Frozen - Review

There's a growing misconception among my circle of friends that I am anti-Disney, or at least I'm opposed to the "Disney Formula" or more particularly, the "Disney Princess Formula" i.e. the basic storytelling outline Disney has been using for most of their movies since... pretty much forever actually. Truth be told, I'm not against Disney as a company (well... not really anyways, but that's a rant for another day) or the Disney formula. I remembered when I reviewed Tangled a few years back, I even mentioned that I was genuinely shocked at how Disney managed to continue using the same formula nearly a century and has still managed to make it work after all these years. That said, while I am well-aware that the formula has led to some genuine classic movies, it hasn't led to too many breakthroughs in storytelling, Disney filmmakers have been a little too in love with it, and too many have been reluctant to break away from it's typical tropes. The last Disney Princess film was 2010's Tangled, and while the movie was good, it's reluctance to deviate from the formula was, among a few other things, what ultimately kept it from greatness, in my opinion anyways. All that aside, I can now say, with great excitement, that Disney has finally figured out an interesting direction in which to take it's beloved (and lucrative) Disney Princess brand with Frozen. Not only is it one of the best animated films to be included in the Disney Animation roster, but the way in which it harks back to the glory days of the Disney Renaissance while critiquing and embracing the formula's tropes is one of the best moves they've made in years. I'm not joking here folks... Frozen is just that good.

The film is a loose adaptation of Hans Christian Anderson's fairy tale, The Snow Queen (though I do mean very very loose). It centers around two sisters, Elsa (Idina Menzel) and Anna (Kristen Bell), both royal princesses of the Kingdom of Arendelle. Elsa was inexplicably born with the magical power to create and control ice. After almost inflicting Anna with a mortal injury, Elsa withdraws from the outside world as her ability becomes harder and harder to control the older she gets. Anna, whose memory of Elsa's powers were magically erased from her mind in order to protect her, grows up wondering why her sister (and former BFF) has distanced herself. The years go by, and the King and Queen die in a tragic accident (this is a Disney film after all), leaving the reluctant Elsa to take the throne as the new Queen, despite her fear of being revealed, or worse, losing control of her abilities. Her worst fears are realized on the day of her coronation when she accidentally unleashes a freak ice storm upon hearing of Anna's sporadic engagement to the previously unknown Prince Hans (Santino Fontana). She retreats to the mountains, unbeknownst to her that Arendelle has been covered in an eternal winter. Anna, determined to save both her sister and the Kingdom, takes to the mountain to find Elsa before it's too late.

I'll admit that, for most of Frozen's production, I wasn't exactly looking forward to it. That's mainly because the film was plagued a horrible advertising campaign. Namely every trailer, preview, or poster was centered around either the action beats or Olaf the Snowman (the film's main comic relief). It just seemed like the film was either an Ice Age knockoff or another ill-advised attempt for Disney to compete with Dreamworks more comedic/slapstick inspired animated fare. It wasn't until the film was finally released that I started hearing things like it was a welcome throwback to the Disney Golden Age, one of the best animated films in years, and a progressive step forward for Disney animation. Hell, some even said that it was Disney's best film since Beauty and the Beast (though not quite, imo Beauty and the Beast is still the gold standard of Disney animation). As I said before, despite the awful advertising, Frozen is not only a welcome return to form, but a good sign that Disney has started to figure out not only how to make films worthy of their classics and also how to take both the company, and their respective formula, into interesting new directions. Also, a bit of a side note, but it's kind of weird how Pixar has kind of dropped the ball the last few years while Disney has picked up the slack. Cars 2 was a dud, Brave was decent but flawed, while Monsters University was funny but totally uninspired and forgettable. On the other hand, Tangled was an enjoyable if unremarkable entry into the Disney Princess canon, Wreck-It Ralph was both hilarious and creative, while Frozen might very well become a new classic.

Most of Frozen's success comes from one of Disney's most clever, inventive, and subversive screenplays years. Yes, it has a lot of the typical Disney tropes... the dead parent(s), love at first sight, the characters thrown in as goofy comic relief, etc. Fortunately, it does all of those elements really well, and manages to throw in some good twists, themes, and messages for good measure. Better yet, it feels very balanced, rarely letting any one story element overshadowing another (for instance, a lot of family films end up having the comic relief stealing the show). The main thrust of the narrative, as mentioned before, is the relationship between Elsa and Anna, and how their once-close kinship came to an abrupt end. Despite their royal upbringing, both Elsa and Anna lived mostly sheltered and isolated lives, and after the deaths of their parents, have grown into a state of semi-Arrested Development. Elsa is introverted and world weary while Anna has a mindset of childlike naivety. So in addition to the sisterly love themes, we also get a good dose of coming-of-age metaphors... nothing wrong with that. Frozen also has a good time poking fun at some of the overdone Disney tropes, namely "love at first sight", while never quite descending into full-on parody mode. Instead, the plot embraces it's rich Disney heritage but moves it forward (which is one of the themes of the movie.) Most of the comic relief comes from Olaf the Snowman and Sven the reindeer, and while I initially worried that they're shticks would wear thin quickly, I was won over by them thanks to some hilarious banter that never overstayed it's welcome. Frozen also throws in some nice third act twists, some of which were slightly predictable while others, I'll admit, caught me off guard. Elsa might actually be my favorite character of the year, namely in how her tragic backstory keeps you guessing whether she'll stay a decent person or give into her inner demons against a society that clearly doesn't want her. Ultimately, in the end, the main thrust of the narrative comes from the bond between Elsa and Anna, and that is where the film benefits the most. I won't say that I expected Frozen's story to be "bad" per se, but I'm genuinely shocked at just how much I came out loving it. It's a good sign that Disney is once again on the right path.

The cast is also another victory, with some of the better voice acting I've heard in recent memory. Kristen Bell's performance as Anna can't help but sound a little too Disney conventional at times, but the way in which she portrays Anna's spunky-yet-naive demeanor is quite entertaining. She brings a lot of energy to the role, resulting in a performance that's both cute, funny, and moving when it needs to be. Jonathan Groff does a suitable job as Kristoff, the mountain man who becomes a reluctant companion to Anna on her quest. It might have been nice to have someone with a little more gruff in his voice, but I don't have any major complaints. Santino Fontana, at times, comes off as a little too bland and conventional as Prince Hans... but when when the finale rolls around, it's then given a different context in a way I won't spoil that manages to work to the film's advantage. Josh Gad brings some welcome comedic moments as Olaf the Snowman. I'll admit that I wasn't a fan of the guy initially, but this film, among others, have started to make me appreciate his natural talents more than I had before. The standout, however, is unquestionably Idina Menzel as Elsa. Every line of dialogue and note sung is delivered with aplomb, totally selling her role as an unfortunate victim of circumstance teetering on the edge of keeping her soul or going full-on Carrie White. It's easily one of the best vocal performances in years, only second to Scarlett Johansson's turn of greatness in Her (but that's hardly a bad thing). I can't really sell her enough, and even if the rest of the movie was awful, I'd be tempted to give Frozen a recommendation just based on the strength of Menzel and the character of Elsa.

The technical elements of Frozen are pretty much slam dunks across the board. Disney continues it's long standing tradition of top-notch animation with some of their most memorable visuals in the last decade. The beautiful snowscape mountains couldn't have been rendered any more perfectly, plus I really dug the Norwegian influence in the look of the village and kingdom. Elsa's ice castle also has one of the most vibrant and interesting designs as far as animated locales go. Some of the character models for the extras or background characters come off, once in a while, as a little too Uncanny Valley-ish, but the models used to render Elsa and Anna are some of the most expressive and detailed of the entire Disney canon. They all are reminiscent of the Disney Renaissance-era 2D films, but with spot-on 3D updates appropriate for the modern digital age. Plus, throwing in some exciting and fast-paced action for good measure certainly doesn't hurt. The songs, once again, feel like a nice return to form. One of my main complaints against Tangled a few years back was the lack of truly memorable songs (not saying they were bad, just kind of forgettable). Granted, not all of Frozen's songs are huge hits, but Elsa's big epic musical number, "Let It Go" has recently become one of my favorite movie songs of all time (Disney or otherwise). When I first heard it, I liked it but was a bit put off by it's pop-ish sounding tone. That said, once you hear it set to a full orchestra with Menzel's absolutely incredible vocals, it soon becomes clear that this is a song worthy of not only the Disney Renaissance but the company's Golden Age of animation. Whenever I go see a film musical, there's always the hope that there will be at least one song that will totally knock my socks off, and while that doesn't happen often, "Let It Go" was one of those rare exceptions. In terms of pure visuals and technical achievements, this is one of Disney's best efforts.

Frozen has been in theaters for a while now, so I imagine anyone who wanted to see it probably already has. That said, if you're one of the few who hasn't made it out to the theater to see it yet, this is one that I just can't recommend strongly enough. If you have kids, I can all but guarantee that they'll love it, but the adults will find plenty to enjoy here too. No jokes here folks... Frozen is not only one of Disney's best films, but one of my favorite films of 2013.

My Score: 4.5 out of 5!