Saturday, February 22, 2014

Movie Review: Frozen



I was extremely hesitant to see this movie.  So much so that I did do so until this Monday (2/17/14) when it was released on 11/27/13 (yes, it's still in theaters, which is very surprising since it comes out on 3/18/14),  My reasons for hesitancy have to do with reading some less than stellar speculations about how Disney was now out to ruin Hans Christian Anderson's fairytale The Snow Queen, which it's loosely based on.  After seeing the movie, I'd say it's more inspired by or to put it another way kind of a fanfiction of The Snow Queen (but then I could make the argument that everything is a fanfiction of something, which is a whole other blog post).  When I first discovered that Disney reworked and watered down classic fairytales I was extremely annoyed in the way only a teenager can be.  I much preferred the darker and bloodier versions, but now as an adult, while I still do lean towards the morbid, I can see the value in what they've done.  Disney does tend to imply in a way that they were the originator of the tales whether it's done directly and purposely or not, but this seems like it was more for their past projects.  Most of us immediately think of them when we hear such titles as Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, or Cinderella, and it's hard for me to presume that they would not want it any other way.

Regardless, I decided to venture out and see Frozen after hearing 99% wonderful things about it from friends and family alike.  I actually went to see it with my brother who was on his second time.  Let me start out with the soundtrack, because this is important.  Prior to even the opening credits, I had chills running down my spine from the haunting beauty of the boy's choir that precedes it..  This was an excellent meta move from a film entitled Frozen.  Like so many things I've been hesitant about (A Song of Ice and Fire, the book series mind you; Harry Potter; The Hunger Games; FFVII), I was completely wrong to wait.

Frozen is about two sisters Anna and Elsa who happen to be princesses, and I mean to say it in that way.  Their being princesses, while integral to some story parts, really is not all that important. They reside in the kingdom of Arendelle with their parents, the king and queen.  Anna is a feisty ginger ingenue, while Elsa, silvery-blond, is more mature and reserved, and this is not just because she is the elder.  Elsa has the power to literally create winter, and when the two sisters are girls, this is just a game.  They romp and cavort through the ice and snow while inside their castle until Elsa accidentally strikes Anna in the head with a wintry spell, stunning her and making a strand of her hair turn ice white.  Their parents seek help from trolls who not only heal Anna but also remove all memories of her sister's magic.  After this Elsa stays mostly locked in her room trying desperately to learn how to control her abilities, while Anna wonders why they've became so distant as the two girls grow up.  During this time, their parents are lost at sea.  Anna and Elsa are left alone in their solitary castle, where they doors have not been opened for years, and they don't even have each other for company.

When Elsa comes of age, the kingdom prepares for her coronation, and Anna, excited to finally see people, wanders the town and meets Prince Hans of the Southern Isles.  The two feel a mutual connection in that they're both sort of goofy and clumsy, even "finishing each others 'sandwiches'" as their duet suggests.  They decided then and their that they're going to get married, and Anna asks for Elsa's blessing.  In a total paradigm twister for a Disney film Elsa tells her that she can't marry someone she's only known for a day, which makes complete sense.  During the ensuing argument, Elsa loses control of her powers and bestows eternal winter upon Arendelle, before fleeing to the northern mountains.  There she comes to the realization that only in solitude can she be her true self without fear or judgment, so she casts off all shackles to literally let her hair down (it's been bound up as tight as she was prior to this, easy but still excellent symbolism) and create a glorious ice palace for herself while singing "the cold never bothered me anyway."  Her clothes change as well to a flowing, diaphanous blue gown, starkly different from her queenly and conservative garb.

Meanwhile, back in Arendelle, Anna is determined to get her sister back and heads to the northern mountains alone leaving Hans behind to take care of her kingdom.  While getting supplies Anna meets Kristoff, a mountain man with his reindeer Sven, who reluctantly agrees to help her since his ice collecting business has been ruined by the winter that never ends.  During their journey north Anna imparts how she got into this situation, and Kristoff gives her a look when she reaches the part where she and Hans were going to get married after knowing each other for one day.  I really liked that the movie had not one, but two characters who had never met nor spoken to each other, call Anna out on how bad of a move that marriage would've been.  It's as though Disney is really trying to make up for all the times that they had this very situation happen, and they're saying, "No no no, we realize now that's not the way to go.  Give us a break, we were just working within the confines of the times of our work!"

While journeying up the mountain Anna and Kristoff meet a living snowman named Olaf much to Anna's greater shock since that was the name she and Elsa always gave their snow creations.  Olaf leads them to Elsa's ice palace where the sisters are reunited, but the snow queen is still terrified of hurting Anna and refuses to return to Arendelle, insisting that her place is here alone in the cold.  Anna persists in her persuasion, which agitates Elsa's emotions to the point where she accidentally uses her powers against her sister again striking her this time in the heart.  Horrified by her actions, Elsa creates a giant snow monster to chase them away so that she won't hurt her her sister nor anyone again.  While they flee Kristoff notices that Anna's hair is turning white and realizes something is very wrong.  He decides to take her to his adopted family, the very trolls that healed the princess the first time.  They tell them that Anna's heart has been frozen, and unless it is healed by an act of true love, then she will become frozen solid forever.

Back in Arendelle, Hans decides to lead a search for Anna.  He enlists the help of the Duke of Weselton, a guest at the coronation who insisted afterwards that Elsa was a sorceress who needed to be taken care of.  He grants Prince Hans the use of some of his men, but makes sure his lackeys understand what they need to do should they encounter the ice queen.  When Hans and his men reach Elsa's palace, the ensuing battle knocks the queen unconscious so that she can be brought back and imprisoned in Arendelle.  Hans pleads with her to undo the winter she so wrought, but Elsa insists that she doesn't know how.

***Warning - Major Story Spoilers Ahead***

When Anna reunites with Hans and begs him to kiss her to undo the frozen curse, he refuses in order to reveal his amazingly unexpected (at least to me) Face-Heel Turn where he reveals he never loved her or had any interest in her.  He merely wanted to marry her to gain control of her kingdom since he has twelve older brothers and nothing else left for him at home.  At no point in any of Hans' scenes did I even get an inkling that he was going to be the main villain, and I was actually scratching my head prior wondering how they were going to reconcile Anna's two love interests in Kristoff the rough, but loyal, mountain man with Hans the slightly silly, but still responsible, prince.  I liked them both!  Hans is good-looking and handled things in Arendelle very well while both Anna and Elsa were indisposed, even doing things like handing out blankets and warm clothing to the people and making sure they had enough supplies.  The only hint that's given is in the beginning of the movie where he tells Anna about his twelve brothers and how they treated him growing up, but nowhere in his attitude is the nefarious schemer Anna sees now.  She is completely destroyed by this news as he leaves her to die from her own sister's touch.  Hans then lies to the people of Arendelle saying that Anna is dead, but they were able to say their wedding vows prior to her demise, essentially making him the king.  He then charges Elsa with her sister's death, but the snow queen manages to escape prior to execution.

Olaf the snowman manages to find Anna and builds a fire at the risk to himself.  She admonishes him for this, and he then delivers one of the most poignant and heartbreaking lines in the film saying, "Some people are worth melting for."  He tells her that Kristoff is in love with her and helps her to the frozen fjord to find him.  Hans confronts Elsa and tells her her sister is dead because of her.  Her ensuing despair at this causes the storm to cease, which gives Kristoff and Anna the chance to reach each other.  However, when Anna sees Hans is about to kill Elsa, she throws herself in between her sister and the sword, freezing solid in that moment so the blade shatters off of her ever winter skin.

Elsa grieves for her sister, but in the midst of her tears, Anna begins to thaw for her sacrifice was an act of true love.  Elsa then realizes that love is the key to controlling her powers and is able to thaw Arendelle and even make it so that Olaf can survive in the summer.  Hans is sent back to his kingdom in disgrace, Kristoff and Anna share and kiss, and the two sisters reconcile with Elsa promising never to shut the castle gates again.

Maybe its the fact that I've romanticized winter or maybe it's the fact that I love a good twisted paradigm, but I found Frozen to be phenomenal.  The enchantress is not evil and the handsome prince is not good (though he had many of us fooled for a while).  I loved the contrast between the two sisters.  Anna, fiery and positive to Elsa, cool and reserved.  The story was first and foremost about the relationship between the two of them.  The romantic aspect was there, but it took a back seat to what really mattered.  It reminded me of Brave in that that film was all about the mother-daughter bond, but I felt Frozen was a superior film due to the extraordinary lengths Anna goes to in order to find her sister and bring her home (not saying that Merida didn't, but I just felt that in Frozen it was more profound).  There is also the idea of the sacrifice.  The "act of true love" wasn't the typical Disney kiss, but rather the true love between siblings.  Even though Elsa was the one who caused her to be in her position, even though Anna believed at the time she was losing her last chance to live, she didn't care and threw herself in front of the blade anyway.  Maybe it's the bravery and self-sacrifice that draws me to this tale.  The willingness to risk everything for the sister you love despite the fact that they'd essentially become estranged while living under the same roof.  Even after all those years Anna didn't care.  She wanted to know why they'd become so distant and nothing was going to stop her from finding out.

This is a movie I would love for all young girls especially to see.  It's continuing a path I'm happy that Disney is starting to take in that there are greater loves than just romantic.  There are better things than a prince's kiss.  Is this the first Disney movie to show the princess ending up with a commoner?  No, of course not.  Aladdin did that back in 1992, and in Brave the princess didn't end up with anyone at all!  It is the first Disney movie I can recall where the enchantress isn't evil, and I love that.  I love that that paradigm has been flipped.  Even though her powers can be very destructive, her intentions are not, and intentions most certainly matter.  Everything Elsa does is out of responsibility.  She locks herself away in order to protect Anna.  She flees to the northern mountains for the same not realizing that she's frozen the entire kingdom.  When this is proven to her, she's absolutely horrified that her people have suffered because of her actions.

Both of the sisters are exemplary characters, Olaf the sidekick is not only a good comic relief, he also provides good insights and the one very poignant line I mentioned above.  The real love interest is someone that Anna actually gets to know (she even meets his family, shock!) before making a commitment, and the villain of the story isn't revealed until nearly the end.  There's much to be said for good timing on a villain reveal.  The longer you leave that, I've found, the better the tale.  There was a bit of a red herring with the Duke of Weselton, but he was more of a silly side note than a true big bad.  I think everyone who knows common Disney paradigms and enjoys when things like that are twisted will get much enjoyment from this wintry tale.  I give it five stars and will be seeing it for the second time later today.

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