"Tangled" Review

"If she's here, it's crystal clear I'm where I'm meant to be."
Tangled was a movie that came out nearly four years ago that I had yet to see until very recently. Increasingly, it seems to me that watching "old" (as in, 2008-2011) films give me a strange, surreal feeling. As if there was some sort of cosmic force telling me that these movies were both too close to the present and too far into the past to be considered watchable. It's odd, but I notice the same thing with video games (more pronounced, actually, due to how many things can change in that medium in such a short period of time).

Well, it seems Disney proves to be the exception to this rule (what a surprise) and delivers Tangled, a 2010 movie that just screams "Disney Renaissance." Catch the review under the break!

Let's begin, eh?

Tangled is a reworking of the original Rapunzel story by the Brothers Grimm. And since this is Disney reworking the movie (and since this is after The Little Mermaid), you can bet your bottom dollar that this movie is more child-friendly. Of course, that doesn't necessarily mean it's bad. With Disney, it often never is. The plot is pretty simple and I'm sure you know most of it. Old Mother Gothel (Donna Murphy) wants to keep Rapunzel (Mandy Moore) - who's actually a lost princess - in her tower due to the magic immortality-granting properties of her hair. When she comes of age, she runs afoul of Flynn Rider (Zachary Levi), a handsome thief who ends up attempting to hide in her tower. Things happen in their usual Disney way and Rapunzel makes Flynn take her to see the "lights" that shine in the sky every year on her birthday. Along the way, hijinks and romance ensue.

It's all very basic Disney stuff and there's not much that can be said that's very "original" about it, but that doesn't mean it's bad. Oh, no, far from it. If anything, Tangled probably has the best distillation and version of the classic Disney Princess movie. Handsome guy, beautiful girl who's royalty, they meet, they fall in love, and they have to battle some evil along the way. But it's done so well and the character's are so honest and lovable that you can't help but not fault the movie for it in any way.

Speaking of the characters, Flynn Rider absolutely steals the show. He has to be the best Disney leading man in a really long time and Zachary Levi absolutely nails his quasi-ladies man attitude and completely blase attitude about being in a fairy tale. He's hilarious, goofy, and competent, exactly the kind of hero that a Disney film (especially a Princess flick) needs: someone who isn't incompetent to make the heroine seem more competent, but not someone who the heroine relies on too much, either.

Of course, that isn't to say that Rapunzel isn't great, either. Far from it, in fact. Mandy Moore does a great job (It's Mandy Moore! Acting again! When was the last time you saw that? Incidentally, the film gave me flashbacks to the days she was voicing Aerith in Kingdom Hearts) portraying the socially-inept, naive, but very feisty and prone-to-hitting-people-with-frying-pans princess. It's also a wonder that it never comes off that Flynn is trying to take advantage of her, and even in the scenes where they flirt, they manage to play it off as Rapunzel having the final say.

Donna Murphy also does a wonderful job as Gothel. I wasn't expecting much, but she actually turned out to be a really great villain! Dark and surprisingly complex, she manages to somehow be somewhat sympathetic in her actions, even if she goes too far. Desperation and vanity go a long way to making someone evil, folks.

This being an animated movie, I'm obliged to talk about the animation, which is drop-dead gorgeous. It was nearly flawless from what I saw. Everything from the way Rapunzel's hair flows to the ridiculously well-animated water to the lighting to the everything, it was fantastic. The art style is incredibly cute (something it shares with Frozen) and overall, it's just wonderful. If there's one thing I have to complain about, it's that the character models look a little too clean at times, something that I noticed they fixed in Frozen. Just throwing that out there.

Music-wise, I really liked it. It wasn't as catchy or memorable as Frozen's songs from what I can remember of them, but if I give myself some time to listen to them more, I might find myself changing my tune. Big props to Mandy Moore and Zachary Levi for pulling off the best song in film, "I See The Light." I really also liked the rest of Rapunzel's musical numbers, especially "When Will My Life Begin." The rest are kind of forgettable, though, like "I've Got a Dream," but even Mulan and Hercules had forgettable songs, so I can forgive the movie for it.

Honestly, I really loved this movie. I've always been a Disney fan, but seeing everything they've been doing recently - Tangled, Wreck-it Ralph, and Frozen - has really reaffirmed my belief that they are still the best animation studio around. Well, other than Pixar, but Pixar is always above everyone else in this department. I look forward to whatever else they'll be doing in the future.

Tangled gets nine locked-in-a-tower-for-eighteen-years-princesses out of ten.

9.0/10