Film Review | Frozen
A Disney princess tale set in a picture-perfect snow globe
Walt Disney Animation Studio’s latest princess movie is like a multi-million dollar musical snow globe come to life. It’s set in the gloriously detailed, picture-perfect fjord town of Arendelle, with two wide-eyed, porcelain-skinned princess sisters and a catchy singsong soundtrack by award-winning Broadway composers. When shaken up in 3-D, it conjures marvellous aurora borealis skies and exhilarating blizzards. If it isn’t snowing where you are already, there’s really only way to watch this film—with the air conditioner on full blast.
Loosely based on Hans Christian Andersen’s Scandinavian fairy-tale The Snow Queen, Frozen is the story of Elsa (voiced by Broadway star and Glee regular Idina Menzel), born with magical powers that are slowly converting her into a blast freezer, and Anna her badass, redheaded sister (voiced by Kristen Bell). As a child, Elsa can already create an indoor winter-themed amusement park in an instant and built snow creatures out of thin air.
One summer, Elsa accidentally strikes her younger sister with her icy touch and soon the castle is locked up to prevent her from freezing anyone else. The siblings never play together again and live in separate rooms until three years after the death of their parents when Elsa is forced to take to the throne.
On coronation day, fear and anxiety intensify her powers. To make matters worse, Anna demands to marry the first prince she lays her eyes on (Hans, twelfth in line to the throne in the kingdom of the Southern Isles) and the sisters have a public blowout.
Watch out for the painstakingly detailed chandeliers, building columns, flooring, doors and even fairy lights all made of icicles and snowflakes. In her free time, she also belts out ballads like Let It Go to embrace the supernatural powers she once dreaded.
Anna makes the treacherous trek to her sister’s new home all by herself. Along the way, she meets Olaf (voiced by Josh Gad), a dorky snowman who craves a beachside holiday (he’s never experienced any heat before), and a clan of trolls disguised as mossy rocks. The creatures try to fix her up with their adopted son, a regular (but highly gullible) mountain Joe, who sells glacial ice blocks for a living, to “Fixer Upper", easily the movie’s most entertaining song.
Of course, only true love can save the day, but Prince Charming’s kisses just won’t do. Turns out, Hans was a flake anyway. Only warm hugs between the sisters can restore summertime in this this family-friendly, almost-harmless Christmas flick. Except for this little detail, the other Disney hallmarks are intact and we are seriously expecting this franchise to spin off into a winter wonderland theme park at Disneyland. In fact, they’ve already built a Frozen-themed ice-skating rink with Olaf as its mascot.
Frozen released in theatres on Friday
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