Frozen

Rating: 6/10 (30 January 2014)

Oh look, a Disney animated musical. Haven't seen one of these in a while. And no, believe it or not for a change... I AIN'T being sarcastic.
Recent films from the company eschew traditional formula, and concentrate more on exotic settings and independent female protagonists. (Strange how so many of them are princesses, you'd think they were trying to add to an existing line of merchandise) A couple of standard tropes remain though: One is that the heroine(s) must either start out with just one parent, or lose one or both quickly at the beginning. The other, far more grating, it the traditional 'comic relief'. Here, the position is filled by a buck-toothed animate snowman who keeps falling apart. I must say, I found this guy's clowning around about as appealing as a maggot sandwich. Why couldn't THIS be the snowman who melted at the end of Raymond Briggs's famous short film, rather than the far more lovable creation who did?
As it is a musical, we get a ton and a half of tunes, all of which move the plot forward and do a good job of it, too. They are pleasant on the ear, with some amusing lyrics... but I can't imagine listening to any in isolation to the movie. The definite exception is the tremendous central song... 'Let It Go'. This is one of the best Disney songs in years, and the scene that accompanies it is easily the highlight of the film. It has been nominated for an Academy Award, and I hope it wins.
The CGI is absolutely stunning, with the ice and snow so realistically rendered you'll shiver in your seat just by watching it. Either that, or you need to turn your heating up... you tightwad. As for the story, it has strong feminist trappings... which isn't a bad thing. The Queen doesn't need a husband to rule, and the personality-less 'hunk' her sister initially falls in love with turns out to be a class A cad. When she agreed to marry him the same day they met, I heard myself cry a very audible "WHAT?!". Fortunately, she soon sees the error of her ways, and takes a fancy to a less 'perfect' but more well rounded peasant instead. So, that's alright then.
When I compare this to the last two Disney films, The Princess And The Frog and Tangled (also about princesses... you see my point?) it does come up short. Perhaps the main plot, about sister solidarity, was not all that interesting to me, and the lack of a major villain (apart from right near the end) did make proceedings slightly tepid. Plus, there was always that damn snowman, always lurking in the background. Someone pass me a giant microwave already.
Don't get me wrong, it's still a lot of fun. Just not exactly what I would call a Disney Classic, dat's all. 6/10