Frozen

"Frozen," the latest Disney musical extravaganza, preaches the importance of embracing your true nature but seems to be at odds with itself.

The animated, 3-D adventure wants to enliven and subvert the conventions of typical Disney princess movies while simultaneously remaining true to their aesthetic trappings for maximum merchandising potential. It encourages young women to support and stay loyal to each other—a crucial message when mean girls seem so prevalent—as long as some hunky potential suitors and adorable, wise-cracking creatures also are around to complete them.

It all seems so cynical, this attempt to shake things up without shaking them up too much. "Frozen" just happens to be reaching theaters as Thanksgiving and the holiday shopping season are arriving. The marketing possibilities are mind-boggling. And in the tradition of the superior "Beauty and the Beast" and "The Little Mermaid," surely "Frozen: The Musical" will be headed to the Broadway stage soon. The songs – which are lively and amusing if not quite instant hits—are already in place.

Little girls will absolutely love it, though. That much is undeniable. And the film from co-directors Chris Buck ("Surf's Up") and Jennifer Lee is never less than gorgeous to watch. A majestic mountaintop ice castle is particularly exquisite—glittery and detailed and tactile, especially as rendered in 3-D.

But first we must witness the tortured backstory of the film's princesses – not one, but two of them. The script from "Wreck-It Ralph" co-writer Lee, inspired by the Hans Christian Andersen story "The Snow Queen," has lots of cheeky, contemporary touches but is firmly and safely rooted in Scandinavian fairy tale traditions.

When they were young girls, sisters Anna and Elsa were joyous playmates and inseparable friends. But Elsa's special power—her ability to turn anything to ice and snow in a flash from her fingertips—comes back to haunt her when she accidentally zaps her sister. (Not unlike the...

I was excited to watch this movie after all the buzz about it but I've been a bit disappointed.

Yes, the animation is great and it keeps all the typical Disney details and is funny, sometimes. In addition, it features two strong female characters that don't need of a hero to save the story but ...

... but still they are the super-beautiful and perfect Disney princesses, as if they couldn't be normal girls from normal status, and the role of Queen Elsa is not that important as it would have expected.

Not a bad movie, but not the best and I think far from the fun I had with Tangled.

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Six years later, and Frozen has left an undeniable cultural impact. From Let It Go to tons of merchandising, Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee delivered such a memorable film that people not only didn’t forget but regularly asked for its sequel. As of right now, Frozen II has claimed the third-best animated opening weekend ever, proving that the love for this franchise (I think it’s safe to call it that already) is strong. However, how great is the original movie, after all? To be honest, I never fully watched it until this past week in preparation for its sequel. It surprised me in the sense that I didn’t expect to enjoy it as much as I did. Frozen is deserving of the love it possesses.

With extremely captivating characters, the story flows naturally, and the entertainment levels are always high. Whether these are due to the amazing singing sequences or to the exciting adventures, this film never stops having fun. That’s what Frozen ultimately is: a lighthearted, fun, and entertaining movie. It follows Disney’s formula for creating a variation of a story we have seen before. Characters go through a traumatic event when they’re young. They have to grow up while struggling with the aftermath of said trauma. Eventually, they overcome that obstacle and live happily ever after (or at least until the next installment).

It’s the generic and somewhat cliche Disney model for a new animated film (franchise). Nevertheless, don’t get me wrong: it works perfectly. Sure, it doesn’t bring anything new story-wise, but it’s still a great time. Despite some unnecessary and lazy exposition (the magical trolls are basically exposition devices), Frozen still delivers a truly captivating and visually jaw-dropping narrative. I do need to emphasize this: the animation is phenomenal. Elsa’s magic is seamless and beautiful. Arendelle is a gorgeous location, and the snowy mountains are impressively designed. Let It Go...

Great animation and good voice talent, however pretty weak story but ultimately entertaining enough movie. Also found the music, outside of the song "Let It Go" (which was played to death for the past several years now) were rather forgettable and bland. 3.0/5

One of Disney's best, in my opinion. Not quite top tier, but very close.

'Frozen' really did blow up when it was released, and rightly so. Sure it probably got overhyped but that isn't the film's fault. It's a cracking watch, the pacing is absolutely spot on as are the musical numbers.

What impresses me the most about the music is that it manages to keep the storytelling alive whilst it occurs. Particularly at the beginning there are loads of songs squeezed in next to each other, which could mess with the premise building but it doesn't - it actually enhances it. The songs themselves are terrific, with "Let It Go" obviously getting the most plaudits.

Idina Menzel (Elsa) and Kristen Bell (Anna) are excellent in the lead roles, while Josh Gad almost steals the show as Olaf - very funny character! Of course it's aimed at the younger audience members, but it is still entertaining for us adult folk too - I've watched it a few times down the years and still thoroughly enjoy it.

OK, so it took me ten years and a persistent nephew to finally sit down before this, and though I didn't hate it, I really did struggle to see what all the fuss was about. It's a colourful adaptation of Hans Christian Anderson's "Snow Queen" story that sees Queen "Elsa" leave her kingdom after she almost kills her sister "Anna" - she has the ability to turn all before her to ice and that can be perilous at times for those around her! As she flees, upset, she accidentally leaves all in her kingdom with a rather frosty predicament. It now falls to "Anna" alongside her friendly snowman and her reindeer to try and get this pesky curse lifted. It skips along amiably enough with plenty of charming animation - especially from "Olaf" the snowman, but it's really about that one song that Edina Menzel delivers with a skill that, for my money anyway, is comfortably the best of these anthemic Disney power-ballads. I'm not sure even legendary lyricists Don Black and Richard Stilgoe have ever managed to incorporate "fractals" into their songs! As with so many of HCA's fairy tales, there is a darkness to the story - this one sanitises these aspects a little too much for me, but that said it still deals with issues of fear and deceit well enough for folks to get the message that perhaps having a frozen heart is not just a physical thing. Ten years on, it's still a decent watch that I suspect will continue to sustain youngsters for many a year to come.

Not a fan of this movie. It's a great story, but the singing is annoying. The kids love it though.