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How entertaining? ★★☆☆☆
Thought provoking? ★★☆☆☆ 20 November 2013
This article is a review of FROZEN.
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“You kind of set off an eternal winter,” Anna to Elsa
It says it all that a character can survive a brain freeze, but not one of the heart. FROZEN is narratively inept, but intricately animated. Kicking off in the kingdom of Arendelle, in a time that could be Renaissance era Scandinavia. There are galleons in a fjord surrounding the town, with a comedy Swedish accent thrown into the mix of North American lead vocals. We get an intro to the lead characters as youngsters. Kristoff is trying his hand at ice harvesting, assisted by best pal reindeer Sven. The adults sing while they work. (The sequence made me think of THE GRAND HEIST, a Korean historical caper where ice is a valuable commodity.) The musical numbers are lyrically perfunctory but toe-tappingly energetic.
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Meanwhile in the castle of the King and Queen, Anna wakes older sister Elsa and asks her to play in the great hall. We see the kingdom’s heir has magical skills; she can create and manipulate ice and snow - an indoor ice-capade is the result. All is gleeful until Elsa emits an icy blast into the head of Anna knocking her out. Her parents rush them to some rock trolls who save little sis, only for them to advise that Anna’s memories be wiped, and warn of the danger of Elsa’s powers. The parents decide to keep Elsa locked away in her room in benevolent imprisonment, and a skeletal staff is retained in the palace. Eh? Issues arising from the first 10 minutes:
- Why not ask the trolls to train Elsa to control her gift?
- If there are stone trolls and a sentient reindeer, why is their daughter’s ability to be kept a secret?
- Papa Troll asks if Elsa’s powers originated from birth or are a curse. The former is the answer, but not elaborated upon. What does it matter how she got them? If from birth, is it hereditary?
- What’s the point of keeping the heir to the kingdom locked up? Who tutors her? Isn’t that level of loneliness counterproductive to raising a suitable queen?
- Anna isn’t allowed companions either. We just see montages of her continually knocking on older sibling’s door only to be rebuffed. They grow up. Is there a logical reason to keep Anna in the dark?
FROZEN reeks of storytelling laziness.
The King and Queen die in a storm, and when Elsa comes of age there is to be a coronation. The palace is to be opened up for the first time in a decade. Who has been ruling? When Elsa is crowned, she is now expected to. The lack of attention to detail is tedious to sit through. There are many songs to try and distract.
A barely conceived baddie is clumsily introduced, speaking out loud the line, “Open your gates, so I can exploit your riches.” Apart from encouraging hastiness in decision-making when Elsa’s power is publicly inadvertently revealed, causing her to flee, this Lord Weselton has no real purpose. There is a note of positivity however, that he actually masks someone else, and that is nicely played. Amid the Barbie-doll princesses, there is a message of artifice-piercing. It’s a shame that a subplot moral of substance is buried in triteness.
Elsa flees her kingdom in a stunning sequence, freezing everything around her, turning the land to winter. If only the same painstaking craft could have been applied to the script. The new queen uses her burgeoning skill to build a Superman-esque fortress of solitude. And also creating for herself a new cloth outfit and making a snowman, Olaf, come to life. What? Exactly, zero consistency to her powers. At this point a grown up Kristoff and Sven come into the pursuing Anna’s sphere, and team up with her to find Elsa. Olaf joins up too; a comedy sidekick that occasionally provides amusement. Refreshment comes from the princesses not being weaklings to be rescued.
FROZEN is down there with the flawed BRAVE. The two films are no TANGLED.
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