MOVIE REVIEW: FTN reviews Frozen

Frozen (PG)
Directors: Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee
Starring: Kristen Bell, Josh Gad and Idina Menzel
Running time: 108 min

Fearless optimist Anna teams up with Kristoff in an epic journey, encountering Everest-like conditions, and a hilarious snowman named Olaf in a race to find Anna’s sister Elsa, whose icy powers have trapped the kingdom in eternal winter.

When young princess Elsa (Mendel) learns she has the power to control ice and snow her parents warn her that she must be careful, but after an almost tragic accident involving her sister Anna (Bell) she is forced to become a recluse, forever afraid that her curse will someday destroy all she loves. Years later that is exactly what happens… and it is up to Anna and her new friend Kristoff (Jonathan Groff) along with a magically animated snowman, Olaf (Josh Gad), to find her and put everything back to the way it once was.

And there it is, in a nutshell, the whole plot of Frozen. And yet, it’s really quite wonderful.

From the team behind Wreck-it Ralph and Tangled, Frozen has real pedigree on its side before the credits even begin. It’s a brave movie; perhaps Disney’s most traditional in some time – beautiful princesses, magical curses, a living snowman, an animal that (almost) talks, true love (with a twist) and music aplenty. Indeed, the first half of the movie almost suffers from too many musical sequences with almost every event a reason for the characters to break into song but luckily the songs are well written and the scenes are – like the whole movie – beautifully animated and fun. And it does calm down once the main story kicks in.

Frozen, more than most animated movies over the last while, did the almost impossible and totally entertained my whole family. There was hardly any bathroom breaks or calls for more popcorn as the masses were thoroughly entertained throughout –  it even got an applause at the end – a rare thing in UK screens.

And deservedly so. It’s a first class piece of animated work. The direction from Buck and Lee jumps from comedy set piece, to ripping adventure, to musical interlude without drawing breath and it’s helped by some of the most amazing animation since Pixar rolled out Woody and co. Just wait until you see the ice effects.

Overall, Frozen is a simple story told very, very well. It’s exciting, funny and well paced with characters you’ll care about and, most daring of all, it feels like a movie Disney might have tried to make 50 years ago but knew it was still lacking the technology to do it justice. With a modern twist.

A completely enjoyable trip to the cinema for the whole family.

4 out of 5 Nerds