I've always been a little biased against cartoon movies, even when I was a kid. I like the classic stories and cute characters, but for some reason I just prefer movies with real people. There are exceptions, such as Toy Story and Up, but these are clever modern tales, whereas the Disney ones, while enjoyable, don't have quite the same effect on me.
Frozen is Disney's latest adaptation of a classic tale, this time The Ice Queen from Hans Christian Anderson. Like the previous effort, Tangled, it features a blend of CGI and hand animation techniques which I think works very well and probably saves a lot of time and money too. The cast features Kristen Bell as Anna, the sister of Elsa, the Ice Queen, played by Idina Menzel, plus Josh Gad as Olaf, a magical snowman.
The plot is fairly straightforward. Elsa has special powers like the Iceman from X-Men, making her afraid that she will hurt the people she loves, such as her sister Anna. One day she loses it and unwittingly unleashes an eternal winter on their home land of Arendelle before running off to live on her own, forcing Anna to go look for her so things can be returned to normal.
As an animated feature, Frozen is done very well, with beautiful animations, likable characters, wild action sequences, and some of the best songs Disney has done in a very long time (who knew Kristen Bell had a set of pipes on her?) and I'm sure Oscars are in store. It's arguably the best classic animated Disney film in years, and it is no surprise to me that the film has been a hit, especially with the kiddies.
On the other hand, the film is undoubtedly formulaic and doesn't offer anything we haven't really seen or felt before. There's the beautiful princess, the charming and handsome love interest, the nasty villain, and of course the cute sidekick (which in this case is the snowman). The story, however, was lacking in my opinion, and more importantly, I didn't find the film that funny -- an amusing moment here and there, but the jokes are more obvious and less edgy than that from other recent animated films such as say Monsters University.
This is probably my bias creeping through again so I'll stop now. Objectively, Frozen is a delight, something both children and family should enjoy, though for me it's just an above average animated film that doesn't stand out among some of Disney's more famous classics.
3.5 STARS OUT OF 5
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