BEFORE: There are still a couple days left in summer, and I'm just starting to grow in my fall facial hair, but a film about winter has bobbed up to the top of the list. (Or is it set during a summer that turns into winter? I'm not sure.) But it got here thematically and through the actor linkings - Toby Jones links to Ciaran Hinds through a film called "The Rite", and Daniel Craig links to the same actor through "Munich". So that's my justification.
THE PLOT: When a princess with the power to turn things into ice curses her home in infinite winter, her sister, Anna teams up with a mountain man, his playful reindeer, and a snowman to change the weather condition.
FOLLOW-UP TO: "Tangled" (Movie #1,034)
AFTER: The reason I'm referencing "Tangled", and not some other Disney/Pixar film I've seen, like "Brave", is because I've noticed the similarities in the way that they tried to update a famous tale, in this case "The Snow Queen" by Hans Christian Andersen. Plus there's a connection in the way that Elsa was isolated from society because of her unusual ability, much in the same way Rapunzel was kept in her high tower.
Plus there are the prominent horse (and reindeer) characters in both films, and the close connections they seem to have with their male riders. (No joke, keepin' it clean. This is a kids' film.)
So far, the only connection I've had to this film has been buying the Funco giant-headed collectible figures for my niece and nephew - I was able to nab an almost-complete set while at San Diego Comic-Con, a full two weeks before they were available in stores. Yep, I was going for the "Best Uncle Ever" award. I've also bought the convention-exclusive versions, and I'm storing those in an archive for the kids when they turn 18. At that point, hopefully the toys will have increased in value enough to help out their college funds. Oh, and the other connection was that, like you, I had to endure repeating airings of that "Let It Go" song last year, which was just about everywhere. There was no way to avoid it.
So finally it comes up on my viewing list, and I didn't mind it as much as I thought I would. There were some clever bits, particularly when it seemed like it was going to fall back into standard fairy-tale clichés, and then decided to go in a different direction. I appreciate that, and I'm betting that all parents who have to show their kids "Cinderella" and "Snow White" and "Sleeping Beauty" appreciated it as well.
For me, it comes down to Elsa vs. Anna. As sisters, they represent two sides of the same coin - the older and the younger. The pessimist and the optimist. The powered and the normal. And just when I thought the film was sending out a strange message by telling girls who feel moody, isolated and disconnected (you know, during those difficult years, between 12 and, let's say, 65) that it's OK to shut everyone out and make the world go away, ignoring one's responsibilities, the film correctly points out that it's just not a workable solution.
By the same token, the message that optimists also struggle and are more likely to get their hearts broken seemed like an odd one as well, but maybe it's a good idea that young people learn to lead with their heads as well as their hearts. The era of "free love" is over - think carefully before you commit. Over-protective parents probably wouldn't mind showing this film to their teen girls who think they know what love is, but really haven't got a clue.
Like most Disney films, this one suffers from the disease of "One-too-many-sidekicks-itis". I would have gone with the reindeer OR the snowman, not necessarily both. But this is a long-standing illness that goes back to "Pocahontas", "The Little Mermaid" and "Beauty and the Beast", so it's not going away any time soon. Gots to sell those Happy Meal toys, after all, and watch that bottom line.
For me this puts a spin on Disney's acquisition of Marvel Comics - Elsa's powers seem modeled after Iceman from the X-Men in much the same way that "The Incredibles" were a mixed-up version of the family that is the Fantastic Four. But if Disney OWNS Marvel, then Marvel can't really sue them, now can they? There would be no point.
I didn't find any of the characters here to be particularly annoying, which puts it one step ahead of "Brave", where I couldn't handle Merida's toggling between precocious and pissed off. There are major communication issues when characters just refuse to listen to each other, but people do that in real life also, so you have to account for it. The only thing that really bothered me was the shapes of the characters' faces - those ski-slope noses on Elsa and Anna made them look really weird in profile. Noses are a big part of people's faces, and to design characters in a different fashion is just going to contribute to image-conscious spoiled teens demanding rhinoplasty.
Also starring the voices of Kristen Bell (last seen in "Get Him to the Greek"), Idina Menzel (last seen in "Enchanted"), Jonathan Groff, Josh Gad (last heard in "Ice Age: Continental Drift"), Santino Fontana, Alan Tudyk (last seen in "Hearts in Atlantis"), Edie McClurg (last heard in "Wreck-It Ralph") and Mauriche LaMarche.
RATING: 6 out of 10 carrots
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