I’m a sucker for Disney movies, so I absolutely had to catch the latest one!
THE REVIEW:
Tangled: truly a cut above most of the animated films out there nowadays. A sweet, occasionally hair-raising story, the film is one of the better efforts woven by Disney, filled with locks of fun, proving to be a wonderful (pony) tale that will delight even the most extreme fringes of society. So comb one, comb all: to call this film boring would be a bald-faced lie!
Alright, I’ll stop with the dreadful hair puns. (Or should I say braid-ful?) Those really do no justice to Tangled, the latest in the Disney animated canon which manages to do a wonderful thing: take a ten-minute story of false imprisonment, vegetable cravings and housebreaking, and turn it into a delightful story featuring lovable characters, genuine emotion, humor, and the most badass horse since The Return of Zorro.
The premise of Tangled sticks closely to Rapunzel, the original Grimm fairytale it was based on, with a few exceptions: for one thing, the main female character is now a descendant of royalty, because Disney loves its princesses like Lindsay Lohan loves booze. Her hair also now has more to it than just its considerable length. It now possesses incredible healing powers, sort of a magical blondness (which is also probably the secret of Paris Hilton’s fame), which is exploited by Mother Gothel, a creepy selfish old woman wanting to use it to ensure her perpetual youth. Poor Rapunzel is thus kidnapped and locked in a tower, where she eventually encounters dashing Flynn Rider, a roguish Jake Gylenhall-lookalike on the run from the law.
Granted the story in Tangled is as predictable as a weather report in the South Pole, complete with stock characters and routine plot: lovable protagonist has funny animal sidekicks, meets charming love interest, plot is complicated by main villain and supporting antagonists, et al, et al. Anyone who’s ever watched a Disney movie can probably predict how the film turns out, with the only real surprise in the plot being a callback to the Rapunzel’s original source material that might seem to come out of the blue for some viewers.
But this predictability does not hurt Tangled in any way: people don’t watch a Disney movie for thought-provoking themes or incredible plot twists, just like no one reads Playboy for its articles. We go to the House of Mouse for happy endings, for sweet saccharine romance and catchy tunes, and Tangled delivers all of that, its derivative nature invoking feelings of sentimentality and familiarity instead of repetitiveness.
Tangled’s characters are a memorable bunch, particularly Rapunzel (played to perfection by Mandy Moore, who I used to have a MASSIVE crush on when I was a kid), who manages to be a rarity among Disney heroines: a sweet and good-natured free spirit who proves capable of defending herself when the time come for it. Flynn Rider (Chuck’s Zachary Levi) also delights, managing to deliver some incredibly snarky lines, while high-strung, dedicated Swiss-army horse Maximus steals every scene he is featured. My only complaint is with Tangled’s villain, Mother Gothel (Donna Murphy). While starting off as a complex character, appearing to be genuinely concerned about her adopted daughter despite pursuing her selfish gains, she eventually degenerates into a standard cartoon villain by the end, cackling and scheming and plotting dark deeds. It would have been nice if she had retained this earlier complexity throughout the film.
Visually, Tangled is stunning, its breath-taking landscapes inspiring. This beauty is also enhanced by Disney’s sublime gift for emotional pathos: certain little scenes, like Rapunzel frolicking in the woods after leaving the tower for the first time, or the king shedding a tear as he recalls his lost child, are splendidly done, and will no doubt somehow cause cinema halls around the world to suddenly feel a lot dustier than usual. And do not forget the gorgeous, jaw-dropping ‘lanterns on the lake’: that scene is destined to go down as a classic Disney moment.
Musically, Tangled does a decent job, with tunes composed by Alan Menken, with lyrics by Glenn Slater. The songs do a good job of capturing the essence of the scenes they are featured in, but sadly, there are no really memorable numbers in Tangled, no incredible scenes of spectacle which you will be humming long after you leave the theatre. The best song of the lot, in my opinion, is the delightfully whimsical group number I’ve Got A Dream, because hey, anything with barbarians in it is always pure gold.
All in all, Tangled is a pretty good watch, arguably the best movie to be released this holiday season. (That’s right, I prefer this hairy film to the other Harry film) A beautiful callback to the days of classic Disney, the film succeeds due to its lush visuals and heart-warming story. It is also a nice reminder that animated films do not need to be mere repositories of pop-culture references or non-stop toilet humor, as sadly seems to be the trend nowadays.
OVERALL GRADE: A
FUN FACTS
-The look of Tangled was inspired by the classic painting The Swing by 18th century painter Jean-Honoré Fragonard. It is considered as one of the masterpieces of the rococo era.
-Tangled is the most expensive animated film ever made, with a budget of 260 MILLION DOLLARS. I really hope it manages to be a box office hit, though thankfully it has already been the most successful opening for a Disney movie so far.
- While Mandy Moore does well as Rapunzel, part of me wishes that they had stuck with the original plan to use Kristin Chenowith (Glinda from Wicked, April Rhodes in Glee). Her voice is sex-flavored honey, she could release an album of her reading the telephone directory and I’d buy four copies.
RANDOM OBSERVATIONS
-I predict a lot of people are going to want pet chameleons after this film. Disney is good at making non-lovable things lovable. One day they should make a film about me.
-Rapunzel had magical blonde hair which Mother Gothel refused to let her cut. Was this confined only to the hair on her HEAD? What about..oh goodness, was there a reason she was wearing a long dress with long sleeves throughout the film?
-How does Rapunzel know when her birthday is? Did Mother Gothel need to tell her when it was?
-The plot of this story is a lot like The Hunchback of Notre Dame, my all-time FAVORITE Disney film. Sheltered character is imprisoned as a kid by a evil character who wants to exploit him/her, and warned to never leave. He/she is eventually brought out and accepted by a character on the run from the law who meets him/her accidentally. Of course, Rapunzel is a lot nicer to look at than Quasimodo.
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