Review of Tangled (2010) by Bluedevilhawk1 — 29 Nov 2010

Took my kid sister to see Tangled the day it came out, because I had nothing better to do. I was expecting to bored out of my mind. The commercials made it look like just another standard Disney princess movie a la Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Little Mermaid: movies I didn't particularly like even as a kid.

And, in part, it was a standard princess movie. It had an animal sidekick, an evil "step-mother", random outbursts of singing, and, of course, a princess who doesn't know she is one. What makes Tangled special, though, is the fact that it goes above and beyond the standard.

Its dark parts are darker, its humor is lighter, its singing is better, its voice acting superb. There were only a few "problems", which I only noticed because I was looking for them. In the scene where Rapunzel and Flynn are wet, for instance, the normally flawless character animation seems a bit fake.

Also, the songs seem a little forced into the story, and are almost copied from The Lion King, Cinderella, The Little Mermaid, and Mulan 2 (By the way, if you haven't seen Mulan 2, I envy you). However, the singing in all these songs (particularly "Mother Knows Best") is enough to overcome any contrivity.

I absolutely loved the voice acting, particularly by whoever plays Flynn Rider (I can't quite remember his name). It was completely believable, and his character comes off perfectly. Another thing that I didn't quite like was the ending (THESE NEXT 9 WORDS ARE THE ONLY PART WITH SPOILERS): but that's only because I like my girls blonde.

There was really no other way to pull off the story, and the story was better for it anyway. The best of the animation was in the eyes. Through the characters' eyes, you can see every thought, every emotion, every plan forming.

The eyes in Tangled are possibly the best I've seen ever in a non-Pixar film. Overall, this movie is astounding, and the best Disney, non-Pixar film since the Lion King, and should give TS3 a run for its money at the Oscars.