Thursday, December 5, 2013

Cold Hands, Warm Heart, Magnificent Movie. My review of Disney's 'Frozen.'

Hello, everyone!
For my first movie review on the Nightcrawler Experience, I shall be taking a look at the most recent Disney film, 'Frozen.' Loosely based on the old Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale 'The Snow Queen,' it was a movie that Disney had been wanting to make for a very long time, but it kept getting shelved until now.
The plot concerns two princess sisters, the elder is named Elsa and the younger Anna. As kids, they are extremely close, until one day when Elsa's hidden power- magical control over ice and snow- manifests itself. She accidentally injures her sister, and afterwards, her parents insist that to keep anyone else from being hurt, the castle must be totally closed off from the outside world, and Elsa must remain in her room. Her relationship with Anna (Whose memory of Elsa's powers was wiped away for the same reason) becomes extremely strained and distant as a result.
Eventually, the girls' parents both die (I'm not really giving anything away by pointing this out; It happens quite early on in the movie, and about the only movie profession with a higher mortality rate than "Disney parent" is "Stormtrooper in Star Wars"), and when Elsa is of age, the time has come for her to become the new queen of their kingdom, Arendelle. They finally open the castle again to outsiders for the coronation ceremony. Anna (Voice of Kristen Bell) is overjoyed to be able to see other people again, while Elsa (Voice of Idina Menzel) is just hoping she can keep her power hidden and not mess things up. Among the guests who arrive for the ceremony are the pompous Duke of Weselton (Voice of Alan Tudyk) and the charming Prince Hans (Voice of Santino Fontana), who hits it off with Anna almost instantly. In the post- coronation ball, however, an argument develops between the sisters, resulting in Elsa's powers going off the charts and plunging the entire kingdom into an intense winter. Everyone views Elsa as a monster upon learning what she can do, and she flees into the secluded mountains, where she builds her own ice castle to live.
As the blizzard in Arendelle worsens, Anna decides to set off after her sister to calm her down and get her to end the blizzard before everyone freezes to death. Along the way, she gets help from a kind young mountain man named Kristoff (Voice of Jonathan Groff), his doglike pet reindeer Sven, and a friendly living snowman named Olaf (Voice of Josh Gad) brought to life by Elsa's power, who wants to help end the winter so he can experience what summer is like (He's never experienced heat before, and thus is blissfully ignorant of what kind of effect summer would have on a snowman). Together, they must try to save Elsa, their kingdom, and their very lives.
Literally the only problem I have with 'Frozen' (When I review movies, I tend to talk about what I disliked about them first, so as to get that out of the way as soon as I can) is that, while most of the songs in it are absolutely wonderful (More on that in a little bit), there's a song called 'Fixer- Upper' a little later on in the film that I think is rather forgettable. It has some funny lines, but it doesn't fit with the rest of the soundtrack.
Other than that, I absolutely loved 'Frozen'! The story was great, the plot twists worked perfectly, the visuals for the various freezing effects and the frozen landscapes all looked awesome, all of the characters were a lot of fun to watch and perfectly cast, and the songs were beautiful. It really feels like it belongs with the Disney Renaissance films like 'The Little Mermaid" and "Beauty and the Beast."
 The characters really make this story what it is. Anna makes for a great heroine; Funny, brave, optimistic, and driven by love (For her sister, for Hans, and for her new friends) in everything she does. Kristen Bell's naturally cheery- sounding voice fits her like a glove. I'd say she's definitely joined the ranks of such memorable Disney heroines as Belle and Mulan. In a lesser movie, Elsa would have been made the straight- up villain of the story; Instead, she's shown to be immensely sympathetic, having to deal with her fears and regrets while letting go of her shame for who she is. You can easily see where each sister is coming from with the choices they make. Olaf the snowman proved to be a VERY pleasant surprise for me; Going into the movie, I was seriously afraid he would turn out to be annoying. Instead, he ended up being cute, sweetly- naive, and very likable. I ended up almost regretting that we didn't get to see MORE of him in the movie! Kristoff the mountain man was a neat character too. He's crude at times, but friendly and warm- hearted as well. His interactions with his reindeer Sven are so funny that you'll have to see them for yourself, because I don't want to give anything away.
For a Disney film, 'Frozen' had a ton of great action sequences. Some of the perils we see our heroes encountering in it include being chased by a pack of wolves, accosted by a menacing snow giant, and racing against time to save a character from being permanently frozen in ice. It makes for a lot of quite thrilling scenes that will keep you on the edge of your seats.
The songs, other than 'Fixer- Upper,' are all amazing. My favorite is undoubtedly Elsa's song 'Let it Go,' which she sings as she leaves the kingdom and accepts who she is, refusing to hide her true self anymore. It's a gorgeous power ballad, made particularly good by both Idina Menzel's knockout voice (I can see why she's currently one of the most respected women on Broadway), and the amazing visuals of Elsa using her powers to build her snow palace and an icy gown for herself. A couple other musical highlights are 'For the First Time in Forever' (Sung by Anna and Elsa as they each prepare for the castle to be opened to outsiders again), and 'Love is an Open Door' (A pop duet between Anna and Hans which has a great 'Best first date ever' feel to it).
'Frozen' has plenty of good theological messages to it, as well. One of the main messages of the film is that fear can be overcome through love. This brings to mind 1 John 4:18, which tells of how perfect love can cast out fear. We see sacrificial love demonstrated in the film through how several characters are willing to lay down their lives and their own interests to help others in need, a point hit upon in Bible verses such as John 15:13 (My favorite Bible verse) and Philippians 2:3-4. Another message in 'Frozen' is on the importance of discernment, being careful who you trust. Near the film's climax, a surprise villain emerges, someone who up to that point had come across as being harmless and trustworthy but ends up being rotten to the core. Scripture is littered with warnings about watching out for people who seem okay on the surface but can have evil intentions, such as Matthew 7:15, 1 John 4:1, and 2 Corinthians 11:13- 15.
Another bonus to 'Frozen' is that it opens with a fantastic new Mickey Mouse short called "Get a Horse!". This innovative short is a cross between an old- school black and white Mickey Mouse cartoon and a modern CGI cartoon which it pulls off perfectly. It's funny (I remember hearing the innumerable kids in the audience laughing loudly at various points in it), inventive, and just a blast to watch.
And so, that's 'Frozen.' An absolutely wonderful film and a great addition to Disney's lineup which you should all see ASAP. At next year's Oscars, it's pretty much a shoo- in to win Best Animated Feature, Best Original Song for 'Let it Go,' and Best Animated Short for 'Get a Horse!'. I wouldn't be surprised if it was nominated for Best Picture.
That's all for now. I'll talk to you guys again soon!