So, my wife and I went to see Frozen together today. We didn't take our kid, as 1) she's 3, which means she could be a nuisance to others, despite likely being better than some of the other kids in the audience, and 2) she gets scared of bizarre things in movies (murdering orcs and watching dragons is no problem, but the bear from Brave is apparently terrifying). I went on the recommendation of The Escapist's own MovieBob: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/escape-to-the-movies/8507-Frozen, and, in many ways I agree, but also, I don't agree in a lot, as well.
So, I felt like making a few comments... well... a lot of comments. I'm almost incapable of being short.
TL;DR : Thumbs up, but don't go in with expectations. It's good. For a moment, it's great, then it falls to merely good again.
So, a qualifier or two:
As I stated, I'm a 30-something parent of a 3 year old girl. Her mother and I don't follow strict "'murican" rules for how to raise a kid. We're strict, even harsh, to a point. We're agnostics and she knows there's no
already. We insist her TV shows at least try to present eduction or good role models. Hence Spongebob (for stupidity), Dora and Diego (for helping create a damsel-in-distress or "help me" mentality... no seriously, go watch Diego), and other inane mind-numbing crap is banned. (That said, she can watch all the anvil-falling-on-the-head Looney Tunes she wants). We generally sort of steer her towards Sesame Street, SuperWhy (bleh, but ... LEARNING!) and MLP:FIM (partially because it has really good moral stories, but also because it's at least 20% cooler than the other shows). Thus, it's really important to us that her role model characters be someone we'd want her to emulate and not some "rely on men and conform, you dumb girl, damsel-in-distress."
Also, despite my inherent discontent with the subject, my family has really impressed upon her the Disney Princess thing. Oh god. Well, at least there are a couple in there that aren't utterly horrific.
This show (Frozen) is a musical, so the music aspect is *really* important to me. I'm also a pretty solid amateur musician, having been playing for 30 years now, with some instruments pretty solidly mastered and others kinda-sorta, while I have taken up guitar, recently. I can also sing in tune, most of the time. I grew up in a family that taught ballet and reveled in Broadway shows, so, despite the fact that I'm a bit scared to admit it, I'm well versed in, and actually appreciate a lot of Broadway and movie showtunes and how well those are done figures heavily into my appreciation. For example: Tangled is a ton of fun, but I get a lot of my "fun" from movies from their villain. Tangled's villain is about as evil as it gets. Really. However, her "song" which she has to reprise at least once is so terrible that it makes me want to forget her existence. I discount her from the plot completely based on one *really* bad song.
Are we done with the baloney comments? Can I finally get to an opinion?
Someone at Disney saw the musical Wicked and decided they just had to make it a Disney Princess movie... and they did a pretty decent job, hitting some of the same highs, but, unfortunately, some of the same lows.
To keep things short and spoiler free, I'll keep the summary minimal: The story is about two sister princesses in a nondescript Scandinavian setting. Older sister Elsa has the ability to create and control cold/frost. Her younger sister, Anna, is, as my wife puts it, a Golden Retriever. Cute, loveable, happy, and dumb as a post. After an incident where Elsa accidently injures Anna with her superpowers, their parents Plotpoint_001 and Plotpoint_002 take Anna to trolls who cure the damage, but, nonsensically advise them that Anna's memory of the incident should be removed and that Elsa should hide her powers. PP_001 and PP_002 promptly agree, advise Elsa to hide her abilities, and then up and die. That's not a spoiler. It's Disney. You should have known that was coming in the first 20 minutes.
Elsa and Anna become estranged as Elsa tries to hide her uncontrolled abilities and, eventually Elsa has to be crowned queen. Lords/Ladies show up, Anna does something reckless, and Elsa's powers are dramatically revealed, causing her to run off and hide from humanity. Anna then embarks on a quest to save her. Standard faire, as far as plot goes.
So, what's good and what's not?
Well, as I said, this is Disney really wanting to make Wicked, so, if you've seen that on Broadway/stage, then you already know the plot, pretty much, except the love-story part isn't between Elsa and "the guy." Otherwise, the themes are pretty similar, as are the characters and their traits. Elsa is the powerful but reserved Elphaba. Anna is the beautiful, likeable, but not particularly brilliant Glinda. Christoff is big dumb, handsome, and generally good <the scarecrow... whatever his name was>. Also, along for the ride are Hans, the 13th-in-line prince of Whocaresland; the dog from Up wearing a reindeer costume, named Sven; and Olaf... a snowman.
Oh, and Wicked's original Elphaba, Idina Menzel, plays Elsa. Surprise!
Musically is where this show hits me the most, and hurts the most. As Moviebob indicated, it has its one great moment, but a lot of reviewers are praising the soundtrack in general. Again, I would point directly at Wicked. Wicked has one moment that is almost sublime, in it's performance of "Defying Gravity." The song is about letting go of constraint and being who you are. Menzel and original Broadway partner, Kristen Chenowith, perform it amazingly and it is, by far, the stand out moment of the show, if not the decade in which it premiered. However, the rest of the show is less than stellar. There are a couple of catchy, fun tunes, like Chenowith singing "Popular," but the rest of the songs range from "meh/bleh" ("Dancing through Life") to downright atrocious (any ensemble cast song). Likewise, Frozen is built around one amazing moment, the song "Let it Go," symbolizing Elsa's rejection of her former constraints. Again, performed brilliantly by Menzel. It's the best moment of the show, and probably the best Disney moment since the mid 1990's (take your pick, you can compare to a few). However, the rest of the songs are either so forgettable that I've already forgotten them (that "For The First Time in Forever" song is kinda .. ok?) to just downright terrible. I can't even name or theme-hum them as they were so, I guess the word is un-compelling. It's a real shame. Menzel is squandered on one amazing song, but the rest falls to the supporting cast who cannot stand up. The show also falls to "Glee-Syndrome" in that it shows that no matter how good you think your cast is, you better be damned sure before you pair them up with a professional the caliber of Idina Menzel and invite comparison. (Lea Michele is good... right up until she tries to duet with Menzel. Then it's like Dueling Banjos with a Gibson vs. a rubber band on a cardboard frame. You know the tune.)
Storywise, I couldn't be terribly concerned, except in the department of character development. Are Anna and Elsa going to be their own people, independent and interesting, or are they going to be yet another set of Disney girls that either 1)break all the rules and get away with it, because CONSEQUENCES ARE BAD (see: Tinkerbell and Ariel) or 2) rely on some guy to show up and save them? In fact, really, neither, and that's what makes this story work pretty well for me. Without giving much away, I have to say that I was very pleased that the ending came down to resolution that specifically rebuffed the standard Disney "auto-win element." It came down to the two girls, relying on themselves and each other and, that, specifically, is why I give the show an eventual thumbs up.
So, the downsides then? Besides the music?
Well, frankly, I felt like there was something missing the entire movie. Unfortunately, I think it's the fact that, for me, this is Elsa's movie, but it's told through the eyes of Anna. Partially, I realize that this is because Anna's an obvious protagonist and we're never quite sure if Elsa is going to suddenly go full villain. However, I think that takes away from some character development of Elsa and, I believe, that's what the movie is missing. While I realize this is a Disney movie and going full-on DARK MODE would have, for me, made a much better fall-from-grace and redemption tale, Elsa never quite goes as far as I think she could, even within the confines of her intended movie audience. For example, one reviewer says that he felt that threats to her weren't tangible due to the extent of her power. I disagree. I think Disney didn't allow them to be, and the movie would have been improved much if they had. Despite the awesomeness of "Let it Go" and her magical release, when actually confronted, it seems she actually backsteps into a lack of control and fear of acting out. It makes her a lot less formidable, all of a sudden. Maybe Disney wanted this, but it felt like a cop-out to me. I wanted a good-guy ending, but I also wanted the character to really break from her fear, as she indicated she intended to. She never quite did.
I think, in the end, that's what it boiled down to me. A good promise, but not quite the resolution. It's a different take and, for me, an inferior take to Merida's tale in Brave which really tried to find a dovetail for the nearly incompatible perspectives of a woman's independence and strength and the role of a responsible woman in the context of a medieval setting. Brave was by no means perfect, but it at least tried to show a strong female character trying to marry the concepts of being strong and independent, while also recognizing her responsibility to her family and kingdom. Oh, and there was a nary a man in sight for Merida. I think Frozen just missed this boat, but only by a hair.
Still, do Anna and Elsa represent good characters, and good role models? Compared to most of the rest of the Disney stable? Undoubtedly. Maybe Anna, Elsa, and Merida (and maybe Nala) can form a "New Princesses" faction for Disney, where they can finally edge themselves away from the likes of Snow White, Cinderella, Ariel, Jasmine and that disgrace: Tinkerbell. (Seriously, watch her videos. Tinkerbell is the worst Disney character conceived as a "protagonist." Ever.)
Double TL;DR: Recommend? Definitely.
Hell, I'd recommend it just to watch "Let it Go" and listen to Idina Menzel getting to be... well.. Idina Menzel.
Oh, and the snowman, Olaf? I went into this thinking "Jar Jar Binks." I was very pleasantly pleased that he was, in fact, pretty damned funny, and only there when he needed to be.
Thumbs Up.
So, I felt like making a few comments... well... a lot of comments. I'm almost incapable of being short.
TL;DR : Thumbs up, but don't go in with expectations. It's good. For a moment, it's great, then it falls to merely good again.
So, a qualifier or two:
As I stated, I'm a 30-something parent of a 3 year old girl. Her mother and I don't follow strict "'murican" rules for how to raise a kid. We're strict, even harsh, to a point. We're agnostics and she knows there's no
Santa Claus
Also, despite my inherent discontent with the subject, my family has really impressed upon her the Disney Princess thing. Oh god. Well, at least there are a couple in there that aren't utterly horrific.
This show (Frozen) is a musical, so the music aspect is *really* important to me. I'm also a pretty solid amateur musician, having been playing for 30 years now, with some instruments pretty solidly mastered and others kinda-sorta, while I have taken up guitar, recently. I can also sing in tune, most of the time. I grew up in a family that taught ballet and reveled in Broadway shows, so, despite the fact that I'm a bit scared to admit it, I'm well versed in, and actually appreciate a lot of Broadway and movie showtunes and how well those are done figures heavily into my appreciation. For example: Tangled is a ton of fun, but I get a lot of my "fun" from movies from their villain. Tangled's villain is about as evil as it gets. Really. However, her "song" which she has to reprise at least once is so terrible that it makes me want to forget her existence. I discount her from the plot completely based on one *really* bad song.
Are we done with the baloney comments? Can I finally get to an opinion?
Someone at Disney saw the musical Wicked and decided they just had to make it a Disney Princess movie... and they did a pretty decent job, hitting some of the same highs, but, unfortunately, some of the same lows.
To keep things short and spoiler free, I'll keep the summary minimal: The story is about two sister princesses in a nondescript Scandinavian setting. Older sister Elsa has the ability to create and control cold/frost. Her younger sister, Anna, is, as my wife puts it, a Golden Retriever. Cute, loveable, happy, and dumb as a post. After an incident where Elsa accidently injures Anna with her superpowers, their parents Plotpoint_001 and Plotpoint_002 take Anna to trolls who cure the damage, but, nonsensically advise them that Anna's memory of the incident should be removed and that Elsa should hide her powers. PP_001 and PP_002 promptly agree, advise Elsa to hide her abilities, and then up and die. That's not a spoiler. It's Disney. You should have known that was coming in the first 20 minutes.
Elsa and Anna become estranged as Elsa tries to hide her uncontrolled abilities and, eventually Elsa has to be crowned queen. Lords/Ladies show up, Anna does something reckless, and Elsa's powers are dramatically revealed, causing her to run off and hide from humanity. Anna then embarks on a quest to save her. Standard faire, as far as plot goes.
So, what's good and what's not?
Well, as I said, this is Disney really wanting to make Wicked, so, if you've seen that on Broadway/stage, then you already know the plot, pretty much, except the love-story part isn't between Elsa and "the guy." Otherwise, the themes are pretty similar, as are the characters and their traits. Elsa is the powerful but reserved Elphaba. Anna is the beautiful, likeable, but not particularly brilliant Glinda. Christoff is big dumb, handsome, and generally good <the scarecrow... whatever his name was>. Also, along for the ride are Hans, the 13th-in-line prince of Whocaresland; the dog from Up wearing a reindeer costume, named Sven; and Olaf... a snowman.
Oh, and Wicked's original Elphaba, Idina Menzel, plays Elsa. Surprise!
Musically is where this show hits me the most, and hurts the most. As Moviebob indicated, it has its one great moment, but a lot of reviewers are praising the soundtrack in general. Again, I would point directly at Wicked. Wicked has one moment that is almost sublime, in it's performance of "Defying Gravity." The song is about letting go of constraint and being who you are. Menzel and original Broadway partner, Kristen Chenowith, perform it amazingly and it is, by far, the stand out moment of the show, if not the decade in which it premiered. However, the rest of the show is less than stellar. There are a couple of catchy, fun tunes, like Chenowith singing "Popular," but the rest of the songs range from "meh/bleh" ("Dancing through Life") to downright atrocious (any ensemble cast song). Likewise, Frozen is built around one amazing moment, the song "Let it Go," symbolizing Elsa's rejection of her former constraints. Again, performed brilliantly by Menzel. It's the best moment of the show, and probably the best Disney moment since the mid 1990's (take your pick, you can compare to a few). However, the rest of the songs are either so forgettable that I've already forgotten them (that "For The First Time in Forever" song is kinda .. ok?) to just downright terrible. I can't even name or theme-hum them as they were so, I guess the word is un-compelling. It's a real shame. Menzel is squandered on one amazing song, but the rest falls to the supporting cast who cannot stand up. The show also falls to "Glee-Syndrome" in that it shows that no matter how good you think your cast is, you better be damned sure before you pair them up with a professional the caliber of Idina Menzel and invite comparison. (Lea Michele is good... right up until she tries to duet with Menzel. Then it's like Dueling Banjos with a Gibson vs. a rubber band on a cardboard frame. You know the tune.)
Storywise, I couldn't be terribly concerned, except in the department of character development. Are Anna and Elsa going to be their own people, independent and interesting, or are they going to be yet another set of Disney girls that either 1)break all the rules and get away with it, because CONSEQUENCES ARE BAD (see: Tinkerbell and Ariel) or 2) rely on some guy to show up and save them? In fact, really, neither, and that's what makes this story work pretty well for me. Without giving much away, I have to say that I was very pleased that the ending came down to resolution that specifically rebuffed the standard Disney "auto-win element." It came down to the two girls, relying on themselves and each other and, that, specifically, is why I give the show an eventual thumbs up.
So, the downsides then? Besides the music?
Well, frankly, I felt like there was something missing the entire movie. Unfortunately, I think it's the fact that, for me, this is Elsa's movie, but it's told through the eyes of Anna. Partially, I realize that this is because Anna's an obvious protagonist and we're never quite sure if Elsa is going to suddenly go full villain. However, I think that takes away from some character development of Elsa and, I believe, that's what the movie is missing. While I realize this is a Disney movie and going full-on DARK MODE would have, for me, made a much better fall-from-grace and redemption tale, Elsa never quite goes as far as I think she could, even within the confines of her intended movie audience. For example, one reviewer says that he felt that threats to her weren't tangible due to the extent of her power. I disagree. I think Disney didn't allow them to be, and the movie would have been improved much if they had. Despite the awesomeness of "Let it Go" and her magical release, when actually confronted, it seems she actually backsteps into a lack of control and fear of acting out. It makes her a lot less formidable, all of a sudden. Maybe Disney wanted this, but it felt like a cop-out to me. I wanted a good-guy ending, but I also wanted the character to really break from her fear, as she indicated she intended to. She never quite did.
I think, in the end, that's what it boiled down to me. A good promise, but not quite the resolution. It's a different take and, for me, an inferior take to Merida's tale in Brave which really tried to find a dovetail for the nearly incompatible perspectives of a woman's independence and strength and the role of a responsible woman in the context of a medieval setting. Brave was by no means perfect, but it at least tried to show a strong female character trying to marry the concepts of being strong and independent, while also recognizing her responsibility to her family and kingdom. Oh, and there was a nary a man in sight for Merida. I think Frozen just missed this boat, but only by a hair.
Still, do Anna and Elsa represent good characters, and good role models? Compared to most of the rest of the Disney stable? Undoubtedly. Maybe Anna, Elsa, and Merida (and maybe Nala) can form a "New Princesses" faction for Disney, where they can finally edge themselves away from the likes of Snow White, Cinderella, Ariel, Jasmine and that disgrace: Tinkerbell. (Seriously, watch her videos. Tinkerbell is the worst Disney character conceived as a "protagonist." Ever.)
Double TL;DR: Recommend? Definitely.
Hell, I'd recommend it just to watch "Let it Go" and listen to Idina Menzel getting to be... well.. Idina Menzel.
Oh, and the snowman, Olaf? I went into this thinking "Jar Jar Binks." I was very pleasantly pleased that he was, in fact, pretty damned funny, and only there when he needed to be.
Thumbs Up.
