Disney's "Frozen"

[Thigolf]

Can't say I like her voice, honestly.

[DarkLight]

It's alright. I've never been big on Indina Menzel or any other Broadway actor, but I think she carries more emotion to it than Levato does in her rendition. Though that could be because she happens to be playing the character.

[Johnny Boy]

Man the reviews that are continuing to come in just keep getting more and more positive by the second.

[Milo]

Five more strongly positive reviews have come in since my previous post, marking eight positive reviews at RT so far (thus meaning the film is currently standing at le rare 100%). No consensus yet though.

 

Crave Online UK gives it a 9/10, says it's "Disney Animation's best feature since The Lion King." (So I guess that ballsy claim the recent trailer made does have some merit going it's way! XD)

 

Slant Magazine's review is a little more critical than others (scored Frozen a 2.5/4), but is still positive. The reviewer cites the first act of the film as being poor, but says the film is remarkable from that point forward.

 

Screen International / ScreenDaily's review is listed as positive, but you need to be a subscribed member in order to actually read it. RT's chosen quote from review follows: "Looks terrific and has plenty of relatively innocent fun and adventure..."

 

On a slightly unrelated note, Disney's Mary Poppins development documentary Saving Mr. Banks has premiered in London and the rest of England to rave reviews. 83% so far at RT (10/12 reviews positive), with much praise going to the screenplay, John Lee Hancock's direction, and cast performances, particularly for Emma Thompson (who plays Mary Poppins author Pamela P.L. Travers) and Tom Hanks (who is the first actor to play Walt Disney on screen).

 

It looks like Frozen and Saving Mr. Banks will make up for Disney's lackluster summer releases that were The Lone Ranger and Planes.

[DarkLight]

I think Frozen will just make up a lackluster year for animated films period.

[Milo]

I read although Monsters University, Despicable Me 2, and The Croods were all not exactly great, they were still generally good films.

Edited November 18, 2013 by Gabe Scrooge

[DarkLight]

I admittedly only saw MU and DM2 this year and really liked the former a tad more. Anything else never really caught enough interest from me, but might check out the Croods at some point.

 

Though regarding what one review said without spoiling too much, I am curious as to who that 'out-of-nowhere' villain like the Schmoes said in their review is though. We know it won't be Elsa since she's been painted more as a victim-turned-antagonist rather than a villain we the audience aren't meant to assume is bad. This villain has been rightfully kept under wraps as well as Elsa in the earlier promotions. Hopefully it'll be done the way King Candy/Turbo was though this written by the same person as WiR, right? 

[...]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sw965Xye8Rk&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Disney just released a clip of Get a Horse, the short set to play before Frozen in theaters.

I am drooling right now.

[DarkLight]

I lost it right where Mickey got out of his pants....

[Milo]

IGN gave it a 9.3. "The best Disney princess film since Beauty and the Beast. Great songs, great fun. Go see now!"

 

+ Leads are brilliant

+ Best Disney songs in years (to be precise, he calls them "the best since The Lion King")

+ Quite funny throughout (another review that lends much praise to Olaf in particular)

- No strong villain

 

Although IGN Movies does count towards the Rotten Tomatoes score, it has not been counted yet. When it does, it will be added to the additional six counted scores the film has received since Monday-all of them positive as well. So that's 14 (soon to be 15) reviews for Frozen now, all positive. A week from release day and it's charting at 100% positive at RT. Sounds like Frozen will live up to it's claim made by it's trailer as "the greatest Disney event since The Lion King," although some people are saying it's the best film/musical since Beauty and the Beast instead.

 

Frozen may however have to fight off strong competition from the tween/teen-targeted The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, which has received critical acclaim across the board as an even better sequel to it's predecessor (94%, 58/62 positive reviews).

Edited November 20, 2013 by Gabe Scrooge

[DarkLight]

Good to see that ballsy claim about being the best since Lion King wasn't a total bluff (though I think being the best since B&tB is a much bigger deal).

 

 

EDIT: Okay I just read the review itself and they said outright there really is no real villain at all, which after thinking about it for a bit, might not be a bad thing in this case. Yeah, one of the things I usually associate Disney the most is memorable villains but this is one I think doesn't really need a 'real' villain. Most of the conflict is internal and centered around these two sisters who while love each other, have been drifted apart by one's desire to shun the world because of her 'gift'. Not to mention the kingdom's general fear of said gift. To add a villain to all this conflict would feel contrived and would add more unnecessary tension than there already is.

Edited November 20, 2013 by DarkLight

[Johnny Boy]

So the villains weak? Well that's a let down. Hopefully the bad guy will have an awesome death to make up for it.

[Mogtaki]

You don't need a villain to make a great story.

 

It must had been very difficult to create the story, though, considering its been in 'the works' at Disney since 1943 or something. They tried to adapt the fairy tale "The Snow Queen" but often gave up maybe because the story lacked any true villain, something they were used to writing in until the likes of The Sword in the Stone where a villain was also completely absent.

[Milo]

To elaborate on the "no strong villain" quote:

 

In fact, the only minor criticism is that sometimes the movie feels like it's lacking a bad guy. The internal struggle of Elsa is fascinating in and of itself, and the stakes are purely rooted in emotion, but there isn't that classic Disney villain here. The few people who oppose Anna (and ultimately Elsa) are really no threat at all.

 

That said, the heart of the movie, and what makes it work so well, is the moving tale of the two sisters. Anna is a brash, bold, adventurous, romantic and sometimes goofy princess. She's a bit of a continuation and improvement upon the Rapunzel character from Tangled. Kristen Bell does a wonderful job bringing depth and complexity to the character. There is a tenderness and vulnerability to her that is instantly relatable. Menzel also crushes it as Elsa, whose sometimes tragic life is a journey of trust: in herself, in her abilities, and in her sister.

[Thigolf]

The way they put it here, I'm almost certain this won't be an issue to me.

[Ristar]

If the movie doesn´t have a certain villain but it gives more importance to the relationship between the sisters , it´s a must for me. I love familty relationship in movies, if treated well. I have trust in Disney in this one.

 

Well, I have to say I am interest now, specially from what I´ve read. I had my doubts because it seemed like a Tangled clone and because of the annoying secondary charatcers, but it seems they are not big problem at all. Alright, I´ll see it.

Edited November 20, 2013 by Ristar

[Your Vest Friend]

There is a villain, actually.

 

 

Big plot spoiler underneath, don't read if you don't want spoilers.

 

It's Hans, who's using Anna to take over the kingdom. You don't find out until near the end of the plot though.

[DarkLight]

^^^

Oh man. I so called that right before editing my last post today because I was under the assumption that there wasn't going to be one after all. But yeah, like I said there, while it's very much like how they handled King Candy/Turbo's reveal, it is still kind of a weak villain and motivation.

Edited November 20, 2013 by DarkLight

[...]

The film has a 6.9/10 on IMDb as of now, just thought I'd point that out. I guess it'll get higher since the movie hasn't had its wide release yet, but yeah. :v

[Milo]

Aren't imdb scores done by users though?

[Johnny Boy]

The film has a 6.9/10 on IMDb as of now, just thought I'd point that out. I guess it'll get higher since the movie hasn't had its wide release yet, but yeah. :v

It's at a 7 now.

[Your Vest Friend]

Another big plot element below. Do not show if you don't want spoilers.

 

At least the twist sounds pretty fresh. It's all like "Oh no the princess is dying and only an act of true love will save her! We have to get a prince to kiss her!" and then the spell itself turns out more like "Naw man, the princess can do her own fuckin' act." And she proceeds to let herself die for Elsa and that's what saves her, holding off the obligatory romance kiss until everything is hunky dory.

[DarkLight]

^^^

So that was what her hair turning white was all about. I thought it had more to do with her connection with Elsa, but a sign that she's going to die as well as not resorting to the 'only true love's kiss can save her!' cliché is indeed interesting.

[...]

Rotten Tomatoes finally has a consensus! The tomatometer's currently at 89%, with an average score of 7.9/10.

 

"Beautifully animated, smartly written, and stocked with singalong songs, Frozen adds another worthy entry to the Disney canon."

[Johnny Boy]

So who's seeing this movie tomorrow? I know I am!