I prefer the dark and depressing stories. The more I cringe the better I like them. However, I went in to see Tangled having good feelings about it. I had heard a couple of good reviews and the previews were engaging.
Title: Tangled
Directors: Nathan Greno and Byron Howard
Starring: Mandy Moore (Rapunzel) and Zachary Levi (Flynn Rider)
Released: 2010
Rating: 4.5/5
Basic Plot: Rapunzel, tired of being locked up in her tower, convinces Flynn Rider to take her to see the annual floating lanterns.
Some Differences from the "Original" Rapunzel Tale
Rapunzel's hair is magical and can heal people as well as make them younger. This is because her mother was fed a magical flower while she was pregnant. If anyone cuts off Rapunzel's hair it loses its magical powers.
Rapunzel is a princess and the annual floating lanterns is celebrated on her birthday.
As is usual for a Disney movie, Rapunzel gets an animal companion. In this movie it's a chameleon.
Characters
Rapunzel
As is usual for a Disney movie, Rapunzel dreams of escaping her home and exploring. This is justified, however, by the fact that she has lived the majority of her life in a small tower. Mother Gothel keeps her trapped there because Mother wants Rapunzel's powers all for herself. The relationship between the two is creepy as the audience realizes what's really going on while Rapunzel doesn't. It is a great joy to see Rapunzel finally with her real parents at the end as you really get to feel for this character.
Flynn Rider
He is a thief that came from an orphanage. In the orphanage he dreamed of someday having everything he wanted. While he is running away from guards he ends up going into Rapunzel's tower. At first he doesn't like Rapunzel (though he does think she's smokin' hot) and eventually falls in love with her. Near the end of the movie he shows he'd rather die than allow Mother to be able to use Rapunzel's powers.
Death of Mother Gothel
Saying Mother Gothel dies isn't really a spoiler as it's stated within the first ten minutes of the movie at most. I was glad when she died since she's a really mean character (though enjoyable to watch). I would've preferred to see Mother splatter on the ground but, since this movie IS rated PG she evaporates into dust before her cloak hits the ground. This does make sense because Mother has been using Rapunzel's/the Flower's power for hundreds of year. I just like really gruesome deaths but the death they showed still works.
Songs
This is a movie where people break into song at random. The songs, I felt, were pretty nice and upbeat. The "Mother Knows Best" songs were really creepy and eerie. All in all, I prefer movies where people don't randomly break into song.
Final Thoughts
This is a very fun family film. While there are really dark aspects (Rapunzel and Mother Gothel's Relationship being one of them) it's a light hearted film. This film does use a bunch of cliche's but they never hamper down the story very much.
I really enjoyed the movie myself. I like the cartoons that have a creepy side to them. Ones that are not all happiness and puppies. This one was great. Specially the relationship between Kidnapper (Mother Gothel) and Kidnapped (Rapunzel). I have always had a thing for Disney movies, though I tend to love their older ones more. Specially the old style of animation, which is why I LOVED Princess and the Frog so much. And Rapunzel looks a bit odd with this animation, but I still really enjoyed the film.
ReplyDelete