The nanny took the kids to see this one at the cinema, and of course they won't (my daughter in particular) shut up about it. I finally watched it on Blu-Ray last night.
The first 15 to 20 minutes were kind of awful. The setup for the story just took too long. And there was a lot more singing than I typically enjoy. I like musicals—the kind where there is a song now and then—but I'm not into opera. Not everything needs to be a song (IMHO).
What I'm really trying to wrap my brain around is why my daughter and all her little friends identify so strongly with Elsa when Anna is (a) more prominently featured, and (b) a lot more fun. But clearly little girls go for the wounded woman thing? Maybe it's to do with herd nature, and the desire to bring Elsa "in from the cold" and add her to their social collective. Anna has friends and thus does not need the viewers; Elsa, on the other hand, is alone and must be included. Just from a sociological standpoint, I find it fascinating.
Still, from a story standpoint, there were just a lot of problems. The trolls, for one. They either needed more story or to be excised entirely; as they stand their function as a simple expositive device is ick. And the "true love" thing. Wouldn't Kristoff bringing Anna back to the castle count as "an act of true love"? Or are we going with the "blood is thicker" argument? Much as I appreciate sisters doing it for themselves and all, the logic is deeply flawed. Someone needed to introduce and/or explain the hierarchy of valid types of love in order for this to work.
Really, what I walked away feeling was the stuff they compressed was the stuff they should have expanded, and the stuff they went on about was the stuff they should have compressed.
But I'll admit a juvenile amusement with Olaf and Sven, and with the way Kristoff would speak for Sven. I did laugh out loud several times, in that way when you feel you shouldn't be laughing because it's so dumb and childish, but you can't help it. That's really what saved the movie for me, that and Anna's winning personality. I didn't love the story or the music, but the characters were solid. And the animation was beautifully done.
It's possible that, after all the hype, Frozen wasn't going to be able to live up to expectations no matter how good it was (or is). On the whole, though, I was disappointed.
2 comments:
I really liked it, but I still love Tangled more :)
I wasn't a fan of Olaf, but that probably makes me a psychopath or something since most people seem to love him :P
I agree Tangled was a better movie. I feel like an outcast, since everyone seems to have loved Frozen so much but I just couldn't get into it.
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