“Frozen,” Disney’s latest animated movie offers interesting
mythology, rich, vivid animation and songs that are both memorable and
charming. A re-imagining of the Hans Christian Andersen fairytale, ‘The Snow
Queen,’ the film starts off with two young princesses. The older girl, Elsa
(Indina Menzel when she grows up) has the magical ability to freeze things and
produce ice and snow. Unfortunately, this leads to an accident in which her
sister Anna (Kristen Bell) is injured. Her parents are afraid of what people
will do when they know, so Elsa is isolated and the sisters are kept apart. But
when a grown Elsa loses control of her power at her coronation and freezes the
kingdom, she fears she’s become a monster and flees into the mountains, where
she builds herself an opulent castle of ice. Anna sets of to rescue her sister.
Along the way she teams up with a rude mountain man, Kristoff (Jonathan Groff)
and he reindeer pal, Sven. And then they also enlist a come-to-life absurdly
optimistic snowman named Olaf (voiced by scene-stealer Josh Gad).
Directed by Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee, the film’s crisp
look comes as no surprise. It’s a Disney film, but it’s produced by Pixar’s
John Lasseter and the visuals are superb throughout. It also helps that the
underlying themes – isolation, fear of one’s abilities, devotion, freedom and
sacrifice – are reflected so beautifully in the songs. Menzel and Bell duet
about their sense of release in ‘For the First Time in Forever,’ and then
Menzel displays her magnificent voice and range with ‘Let It Go,’ my favorite
song in the movie. “Frozen” is a warm-hearted movie that both adults and
children will enjoy. Be sure to see it. 11/29/13
No comments:
Post a Comment