Friday, January 3, 2014

Movie Review: Frozen

Frozen (2013) Poster

Well we finally saw Frozen. The girls have been bugging me about it all week and we finally got to it- almost $40 later not counting popcorn. Yikes movies are expensive for a famiy of four these days! Anyway did I like it? The short answer- yes. It's a great movie- easily the best movie I've seen in a while. I was expecting to be a bit bored, as I often am with movies like this. Um, no. It held my attention and was not only a great story, but beautiful to look at as well. Everything works- the voices, the art, the pacing, and yes the music. I liked Tangled a lot, but this was even better I thought.

For those who don't know the story, it's about two sisters Anna and Elsa who are princesses of the kingdom of Arundell. Elsa has the power to create ice at will and when she and Anna are playing as children, Anna gets injured. Her parents take Anna to the trolls for help, and they are able to save Anna- but they also remove her memory of the event and advise the king and queen to keep Elsa isolated. They do so, and Elsa grows up with very little contact with the outside world- or even Anna.

Fast forward to the present day, and Anna and Elsa are all grown up. It is time for Elsa's coronation as queen- but when something goes wrong and her ice powers spiral out of control, the kingdom is locked into an ice age and Elsa flees into the wilderness to be alone. Anna resolves to find her and bring her back, so that together they can lift the spell of ice. Along the way she runs into the mountain man Kristoff and his reindeer companion Sven, and together with the cute little snowman Olaf, they seek out Elsa and try to make things right.

As I said above, everything works here. There's a nice twist on the dashing prince theme, and I won't say much more except that it's refreshing that the princess has to rely on herself rather than a prince to come to the rescue. Kristoff is a great character, the trolls are a nice touch and Olaf... well, often these obligatory sidekicks are a little underwhelming, at least for me, but I have to say Olaf is hilarious. One of the best parts of the movie. I've been very disappointed at the movies lately, but for once I had fun Frozen is awesome!


5 comments:

  1. Tangled and Frozen have been getting compared a lot and I have to agree, Frozen is a lot better.
    The dashing prince bit may have been my favorite, I loved how it kind of mocked the whole idea of 'love at first sight'. I laughed so much when Kristoff was judging her for 'falling in love with a guy she just met'.
    The ending, I believe, was the best because it again put a whole other spin on the idea (which I cannot say in case I spoil something for someone).
    It really was a wonderful movie.
    I am so glad you enjoyed it Greg! :D I've spent the past few weeks obsessing over it and ended up going on a disney binge. :P TOTALLY WORTH IT :P

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Exactly, about the prince part. I kept waiting for him to turn, expecting it, but he didn't so I wondered where they were going with that. Then the end shocked me with the sacrifice thing- no prince needed! Thought that was cool. I loved that part too when Kristoff kept saying "you just met this guy??"

      Frozen kinda restored my faith in Disney, whoever made this one I hope they keep going. :)

      Delete
  2. Both my adult daughter 19, and 22 want to see this one. I enjoy Disney movies so I imagine we will see it. Totally agree the cost of a movie is crazy, if I wait I can get them each a blue-ray copy for less than the tickets and popcorn..LOL

    ReplyDelete
  3. I tend to get bored with animated movies, but I do want to see Frozen. Glad you liked it! I still plan to wait until it's on DVD. I don't really like going to the theater anymore. There are so many distractions and I have problems sitting still that long. You can't beat their popcorn though!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I really enjoyed frozen too. We saw it twice. Two different theatres. Myself, my sister. her kids. And the second time around, her husband (who said he felt like he'd already seen it even though he hadn't from them playing the soundtrack OVER and OVER). Definitely one of the better animated films anymore.

    ReplyDelete