I'm not going to declare a Disney
Renaissance just yet. One movie just isn't enough. But! Disney's
Frozen is a step in the right
direction at last. I'll try to stay spoiler free in this review, but
I can't make any promises. It's an incredible film that's deserving
of all the praise its received so far, and this is coming from
someone who saw the trailers and said “Oh. Disney's doing a
Christmas movie.”
Frozen is
a love story, but it's not a love story about a princess and a
prince. It's the tragic love story of a sister suffering from
oppressive fear and anxiety and her younger sister desperately trying
to reach out to her to comfort her and help her through her illness.
The movie builds this up in a number of striking images. The opening
sequence during the parents funeral, where Elsa has hidden herself
away in her room demonstrates a character afraid to face the world
outside her room. The mantra that becomes a bit of a motif in the
first two acts of the movie “conceal, don't feel” is a concept
any sufferer from anxiety or depression, myself included, would be
familiar with. The idea of hiding your emotions, bottling up what
you're feeling so that other people aren't worried, is clearly
something Elsa builds up for herself as a defence against the
destructive potential of magical powers. This is aided by the
connection between her magic and her emotions. When she's happy or
feeling strong positive emotions, her magic is creative and even
beautiful, as seen in the very famous “Let it Go” scene where she
builds her ice palace, and the scene in the very beginning of the
film where Elsa and Ana are playing, as well as in the very last
scene, where Elsa builds an impromptu skating rink complete with
beautiful ice sculptures in the fountains, in contrast to the wicked
and twisted fountain she creates when she's first outed as a
sorceress.
The
movie plays a lot with typical Disney conventions, but never once
feels hateful or disparaging of Disney in the way that Shrek did, and
also manages to continue feeling like a Disney film. Although I have
heard at least one reviewer criticize the animation, saying at times
the main female characters felt too “doll-like” for him, I have
to say that the animation in this film is incredible. The faces of
Ana and Elsa are extremely expressive and engrossing. The men have
less expressive faces, but as the main focus of the action is on Ana
and Elsa I rarely noticed. The expressiveness of the two main
character's faces really helps you to feel for the characters and
helps you feel their ups and downs. In particular, Elsa's expressions
demonstrate pain and fear extremely well, allowing for subtlety
that's so rare in animated films. I also have to commend the
animators on the way fabric and hair moves in this film. The dresses
and capes let the movie feel dynamic and lively, and they flow
realistically. In particular, the image where Elsa is feeling across
the swiftly freezing fjord is striking and gorgeous, aiding in the
over all epic feel of the film.
A
large part of this emotional draw however comes from the cast. Olaf,
voiced by Josh Gad, is a character I thought I was going to loathe
but never quite gets to a point where he's annoying and instead
manages to actually serve a purpose in the movie. Rather than using
screaming and over-the-top wonky-bonkers comedy, he uses a quiet
voice for his best lines. Kristen Bell brings an energy and a
youthfulness to Ana, while still being a loveable and relatable
character, a beautiful contrast to Idina Menzel's reserved, regal,
and suffering Elsa. Kristoff, voiced by Jonathan Groff who is another
alumni of Glee, does a
good job as Kristoff, and has excellent comedic timing and plays off
of Kristen Bell well.
That
said, the film is by no means perfect. The first moment that I really
disliked was the song “Fixer Upper” sung by the trolls. Unlike
most of the songs, it does little to movie the story forward and
feels largely like filler. While the scene itself serves some
purpose, the role of the trolls feels like it either really needed to
be condensed or expanded. For the most part they serve as McGuffin's
to explain how Elsa's magic works, and the song felt pretty useless
except for a few lines that could have also been delivered well in
simple dialogue. This marks the beginning of what is largely a weak
third act. There is one twist in this scene that I felt was pretty
ridiculous and unearned. At this point, if you don't want spoilers,
please turn away now.
Are
the “no spoilers, plz” people gone? Good.
Prince
Hans, it turns out, is evil. Not necessarily a bad thing, as it
becomes necessary as part of the set up for the second big twist, but
at the same time it felt unearned. The third act desperately tries to
set up its climax, and that's where most of the weakness comes from.
To quote Eudora Welty “The hardest thing ... is getting people in
and out of rooms.” In this case, instead of getting people in and
out of rooms, its getting them all onto the frozen fjord. But the pay
off makes it all worth it, and the climax contains easily one of the
most powerful images I have ever seen in an animated film, and a
striking testament to the strength of love. Not romantic love, but
the love of family and of siblings.
Frozen
is a powerful movie, with gorgeous imagery, a strong moral that
everyone can agree on that still manages to be delivered in a
powerful way.
