Unbelievably enough, Disney’s Thanksgiving movie is still showing here in the Philippines, although in very limited theaters. After scheduling a trip to Manila to meet up with Chenyl and AZ, I finally got to see the movie that everybody was talking about last Christmas.
Here’s my round up of Chris Buck’s (director of Disney’s Tarzan) and Jennifer Lee’s Frozen.
Please note that there may be spoilers. Read at your own risk.
THE STORY:
Royal princess Elsa (Idina Menzel – Rent, Enchanted) of Arrendelle has been given the gift (or curse) of ice, being able to call upon snow at her will. This proves to be fun, especially for her little sister Anna (Kristen Bell – Forgettig Sarah Marhsall, Veronica Mars), until Elsa accidentally hits Anna’s head with a beam of frost. Their parents rush Anna to the resident trolls who heal her, but at the expense of removing all memories of Elsa ever having powers.
The parents, fearing their child’s capability to destroy and hurt other people, urge Elsa to hide her powers and try to learn to control them. Elsa takes this advice to heart and soon she grows up to be a recluse, afraid of even spending any time with her sister for fear of hurting her once again. She locks herself up in her room, desperately trying to control her powers but failing.
On Elsa’s sixteenth (16) birthday, she will be crowned as Queen Regent and will be forced to open up the gates of her home to outsiders. Can Elsa control her powers?
THE GOOD:
- Olaf! I just wish he came in much, much earlier in the film. Josh Gad’s voice is perfect for this character, although one can argue that Olaf is the same character as his The Book of Mormon‘s Arnold.
- Anna. I like that she’s super awkward, which makes her more relatable.
- Kristoff. Because I like them brooding and long suffering. Also, because he basically berated Anna for being engaged to a guy she just met. Props for being the voice of reason.
THE BAD:
- The Villain. Sorry, but all that aggression came out of nowhere. It probably would’ve been more believable to me if Hans was only tempted to take the throne when he was already there, rather than having all those pre-meditated plans to take over, you know?
- The soundtrack. Well, not bad in the literal way, but as far as Disney soundtracks go, this one was a bit disjointed. The songs were great on their own, don’t get me wrong, but as a soundtrack they didn’t quite work for me.
- Sven. He’s like such a rip-off of the horse from Tangled.
THE UGLY:
- The lack of a backstory. I was sort of waiting for The Big Reveal where they say how Elsa got her powers, or why Anna doesn’t have them and where do the trolls come in?
All in all Frozen is an enjoyable movie. For a Disney animated film, this one’s not totally and completely hinged on the romantic love story, which is fantastic. Also, the songs are catchy and will give one LSS (Last Song Syndrome) for weeks.
THE VERDICT: 7.5/10. It’s not as great as Tangled, but good.
*All photos are lifted from the film’s IMDB page.
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Surprised you’d knock the soundtrack. Honestly most of the songs were just alright, but I think Let It Go is one of the best songs Disney has had in years.
Let It Go is an awesome song with a good message and all on its own but as part of the whole, I don’t think the soundtrack came together. Maybe it’s just me, but I was sort of looking for an underlying musical theme to the songs to bring it all together – I guess I’m more used to the Alan Menken way of things that I thought o.O