When I first heard of the movie, it seemed like an ok film, but I was in no hurry to see it. When I heard how well the film did, I actually did want to see it out of curiosity, but by that time the film was already leaving the theaters, so I decided to wait for its DVD release. However, while I was waiting to see the movie, the hype surrounding the film started to get bigger than ever, and I started to get completely annoyed by it. Seeing all the film's merchandise in every store I walk in, as much as I expected Disney to cash in on their most successful film, the merchandising got more and more insane to the point where I couldn't go into a retail store without seeing "Frozen" anywhere, if not everywhere. Even to this day I'm still annoyed by how much Disney markets the crap out of this movie, they just never give it a break. As if the merchandising wasn't annoying enough for me, some of my friends who saw the movie would also constantly play the songs from the film over and over and over to the point where I not only felt like that they were giving away a good half of the movie a way for me, but the constant replays of the songs themselves annoyed me so much that I felt like I was losing my mind. A perfect example to give you an idea of how much the songs were driving me insane is the time when one of my Brothers at home kept playing the song "Let It Go" constantly in the middle of the night. As I was in my room trying to block out the noise, I kept hearing the song so much that even when I asked my Brother to give the song a rest because of how late it was, I still found myself mentally hearing the song in my head thinking that my Brother was still listening to it, which he wasn't at all! That's literally how insane the constant replays of the songs was for me! When I finally saw the movie with some of my friends who were big fans of the movie, instead of us sitting down and just watching it; they mimicked the scenes that were shown on the TV screen, constantly made fun of the movie, and of course all sang along to the songs, and as you can imagine, it made my experience of watching the movie for the first time extremely difficult to enjoy and grasp the characters, story, songs, and emotions. I then decided to watch the film by myself with no one around and with the film's hype ruining the movie for me, I thought I was going to find the film to be extremely overrated, however, after finally seeing it, as unbearable the hype surrounding the movie was for me, I surprisingly loved it! Ok, I didn't love it enough to be just as obsessed with the film as everyone else is, but I still loved it! What makes this extremely annoying over hyped movie such a great Disney film; ON WITH THE REVIEW!
In the film's backstory, two princesses named Elsa and Anna are very close and well bonded sisters that love to have fun together, but what makes their play time together so special is the fact that Elsa has magical powers that can create snow, ice, and all sorts of cool things for them to have fun. However, Elsa nearly kills Anna with her powers, and after her parents get magic rock trolls to heal Anna; the parents figured it would be best to keep Elsa locked in the Castle until she is able to control her powers. Now I hear some complaints from people getting upset about the parents keeping Elsa locked away and separate from her sister Anna, but that doesn't really bother me. I mean give these people a break, its not like Elsa's powers is a common thing in the film's world, and I do like that they try whatever they can to help her control her powers. Also, despite giving Elsa her own room (Where she can be alone), the parents never say that she can't be with Anna. Actually it's Elsa who chooses to stay away from her sister. My real problem with the back story is why does Anna have to suffer too? Her memory of Elsa's powers is gone and Elsa keeps herself away from Anna to not reveal her powers. Anna could of had a normal life outside the castle, there was really no need to keep her locked away too. Also where does Elsa's powers come from exactly, all we get is that she's just born with them, that's it. While the back story is flawed and doesn't make a whole lot of sense, I do think it works within the film's Fairy Tale world fine. It's like how it's normal in the world of Disney's "Pinocchio" to see a human size Fox and Cat walking and talking, while a walking Puppet is considered weird and abnormal; or Rudolph being born with a shiny red nose that glows for no apparent reason; or hell even Princess Fiona's parents deciding to lock her away in a Tower surrounded by lava that's guarded by a Fire Breathing Dragon since she was practically a child in the "Shrek" films (That's worse parenting compared to these parents) for example. It's an aspect that doesn't make much sense and is a bit flawed but fits within the film's Fairy Tale world so well and is executed so effectively that you're willing to overlook the flaws. On top of it, we wouldn't have a story worth telling if it wasn't for the actions taking place in the back story.
Getting to the film's main plot. Years go by, and Elsa is old enough to be the Queen, and while still not in complete control of her powers, she decides to accept her royal duty and open the Castle gates to reveal herself just on the day of the coronation. Meanwhile, Anna meets a Prince named Hans, and the two immediately fall in love. However, Elsa forbids Anna to get married, and as the two fight and argue, Elsa accidentally reveals her powers and runs away from the kingdom, while accidentally leaving a permanent winter on the Kingdom. Anna goes on a journey to find her Sister, and along the way, she comes across an Iceman named Kristoff, and a talking snowman created by Elsa named Olaf. Aside from the plot being a little similar to Disney's last monstrous successful film "The Lion King", it's still a really engaging premise.
When it comes to characters, the film not only gives us such wonderful characters; but these characters are so lovable and so identifiable, I kid you not, they actually brought out my inner child! You know when you're a kid when you watch movies or read a book, and you love the characters so much and feel so connected with them that they almost seem real to you, that’s pretty much my experience with this film. I’m not saying this is the only modern kid’s film to ever do this because there are plenty of kids’ films and shows that have reached me on this level like this before. I’m just basically saying that the characters’ are so likable and the emotions that they go through are so strong that it’s hard not to feel attached to them. The Queen Elsa (Voiced by Idina Menzel, or should now be created only for this film as Adel Dazem) is one of my favorite characters in the whole entire movie. This is a character who I found to be very interesting with the kickass powers that she possesses and her struggles with controlling her powers as she shuts herself away from society. Every time I see this character, I always feel the pain and emotions that she's going through. There wasn’t a single moment when I did not feel any of her emotions; her emotions really do come off as effectively powerful to the point where it feels real.
Elsa’s sister Anna (Kristen Bell) who I thought was going to be an obnoxious lead who sounds like a Disney Channel teen instead of a Princess, she's surprisingly just as great as Elsa. First of all, I love that she and Elsa live different lifestyles. Elsa is a shut in, while Anna is completely outgoing, and both of those elements are actually played out so cleverly at teaching the dangers of keeping yourself away from society and revealing too much of yourself to society that these lessons aren't just something that kids can learn from this movie, but it's also something that adults can learn from the movie as well. Second of all, the idea of making Anna comical works not just because that the humor is balanced out really well by giving her enough room to show her emotions and be subtle, but it works with the character perfectly because she was locked away from society most of her life, and the fact that she gets to finally see the outside world is all very exciting and new for her; and the comical scenes that she has are really funny, instead of feeling forced. Third and finally, out of everything I adore about this character it has to be the heart, passion, and determination of her wanting to find her sister to help her and save the kingdom. You never feel that she's ever going to give up; she'll find as many ways as possible to do what it is right.
The two love interests that Anna encounters on her journey are pretty good characters as well. The Prince Hans (Santino Fontana) is a really charming and carrying Prince, who also gets some really funny moments as well that don’t at all feel forced or thrown in for a cheap laugh. The connection between him and Anna, despite them hooking up in one day, you do feel a connection between them, like in almost every classic Disney Fairy Tale done right. The Iceman Kristoff (Johnathan Groff) is a really fun, smart, and heroic character, who is also really likable. Actually some of the films best jokes and lines come from him. My two favorite lines from him is when he criticizes the fact that Anna is going to marry someone who she just met; and the other one being when he thinks about telling one of the characters about a painful truth. Kristoff is also accompanied by a reindeer named Sven, who Kristoff speaks for by understanding his thoughts from his facial expressions and actions, and for something that I thought was going to be creepy and awkward, it's actually both funny and cute, especially due to the fact that they've been together since childhood. As you may have guessed (If not already know) about his relationship with Anna, they start being jerks to each other, but of course slowly start to like each other. Yeah, it's a cliche love story that's been done before thousands of times in film, but it does work in this film since you can still see and feel a connection between them blom. The interesting part about the concept is while you're enchanted by their relationship you begin to wonder what Hans might think of it, or if he'll hook up with Elsa instead. Without giving anything away for newcomers (Even though I bet half of you reading this have already seen it) the route they went with, while a little flawed is still done well enough to tie in with one of the film's themes that I just mentioned.
As for the supporting characters, they're all just as fun and likable as our leads. The Duke (Alan Tudyk) that's against Elsa's powers has some really funny scenes; the Swedish Chef looking shop owner never stops being funny; Elsa's giant snow monster named Marshmellow (Who's no doubt a snowman parody of "Stay Puft Marshmallow Man" from "Ghostbusters") is a really cool and powerful henchman; and the rock trolls are really fun and humble characters with very creative designs. Of course the supporting character that we're all familiar with is the snowman Olaf (Josh Gad). When I first saw his picture, I thought he was going to be this forced comical sidekick that's loud and obnoxious who won't shut the hell up, but the minute when I was introduced to the character, I loved him right away. He's over the top, but not over the top to the point where he has to yell and be all over the place. He's actually is a really subtle and laid back positive character that still manages to be both funny and cute, while at times given some slapstick that’s actually funny and creative. What I truly love most about the character is the fact that he connects to Anna and Elsa's childhood since they used to build a snowman named Olaf; and seeing these two characters interact with someone that they made up during a happy time of their childhood before they had to spend half of their life being separate from each other who’s now finally real is actually pretty cute.
The animation is gorgeous, like this is some of the best Computer Animation I've ever seen. The film's winter look is so beautiful and bright, that it's stunning to look at from the snowy Mountains, to Elsa's Ice Castle. The ideas and animation used for Elsa’s powers are so creative and are timed so well that it’s both cool and enchanting to watch at the same time. Speaking of powers, the film does have a few action scenes, and while not being die-hard "Hell Yeah" awesome, they're still well put together action scenes that keep you invested. What I do truly love about film are its morals and themes. I already mentioned how well the film executes its morals on revealing yourself too much and too little to society, but another moral and theme that I thought was beautifully executed was love. Without giving it away for newcomers, let’s just say the film's climatic tear-jerking moment is so smart and perfectly executed, along with the story itself that it really makes the film's theme of love really stand out!
Now I saved the best for last to talk about, and that is of course the songs! What used to annoy me and wouldn't leave me alone; after finally seeing the film, I love them! Ok, I'm not going to say that I love them just as much as everybody else who listens to these songs constantly and joins in Sing-Alongs whenever the songs are being played, because I don't! With that said, I still think they are some of the best songs that Disney has ever brought us. These songs flow with the story so perfectly, that none of them are boring, forced, out of place, or even feel like entertaining filler at all. Their soul purpose is to move the story forward that's it. The back-story song sung by Anna as a little girl called "Do You Want To Build A Snowman?", is so touching and emotional, that you can feel the torment and sadness from the character, and the singing from the child actresses that voice Anna as she grows up are surprisingly good! The songs that grown up Anna sings such as "For The First Time In Forever" and "Love Is An Open Door" are not only greatly sung by Kristen Bell and the cast, but we get a complete understanding of the character's excitement of being out and free. Olaf's song "In Summer", is not a song just to be a comedy song, it instead gives us a great insight of Olaf's character, which leads to a really funny subplot of him wanting to experience Summer time, while not being aware that he'll melt. The rock troll song "Fixer Upper" while played for comedy, it still ties in with the film's theme about love just as well as everything else that make the message and theme stand out. The only problem I have with the song is, it's the last song in the movie which makes me wish that the film had some kind of finale number, but that's really a nitpick. Kristoff's song "Reindeer(s) Are Better Than People", as short as it is, it's still a cute song that gives us a perfect understanding of Kristoff's relationship with the world. My personal favorite song in the whole movie is the film's opening song "Frozen Heart" sung by the Icemen. Much like the song "Virginia Company" from "Pocahontas", or "Fathoms Below" from "The Little Mermaid", it perfectly sets up the film and pulls you right in with that awesome choir. The scene itself also homages the controversial Roustabout song from "Dumbo" as we see young Kristoff and Slven comically and cutely help out the Icemen, just like how Dumbo cutely helped the Roustabouts and the Animals, which makes me glad that some good did come out of that controversial song. Of course the song that everybody knows, loves to sing constantly, make fun of, and listen to over and over till it's glued into their minds as much as "When You Wish Upon A Star" is "Let It Go", and yes it is a really fantastic song. Every single bit of feeling and emotion that Elsa is going through is carried out so effectively in this number that it makes the song both sad and uplifting as Menzel really sells it all out with her incredible singing voice that sounds out of this world!
While the hype for "Frozen" is annoying and unbearable, it's still an incredible Disney film. The story, along with its themes are smart and clever; the characters are fantastic as well as being very fun and lovable; the voice acting is outstanding; the animation is creative; and the songs are all memorable and tie in with the story both perfectly and naturally. The hype surrounding it is still crazy, but I guess I'd rather see hype around a movie that's actually good instead of a movie that's bad and only exists to make money off of the merchandise.
RATING 5/5
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