I might be a few months late for getting to this, but I was about 60 years late for my Godzilla movie reviews, so it shouldn’t be too bad. It’s time to review Frozen.
The only major problem I have is that I DIDN’T go to the theaters to see this. I don’t know why I didn’t go. I think I was in the mindset that it’s a Disney musical for little kids. I didn’t like Tangled when it came out, so I just didn’t pay much attention to Frozen. I thought the first ads and teasers looked too childish. Typical Disney stuff. Then, all the sudden, people went crazy for it! People my age, too! I didn’t expect that at all. Heck, people are still crazy for it. I kept asking myself why everyone was so nuts over it. There was a point that I actually wanted to see it, but it never happened. My best friends were saying things like “It’s the best movie of the year! It’s as good as Lion King!” Things like that. Seeing it for the first time a few days ago, I now know why everyone loves it.
I should probably start off by admitting I don’t like musicals that much. It really depends on what it is, how it’s done, and how good the songs actually are in order for me to get interested. Maybe that’s why I was skeptical at first. But when I heard Let It Go, I was amazed! It has to be my favorite song in any musical I’ve heard! I only had to hear it ONCE for it to get stuck in my head. It’s still in there, and it’s not going away. It’s only a matter of time before I start singing it. I can definitely say the soundtrack and singing get a 5 / 5 right now.
But what about the rest of the movie? Is the story well written, are the characters good, and is it some generic princess plot that ends up with a prince or some guy saving the day with true love? Yes, yes, and NO. The story is pretty good, the characters are memorable, but it breaks the common trend with princesses that everyone used to know Disney for.
I was surprised with the direction it took. I thought it would go one way, but it did something COMPLETELY different! It took all these years for a Disney princess movie to finally say “You can’t marry a man you just met.” That’s awesome. Here, it’s not a prince that saves the day. Instead, it’s… the villain herself? I’m not sure she can be called a villain. I guess now would be a good time to give the basic details of the story.
There’s two princesses of Arendale, named Elsa and Anna. Elsa has the ability to freeze things and make snow and ice out of thin air… kinda like Ice Man from the X-Men movies. But whatever. Elsa injures Anna in an accident, so the royal parents do the most logical thing… keep her isolated in the castle forever, and just maybe that’ll teach her to control her powers. Can’t see that going wrong. It’s not like the isolation will make her heart grow cold and lonely, just leading to a lot of built up stress, then accidentally losing control of her powers to everyone who will confuse her for a monster, and then she’ll run away from people, while her loss of control sends the entire kingdom into a deep freeze…. oh wait, that’s EXACTLY what happens.
While the story at face value might not be the best, the execution of it makes the movie so memorable. At some point, it’s revealed that only an act of true love can save the day. Didn’t see that coming, right? What, is there going to be some prince that kisses Elsa, and everything goes back to normal? Or is she going to go full on EVIL and have to be stopped like all the other Disney villains? The answer is……… NO! It does NONE of those things! There is a love interest for Anna, but it doesn’t go as you would think. I can’t really go too deep into it without spoiling anything major, so you will need to see it for yourself to understand. But I’ll try, non spoilerish, for the sake of getting my point across.
First off, there is no real villain of the movie. It doesn’t even need one, to be honest. There is one jerk, but I won’t say much about him. Other than he is one of the biggest @$$holes ever put in a movie. Anyway, Elsa, who would most likely be just pure EVIL if the film was made by anyone else, is simply misunderstood and scared of hurting anyone. She runs away and makes a giant ice castle to protect herself and others from getting hurt. She’s not trying to send the kingdom into an ice age because they shun her for her powers, she just can’t help it. She isn’t in full control, and Anna is trying to help her out. That’s a whole lot more interesting than “Ice queen goes evil, the good princess has to stop her” story that Disney would probably have done a few decades ago. Heck, it’s what a lot of other writers would have done with this story. Props for going the route the movie took.
Another thing I find perfect about this film is how they handle the “true love will fix everything” cliche. Here, it’s not the type of love we would normally think of when we hear the words ‘true love’. We automatically think about the romantic relationship between people that want to marry, soulmates, or something in that nature. If there’s any cliche I hate in most movies, it’s a contrived and mostly pointless love story.
I guess that’s one more thing I liked about Pacific Rim. you know, the kaiju vs giant mecha film that came out July of 2013? I was sure that Mako and Raleigh would fall into some stupid and forced romance. For the first time in cinematic history… they didn’t go that direction! They stayed partners/friends. It was the perfect setup for a big kiss at the end, but NOPE! I thought that was pretty cool.
In Frozen, it’s kinda like that… in the way that it doesn’t have a romantic love plot. Instead, it delivers a very strong, powerful message to kids, and oddly enough, adults as well. The true love that fixed everything was the type of love you see between family members, friends. Platonic love that involves no real romance or intimacy. That type of love. It doesn’t need to be romantic all the time. Love between friends and family works just fine. That is true love. It’s more of what the world needs, and this movie demonstrates that perfectly. It’s a great message not only for kids, but for everyone of every age group.
What else did the movie excell in? Well, the animation is outstandingly beautiful, and compliments the music well. The designs of the characters are great, the characters themselves are fun, the songs are memorable and the film delivers a lot of touching, heartfelt moments with some good comic relief to accompany it. The only thing I would change is the little rock troll things. The only reason they were there is to explain that only true love can save the day. Still, that’s not enough to bring the movie down. I’m shocked at how much I love Frozen! While it might not be the best movie ever made, it’s the best freaking Disney movie I’ve seen in YEARS. Well deserving of the Oscars it won. If you haven’t seen it, don’t wait any longer. You’re missing out.
FINAL RATING: 43 / 50
STORY: 4 / 5
VOICE ACTING: 4 / 5
CHARACTERS: 5 / 5
ANIMATION: 4 / 5
SINGING/ADVENTURE/WHATEVER: 4 / 5
SOUNDTRACK: 5 / 5
TONE: 4 / 5
ENJOYABILITY: 5 / 5
REWATCH VALUE: 4 / 5
OWNING VALUE: 4 / 5
I find myself respecting and loving it the more I think about it. I also tried to draw the characters in my spare time… and failed. I keep messing up Elsa’s hair… Anyway, I highly recommend this to anyone who hasn’t seen it.
Now I have the urge to watch a lot of animated Disney films. Oh boy.
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