikes me is the way it goes about averting the expectations previously set by Disney themselves. General as it sounds, the main thing I'm getting at comes right in the first act when Anna meets Prince Hans of the Southern Isles, the two of them falling in love in an evening Cinderella style. And Elsa's response to their subsequent engagement ("You can't marry a man you just met.") just goes to show that even Disney's aware of the unrealistic tropes that they, themselves, set in years past -- not to criticize Disney in any way, rather I'm making note of a brilliant irony. This "true love meeting" is then further averted later in the film when Anna is dying from Elsa accidentally freezing her heart and tries to get Hans to reverse the curse by having him kiss her. In one moment, all hope is lost when Hans reveals himself as the villain of the story who, like Scar in The Lion King, tries to take the throne for himself through cold and calculated scheming. Unlike Scar, however, he is unsuccessful in every way. And that is one reason I enjoy Frozen still to this day: plot twists.
Thematically speaking, the film takes love in a whole new direction that Disney had never explored before. Rather than focusing around the idea that man-woman love (a la Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, Tangled, etc.) fixes everything, the idea of family love is addressed in a warm, welcoming way. Basically, the main ideas are that love conquers fear and that true love exists also in the family. Elsa spends her years in fear of her powers before Anna, in an act of sacrifice, saves Elsa from Hans, which, in turn, allows Anna to save herself from permanently dying of a frozen heart. Anna's sacrifice is also an act of expectation aversion; much of the movie involves her receiving aid from Kristoff, a lonely iceman, as they slowly begin to realize that they truly love each other. Just when one would think that the two of them will kiss thereby undoing Anna's frozen heart, she, instead, saves her sister in the end. Unfortunately, this renders Kristoff almost pointless in the overall story, but characters like him and his pet reindeer, Sven, are very much beloved as the rest of the cast.
Then, of course, there's Olaf; and he's not your typical Disney comic relief. In short, he's much more laid back and down-to-earth in his joke delivery unlike many comic reliefs before him who are off-the-walls loud and crazy. And Josh Gad does a great job of voicing this character for that very reason. Others among the cast list such as Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel (who previously appeared in Disney via Enchanted), and Jonathan Groff were absolutely perfect in their roles as Anna, Elsa, and Kristoff respectively. What's most interesting about these voices is that, unlike many Disney films before it, these actors are trained singers and provide their actual singing voices to these characters during the musical numbers. And now the moment we've all been waiting for, my segue into the music.
In my opinion, this has some of the best Disney musical numbers in a film and not just "Let It Go" or "Do You Wanna Build A Snowman". The upbeat tone of the music and its variety of orchestral instruments and styles clearly make it some of the most unforgettable tunes of all time, especially by Disney's standards. Many numbers such as "Love Is An Open Door" and "Fixer Upper", although more forgettable than others, are written much like Broadway musicals with dialogue seamlessly inter-splicing between the vocal portions. This, alone, gives the film a more modern feel despite it seemingly being set during the classical years. That said, it's absolutely understandable why everybody was addicted to this soundtrack in the months following its release (heck, I even would've bought myself if I had the chance).
The main area in which the film falls short, however, is a bit jaunting but not too much. I am, of course, mainly talking about the rock trolls from the beginning and middle of the film as they are largely forgettable, never really explained, and the way in which they're implemented is a bit illogical. Simply put, when the movie title Frozen comes to mind, I never once stop to think "Oh yeah! That was also the movie with the rolling rock trolls in it!" I mean, other than being Kristoff's surrogate family and the source for which the King and Queen of Arendelle go to save Anna, the trolls's role in the kingdom is never touched upon and they have no resolution by the end. They are not, however, without purpose; they are the ones who announce to both the audience and the major characters that "an act of true love will melt a frozen heart," which begs the question as to why they didn't just tell Anna and Elsa's parents that the answer for Elsa controlling her powers was love in the first place. Oh, well. That's definitely something How It Should Have Ended can't fix... Oh, wait. They already did!
If anything, it is worth noting the technical aspects of the film just as much as the narrative aspects. Disney really outdid themselves in creating new technology to give the snow and ice a degree of artistry and realism never before experimented with in an animated movie. Between the imagery created by Elsa casting off her powers (i.e.: her ice palace) and the neatly rendered snowy environments, the film is a wonder to look at despite its very few and far between colorful scenes. The snow and ice effects are stunningly pretty and realistic for an animated movie that it's no wonder so much work went into the production of this movie from the beginning. Even the production dates back to when Disney first started making animated movies. Despite its long shelf life, I can definitely say that the effort Disney put forth to adapt Hans Christian Anderson's "The Snow Queen" really paid off in the end.
That said, the whole idea of Frozen is, without a doubt an innovation set by Disney to rev up our expectations for their animated movies. Between the differences in what we've come to expect from Disney plots, solid themes, lovable characters and voice cast, a fantastic score, and stunning visuals, despite its few flaws, Frozen is definitely one for the books. Generally speaking I would give it a solid B+ and consider it a worthwhile family and animated flick.
Thanks for reading y'all and I will see you in the next review!
