The film finally achieves what Disney had been trying in the last two decades -- it finds the right balance between the nostalgia of the old Disney films and characters and forging some new ground into narrative and style.
Frozen
U; Comedy-Drama
Director: Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee
Cast: Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel, Jonathan Groff, Alan Tudyk
Since Disney bought Pixar, two things have happened -- the Disney films have become better and better while the Pixar films have become significantly worse. Whether you take that as a blessing in disguise for Disney or as a tragedy for Pixar is up to you, but with Frozen one thing is for certain: Disney is back in a big way. Without a doubt, Frozen is Disney’s most visually spectacular and enjoyable film since 1994’s 'The Lion King'. It’s certainly not as good as the latter but it is way better than 2010’s Tangled.
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The film finally achieves what Disney had been trying in the last two decades -- it finds the right balance between the nostalgia of the old Disney films and characters and forging some new ground into narrative and style. Plus as a bonus, you get to see an amazing Mickey Mouse 3D short film before the movie begins.
Like most Disney films, the plot contains a kingdom, a princess, a mysterious handsome prince, an everyman of a hero, ‘true love’, a curse, half a dozen songs, quirky perpetually smiling good-natured side characters, not-so-subtle life lessons and lots of ice.
Every element of Frozen has been done before but directors Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee find that sweet spot between a throwback and the contemporary, thanks to some great characters, dialogues and truly outstanding visuals, demonstrating that good writing always makes for a good animation film.
What makes Frozen so refreshingly different from the rest of the Disney cannon is that the filmmakers challenge the viewers’ expectations and as a result there is no central antagonist in the film. There are no evil Wazirs or shady sorcerers or witches to make the hero fight against.
Instead, Frozen plays out like a fun character-based comedy-drama with a tinge of adventure thrown in. And surprisingly, it works this time, despite the fact that a similar tactic used by Pixar in Brave failed. More importantly, for the first time in years, a Disney movie managed to pass the Bechdel test. The lack of a villain is counterbalanced by a terrific voice cast including Kristin Bell, Idina Menzel, Jonathan Groff and Alan Tudyk -- because they aren’t big stars so it enables you to invest in their characters rather than constantly and jarringly be reminded that a recognizable big movie star is voicing some computer puppet.
The filmmakers also subvert the old good-versus-evil storytelling method with a grown up, almost existentialist sensibility. There’s plenty of jaw dropping large-scale animation, which is not terrible in 3D but will most definitely be better in 2D. This has been a pretty very weak year for CGI animation movies and Disney shows them all who the boss is. Watch it on the most gigantic screen that you can find.
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