Disney is afraid of dealing with fear, or any serious subject matter at all for that matter.

Rating: 4/10 (13 February 2014)

So where to begin. This movie has a lot of strengths and clearly there is much talent behind this project. But it falls short due to it's failure to follow through with the themes and plot points presented. I can only imagine this is due to Mickey Mouse and his inability to let go of his insecure delusions of what makes a "Classic" a Classic. I'll start with the things I did like and keep it spoiler free for now.
#1 The animation is great, especially the Ice magic/power, and the character personalities. Vibrant and very full of emotion and life, they really let the visual team go nuts on this one.
#2 The two central characters Sisters Elsa and Anna, great dramatic tension between them, their charisma is through the roof.
#3 No big surprise I am also on the "Let It Go" bandwagon. Iconic and unforgettable scene and song, enough to warrant admission price on its own. A great vocal performance by Idina Menzel that stands out even alongside other memorable classic Disney pieces.
#4 Olaf the snowman could have been a lot more annoying then he was, I hate useless comedic relief characters as much as the next guy but this one kinda melted my heart.
Which leads me to some gripes I have with the movie.
#1 Not only Olaf but all the supporting cast are next to, or completely useless. The sisters may have gotten incomplete arcs, but they were lucky, no one else got any semblance to a character arc which leaves them flat uninteresting and completely lacking of any meaningful impact.
#2 Furthermore they contrive the situation to the point where the movie derails into characters running, chasing, and bumbling from point A to point B only to pass each other by or find out they need to go to the next location for whatever arbitrary reason. Putting the character progression completely on ice for much of the duration. I haven't seen a Disney movie with this frantic and aimless a pacing before.
The stuff that bothered me the most was specific plot points and unrealized themes, so for more details on why I feel this movie fails this requires (SPOILERS)
Ye be warned!
1# Take Olaf for instance, why make a specific point of him being Anna's only memory remnant of the magic incident, bringing him to life so that he can run around and be cutely annoying and useless, leaving her none the wiser to her sisters condition and reason for shutting her out.
#2 Why the need for two inconsequential antagonists. The conflict between Elsa and the Townsfolk would have been enough if the hysteria and fear would have been ramped up instead of petered out. It would also put Anna in the unique position of heroine and peacemaker between the two sides, complicated by her Heart being frozen.
#3 The love triangle could have been complete without the needless ulterior motive of prince Hans. Had his actions been motivated by love for Anna it could have led to the same conclusion and served a bigger purpose then pointless villain. Further cementing the theme of Fear/love.
#4 Anna's arc could have been a lot more true to character and theme if she didn't blindly persist in her naiveté even after spending time with Kristoff and Olaf. And added fuel to the would be love triangle.
I think these points for sure were on the table at one time or another. But the control freaks at the top can't see a good story if it slaps them in the face, "oh no we must have an antagonist and he must get his comeuppance". "God forbid the sidekicks are anything other then sidekicks". "Mocking the love at first sight trope is only allowed if said character still falls in the same pitfall later in the movie so that we can negate any extraneous character development".
(SPOILERS END)
A genuine attempt at a gripping and heartfelt movie for all ages forcefully ground through a generic stock formula loosing its soul in the process. It just reeks of a certain meddling mouse
In the end I hated this movie because Disney is so afraid to let the story live up to it's potential. Ignoring my "what-if" imaginary complaints I still find it kind of ironic and sad when the theme of love conquers fear can't keep the fear in Mickey from overpowering the love of the creators. Despite its exceedingly potent and poignant subject matter the whole experience left a really bad taste in my mouth.
4/10