Tangled

[Anarchemitis]

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tangled]
Tangled
Directed by: Nathan Greno and Byron Howard
Produced by: Roy Conli, John Lasseter and Glen Keane
Production by: Walt Disney Animation Studios (UK)
Available for DVD and Blu-Ray
2010
(Rated G for General Audiences in Canada)

Spoiler: Other reviews by me.

Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.181134]
Blazing Angels 2: Secret Missions of World War II [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.145860]
The Arrival by Shaun Tan [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.67522#600389]
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.86412]
Sid Meier's Railroads! [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.68483]
Gang Garrison 2 [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.77975]
Lego [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.72355]

This is the best film I've seen this year. If that's not audacious enough, permit me to be even more impertinent and say that it exceeds my expectations compared to Toy Story 3. When Walt Disney Animation Studios decided they would make their 50th movie, someone said that it needed to be of unprecedented quality to exceed Disney's recent history of.... questionable quality overall. And did they ever. Tangled is the first return to the pretext of 'Princess Story' since the Princess and the Frog, and I think its the sign of Disney turning a new page in its book.

The directors; Greno and Howard, have been working for Disney Animation Studios for a while now, having made some relatively-good-but-not-quite-amazing CG films in the past few years, like Chicken Little and Bolt, but this takes them to a new precedent. Tangled is a musical about Rapunzel, the girl with golden hair, who is locked away in a tower and can never leave due to her overprotective Mother Gothel, and relatively speaking, it's up to Flynn Rider to show her what she's missing and help her get over her complex of not wanting to betray her 'well-intending mother' by leaving the tower. There's a lot more to the plot than that, but this review is purposed to remain spoiler free. That is, unless you've already clicked on the Wikipedia link.

Tangled manages to succeed in a way many Pixar films have and few other CG films hadn't, and how that occurs is due to the large amount of well developed characters. Each one is entirely readable and contains a breadth of variety in their personality and motion, which can be challenging to many studios. Another aspect which greatly impressed me was the animation itself. I know, it's sort of weird to say that seeing as it is an animated film just like all the others studios make, but I don't know, it's just something you get an eye for when you're an animation student such as myself. It really smacks of the clarity and exuberance you see in the quality of movies Disney made back in the Renaissance of the late 80s and the 90s like Beauty & The Beast or The Lion King. Like the animators were enjoying every frame of their craft as much as the audience would enjoy watching it.

A thing that surprised me for the better was it's return to form with the movie being a musical, and it fits. My only grievance with the existence of the musical numbers is not having more of them in the movie, possibly even for the King and Queen, or perhaps a When a Felon's Not Engaged in His Employment -esque bit for the Captain of the Guards who chases Flynn. With it, he might have been a bit better developed. Without it, he becomes a bit flat, or like Inspector Javert from Les Miserables. Along that note, I quickly found it laughable how incompetent the King's men were in the context of their job. But thinking about it from the story's perspective it makes sense because the movie had enough antagonists as it was without having to add to the troubles of Rapunzel and Flynn with the soldiers actually being dangerous to any extent.

As said, there are few things I could find wrong with the movie, leaving the vast majority of it a very splendid and remarkable work fit for the halls of Disney's glorious past, made present. Watch it, and if you've seen it, watch it again. The 3D version by the way, is worth it.

[sub]A thousand forgivenessess for not having ever reviewed a recent movie before.[/sub]​

 

[Tharwen]

Strangely, the only time I'd ever heard of this film before clicking this thread was when a youtube advert popped up at me. It was quite a good one though, so I don't mind.

How would you rate it on a scale of 1 to Shrek[footnote]Shrek 1, that is. 2 only had a few good moments, and 3+ are dead to me.[/footnote]?

EDIT: Whoops, Shrek was made by Dreamworks. Oh well, my question is still appropriate.

 

[Anarchemitis]

Strangely, the only time I'd ever heard of this film before clicking this thread was when a youtube advert popped up at me. It was quite a good one though, so I don't mind.

It's better than Toy Story 3.

 

[Paksenarrion]

For me, it was bittersweet. I loved the movie, but it reminded me of an old (and now recurring) wish that I was born a blonde. I found myself identifying more with the "Mother".

I asked my bf what he thought of the movie, but he just mumbled something noncommittal. I've told him a thousand times how I hate it when he mumbles!

 

[Gilhelmi]

This man speaks truth.

You will laugh
You will cry
You will say great things about this movie when you leave.

This movie is like the old really, really good Disney movies. Truly, this movie is the best standalone movie I have seen in forever. I do not want to spoil the end of the movie. There are four named characters (2 animals and the 2 main character), even the evil stepmother does not have a name. I like this because by the first ten minutes you do not care about anyone else in the movie except for the two lovers.

Take your girl/boyfriend to see this movie. I cannot overstate how good this film is. Best film of the year, by far.

 

[rsvp42]

Downright hilarious film too! It's chock full of appeal in every scene, from the character design, to the posing, everything. Glen Keane played a big part in getting the CG animation (animation itself, not the rendering) to look very un-CG, so to speak. I really felt like the animators had some amazing rigs to work with and weren't limited by what the characters were capable of. The facial poses look like what they wanted them to look like, not what the rig could handle, for example.

As you said, it hearkens back to the classic Disney style, but there's a nice, even more modern sensibility with the humor that made me think of Emperor's New Groove. That had more anachronisms of course, but the point is that Tangled was genuinely funny and pretty much anything that wasn't dramatic or emotional was hilarious.

 

[Anarchemitis]

I asked my bf what he thought of the movie, but he just mumbled something noncommittal. I've told him a thousand times how I hate it when he mumbles!

You have won this thread.

 

[Casual Shinji]

Very good review.

I'm sure Alan Menken's involvement is what makes Tangled rise above Disney's previous CGI movies.

I haven't seen it yet, but maybe I can drag my sister along: I would feel very self-conscience going to this movie alone as a burly 28-year old male.

 

[darthricardo]

Just finished watching it... and yeah, astonished. There's some amaizingly beautiful setpieces and scenes in the movie, and while there's a good amount of levity, you can still take the movie entirely on it's own merit. Amazing, amazing stuff. The ads, of course, didn't really do the movie justice at all.tell me anything useful about the movie at all.

 

[gorfias]

Good review and good family entertainment. Nice to know I can still get my teenagers to sit down and watch an animation. (The thinking in Hollywood is animation is particularly dead to teenage males... watching my boy, I have to think there is some merit to this thinking). Even he seemed to like it.