My Thoughts on Frozen

This has been sitting in my draft box for ages, but with the recent announcement of a sequel, I figured it was a good time to polish it off.


Pros:

The sister-based storyline was such a refreshing change. Don't get me wrong. I'm a hopeless romantic. I love all the Disney princess movies. I don't have issues with the traditional storyline, but seeing a story revolving around the relationship of two estranged sisters was a welcome breath of fresh air, much like Pixar's Brave, which so lovingly focused on a mother/daughter relationship.

My favorite Frozen song isn't actually from the film. It was cut during production due to an evolving storyline, but fortunately can still be found on the deluxe soundtrack (and YouTube). Here I have to mention how much I loved so many of the songs in the movie. Not just Let It Go, but Frozen Heart (goosebumps galore), Love Is An Open Door (SANDWICHES!), etc. The lyrics feel clever and original and unexpected. They're also full of humor and references for today, which we'll see in time whether they'll become dated or classics. Loads of kudos to husband/wife duo Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez for so many fun songs.

Life's Too Short is a duet between Elsa and Anna, just after Anna has come to her sister's ice palace. Starting off, it's all about the two of them reconnecting. Elsa gets to be her true self, and Anna finally gets to understand the distance between them for so long. It's a wonderful moment of bonding and sisterly devotion, and then...well, then things come to a boil. Anna and Elsa get to hash out all their issues and frustrations and it all rhymes and it's such a realistic fight between sisters. It's so human and so funny and so absolutely wonderful

The first guy isn't the right guy. I've seen and heard so many different complaints about Disney love stories -that they're too perfect or convenient- that it was a lot of fun to see Disney mess with their standard. It was also a great plot twist.

Plus, this:

 

The Foreshadow Ninja has been here!

Cons:
 
Olaf. Seriously. I hated this little snowman. Most of his jokes were terribly juvenile and I felt like it degraded the whole film. Every time my sister sees him she wants to rip him apart. She couldn't even make it through the movie a second time.

The film honestly would have been better if this character were eradicated. It didn't really need the extra comedic relief because, while the story line could get heavy, Anna's personality was always upbeat and chipper, Kristoff was eccentric enough to keep us laughing (or wincing), and when that didn't work Sven would slip on the ice or try to eat snow flakes.

Olaf's only good scene is the instant he says 'Some people are worth melting for.' Heartwarming, sure, but I could have lived without it if it meant I didn't have to put up with the annoying snowman.

Juvenile humor also seemed to populate a lot more of the jokes in Frozen than, say, Tangled or The Princess and the Frog. This was Olaf, but also the trolls added to it. (Fixer-Upper is probably the only song I don't like from the film).

I get that I'm essentially calling out a juvenile film for having too much juvenile humor. I also get that Disney's targeting of the juvenile crowd is probably another reason the movie was such a huge success. But since I'm sharing my opinion here, I'll go on the record saying I think it was a hindrance to the film's quality, not a help.

In the end:

Down to the big cheese. Overall, I really enjoyed 'Frozen'. It's a fun movie. It's a good movie.
On the other hand, it's not great or excellent. It's not the best Disney movie of all time, or even of the last 5 years. I do believe it's overrated, over-hyped and over-saturating, well, everything. Over all, I'd give it a 3 1/2 star rating.

As far as a sequel, I think Disney will do a good job with it, but I also think a lot of people would be just as happy without one.

But that's just me.

What do you think?