Frozen: A bit of a "FIxer Upper"

I did this for fun.  I really wanted to write a review for this movie because I had a lot to say about it.  I hope you read it and enjoy it!  Let me know what you think!
 
Frozen: A Bit of A “Fixer Upper”

It’s all there, the happiness, the romance, the adventure and the love.  Even with all of the Disney magic that this movie brings, things don’t quite add up.  Has Disney lost its touch?

Story:

Two sisters, Anna and Elsa are princesses of the kingdom of Arundel.  The oldest sister Elsa has magic powers of ice and snow, and accidently harms her sister Anna while they were playing together.  Elsa must learn to hide herself and her powers for the well being of herself and the kingdom.  After their parents die in a shipwreck, Elsa and Anna are alone in their castle.  Elsa becomes queen of Arundel and must conceal her powers until coronation is over.  Meanwhile Anna is taking advantage of her first time out of the castle by exploring, and ends up falling for a handsome prince named Hans, whom she has just met and claims she has fallen in love with.  Elsa succeeds at her task  of concealing her powers until her and her sister get into an argument about Anna wanting to marry Hans after knowing each other for one day.  Elsa becomes angry and accidently reveals her powers to the entire kingdom, putting Arundel into an eternal ice and snow.  Everyone is in shock, and she runs away in fear.  Her sister Anna runs after her and is determined to find her sister and have her unfreeze the land.  She asks a young man named Kristoff, his reindeer Sphen, and a cute snowman named Olaf to help her find her sister, and they set off on an adventure.  Anna eventually finds Elsa and tries to talk her into coming home but Elsa refuses and accidently hits Anna in the heart with ice.  Anna begins to feel weak and Kristoff brings her to a healing troll who says Anna will die and the only way to save her is by an act of true love. Meanwhile the people of Arundel have captured Elsa in the dungeon of the castle.  Kristoff brings Anna back to Arundel in a hurry.  When they get there, Kristoff asks the people to bring her to Prince Hans as soon as possible.  The people bring Anna to Hans to receive her true loves kiss, when suddenly Hans reveals he was only after the crown and he didn’t really love her.  He then locks the door leaving Anna alone to die.  Olaf unlocks the door and tries to find a way to save Anna.  Meanwhile Kristoff sees ice and snow erupting from the castle, and he races back to save Anna.  Elsa breaks out of the dungeon and tries to run back to her castle on the mountain, but Hans finds her and tells her that her sister is dead.  Elsa is devastated and falls to the ground in grief.  Meanwhile Olaf sees Kristoff running back to save Anna and Anna uses all of her strength to run outside to meet him in hopes he can save her.  Anna is running to Kristoff and out of the corner of her eye, she sees Hans about to kill her grieving sister.  She looks back and forth debating which way to go, and she than decides to run towards her sister.  Kristoff is watching just as Hans is about to swing his sword, Anna jumps in front of him to save her sister and turns into a solid ice statue and breaks the sword.  Elsa looks up and sees her frozen sister and drapes herself over her and weeps.  After a few moments, Anna and the entire city of Arundel to melt and become the summer it once was.  This was the act of true love.  Elsa and Anna embrace and Elsa begins to control and enjoy the powers she possesses.  Hans is band from the kingdom, Kristoff and Anna share a kiss and it’s once again happily ever after.

What went well:

The animated setting of this film was beautiful!  The animated ice and snow sparkled and gleamed and made for a gorgeous setting for this story.  The voice actors and actresses did an amazing job with their voice over’s and singing. Their voices matched their characters personality very well.  There were many humorous moments in this film, just like most Disney films, that I truly enjoyed. 

The fact that Disney made a point about not marrying a guy after knowing him for a day and having the act of true love be between the two sisters rather than true loves kiss really made this movie stand out above the rest.  It gave a different view point and a wonderful plot twist.  I also enjoyed the fact that this film was more unpredictable than you thought it would be.  At first you think you know how the story is going to go, and in some parts you did, but they sneaked many surprises into the mix. 

There were also many wonderful songs in this film.  My preferred favorites are “Let it Go” (Elsa’s big number) and “Fixer upper” .  All in all, this movie had a Disney feel to it and made me feel warm and fuzzy inside when it was over.

 

What went wrong:

          I’m not going to lie, this movie had many flaws.  In my opinion, there were too many songs and many of them (some exceptions) seemed to be forced and pushed into the plot even if they were not absolutely necessary.  I feel that the plot in this story was not developed well at all.  At the end of this movie, there were many lingering questions that were unanswered such as, where did Elsa’s powers come from?  Who was ruling the kingdom for the 3 years between the king and queen’s death and Elsa’s coronation? and how did this all take place in 24 hours?  I had some troubles at first with not being aware of Kristoff being an orphan.  However, a good friend of mine later explained to me that in Norwegian mythology, when a child wonders off from his or her family, the trolls take them in.  However, this is a problem for people who have no recollection of Norwegian mythology.  I feel like this movie was rushed, and could have been developed more, had a clearer story line, and could have been planned better with a little more time.

          As I was watching this movie, a lot of things seemed really familiar to me.  A lot of events, people and parts of the plot reminded me a lot of a movie Disney has done before; Tangled.  The main character is isolated from the rest of the world, the prince is bribed into helping the damsel, and even the kingdoms look undeniably similar.  Yes, the main plot lines were different, but to me parts of Frozen were too similar to Tangled.    

Characters:

          I feel as if the characters in this film were not developed well at all.  Since I have specific problems with each individual character, I am going to pick at each main one individually.  Let’s start with the main character Elsa.  Let’s just say that for being the main character of a movie, I know nothing about her.  I feel like she could have been a very strong and personal character, but she wasn’t seen or developed enough in the film to really feel her pain and suffering.  Although she wasn’t developed, I really enjoyed her featured song, “Let it Go” and I think her voice actress Idina Menzel did an amazing job.

          Next, I am going to look at the other main character, Anna.  Anna is definitely a feisty Disney princess and is definitely going along with the theme that many Disney princesses share; she is independent.  I found Anna annoying, Naive and childish.  Although I do feel like she grew more mature and aware throughout the film.  She did also have her humorous moments.

          Kristoff was one of my favorite characters from this film.  He might be a bit weird and only have trolls and reindeer as friends, and is a bit stubborn, but he eventually legitimately cares for Anna and will do anything in his power to help her.  I would have loved to know a little more about Kristoffs past, but to me Kristoff’s personality was a nice change compared to other Disney princes and his traits represent the best qualities of a (not so much) Disney prince.

          Olaf was amazing!  Although he didn’t have much of a purpose, I honestly believe that Olaf was the most developed, lovable and overall best character of this film.  He was funny, he was adorable, he had his sentimental moments and he was a link between Anna and Elsa’s childhood that gave that part of the plot a nice touch.

Overview:

          This movie’s plot, characters, and songs had many holes and many missing pieces.  I believe this movie had great potential and could have been brilliant, but it needed more time and effort than Disney put into it.  There were many great and surprising plot twists, many good songs, and beautiful animation that made this movie different, and exciting.  I don’t believe that Disney has lost its touch, but with more planning, preparation, and effort, this movie could have gone from good to great!

3 out of 5 stars