Movie Review: Tangled

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Characters, story, humor, animation

Cons: None for me

The Bottom Line: 

Disney's fiftieth

Rapunzel and her hair make

Perfect family fun

"Alright, Blondie."  "Rapunzel."  "Gesundheit."

For Disney's 50th animated movie, they have returned to their roots, sort of.  They had added a new princess to the long line of fairy tale heroines in their stable, dating back to Snow White in their first movie.  However, instead of traditional hand drawn animation, they've chosen to make Rapunzel their first computer animated princess.  While this doesn't bode well for those who want to see both forms flourishing side by side, Tangled itself is wonderful.

When the queen was pregnant with Rapunzel, she became sick to the point of death.  The only way to cure her was to find a magical plant.  The plant was the secret of Mother Gothel (voice of Donna Murphy), who used it to keep herself eternally young.

Mother Gothel soon discovered that Rapunzel's hair had that magical property, but if her hair was cut, it lost it.  So she kidnapped Rapunzel and hid her in a giant tower.  Over the years, her hair grew long and continued to restore Gothel's youth.

Fast forward eighteen years, and it's almost Rapunzel's birthday.  More than anything, Rapunzel (Mandy Moore) wants to see the floating lights that always appear on her birthday in person, but Mother Gothel is so controlling she won't let it happen.  That's when fate enters the story in the form of Flynn Rider (Zachary Levi).  He's the most wanted man in the kingdom, and he's trying to hide out in Rapunzel's tower.  Only she blackmails him into taking her to see the lights.  Where will this relationship lead?

I must admit, I don't know much of the story of Rapunzel beyond the basics (young woman with long hair in a tower).  A few times the thought crossed my mind wondering if something was in the original story or not.  But as is usually the case with Disney, they take the basics and make it their own.  While I'm sure most of the elements of the story are new, they feel like they've always been part of the story.

The prologue, which sets everything up, is a bit on the slow side.  But once the story really gets going, it's a complete blast.  The plot was fairly obvious from the beginning, especially since it is a fairy tale.  However, the story kept moving forward quickly, which kept me engaged.  Plus, the Disney spins to the story made things much more interesting.

And the humor was great.  Pascal, Rapunzel's pet chameleon, and Maximus, the blood hound horse trying to track down Flynn, absolutely steal the show.  Any scene they are an active part of is a complete hoot.  The humans get some great laughs as well.  I saw this with one of my roommates, and we were both laughing multiple times.

The only complaint I've heard of the movie was the music.  Yes, this is a musical in the grand tradition of Beauty and the Beast or Aladdin.  The complaint I had heard was that the songs felt forced.  I will admit that they didn't advance the story as much as they do in the movies I previously mentioned.  However, I did feel like they were more a part of things than the songs in last year's Princess and the Frog.  A couple of them are hauntingly beautiful (as you'd expect with Mandy Moore and Donna Murphy singing them), and there's one that is an absolute hoot.  Zachary Levi does the singing for his character, and he holds his own with this cast.

There's been some controversy with this film because they changed the name from Rapunzel to Tangled in an effort to attract boys.  Trust me, this is a movie that boys will enjoy.  It's got great action and the previously mentioned humor.  In fact, I think the entire family will enjoy this one together.  Yes, it does have romance to it, but this feel much like Aladdin to me, a movie that will appeal to everyone.

The computer animation in this film is beautiful.  They strove hard to create the look and feel of hand drawn animation with the computer, and the result is art like we've rarely scene in computer animation.  Yes, it is still stylized, but it's a huge step forward.

What I think surprised me the most about the film was how much I came to care about the characters.  Flynn and Rapunzel are so nice, even though Flynn starts off as a thief.  I really enjoyed spending time with them.  On the flip side, I found Mother Gothel to be one of the most menacing villains in a long time solely because of her mind games on poor Rapunzel.  I don't think she's scary enough to frighten young kids, but she is pure evil.

I can't wait to add Tangled to my movie collection.  In fact, I may sneak in another viewing at the theater.  If you are looking for a fun movie for the entire family, this is the film to go see.