Fantastic film

Rating: 9/10 (27 August 2015)

Frozen's quite possibly my favourite Disney movie, rivaled only by The Hunchback of Notre Dame. It's emotional, has a great storyline, fantastic characters, important lessons and is overall excellent.
I like how Frozen subtly touches on issues such as child abuse. Elsa and Anna's back story may have been a bit rushed but by doing it quickly, the film prevents the little kids from realizing that Elsa and Anna are suffering from child abuse. Heck it's done so subtly that even Anna and Elsa themselves never show any indication of realizing that their parents abused them. However locking away your children for over a decade, teaching one of them to fear and perhaps even hate herself for who she is as well as separating her from the person she loves most in the world is bad parenting. And the thing is, the king and queen weren't even intentionally being abusive, which is what makes it such an ingenious part of the story. They were bad parents not because they were bad people but because they literally didn't know how to raise their daughters properly, which is why Elsa became so terrified of herself and Anna became so desperate for love that she threw herself at the first man she met. Overall the deaths of Anna and Elsa's parents was actually for the best in terms of both Elsa and Anna's character development and the overall story.
Another thing it touches on very briefly is homosexuality, as implied by Oaken's family, which is something I don't think I've ever seen in a Disney movie before. Much like the child abuse it's done subtly so that many might not even notice it.
And of course arguably the most important lesson in the story is that love at first sight, while it may exist (I think my parents fell in love at first sight) is not nearly as simple or wonderful as previous Disney movies make it out to be. In fact, Anna's "love at first sight" relationship with Hans is what nearly dooms her and Elsa. If Olaf hadn't busted Anna out of the locked room, both she and Elsa would have died. Take that anyone who says Olaf's a pointless character!
Elsa is easily my favourite character in the entire film. Idina Menzel was fantastic in her portrayal of Elsa and proved herself to be an excellent singer too! Idina's voice brings a maturity to Elsa that shows a woman whose been forced to grow up far too quickly and missed out a lot of her childhood, but there are scenes where Elsa still seems very youthful, especially at the end when she finally accepts who she is and starts skating around like a child with her sister. Speaking of which, the relationship between Elsa and Anna was, and this is coming from a guy with three siblings, the most beautiful sibling bond I've ever seen. They literally loved each other more than life itself and it's both heartwarming and heartbreaking to see them to struggle to reconnect after their ruined childhood. Also I don't mind that Elsa had no love interest; in fact I think she doesn't need one because all the love she needs comes from Anna. That said, I will say that Elsa's one of the hottest Disney females in history, which is ironic considering she controls ice and snow. Normally I prefer brunettes over blonde's but Elsa's one of the few exceptions.
Anna was a great character too, although I personally think that Elsa is more interesting and complex. Anna's charm comes from her being very different from the stereotypical princess. She's hyperactive, she's clumsy, she rambles but all that makes her seem like a very real person. And what makes her remarkable is that she still holds onto her optimism and innocence even after a miserable and lonely childhood. Of course she loses some of her innocence after Hans' betrayal but that's part of her character development and she learns something from it. The scene where Anna sacrifices herself for Elsa on the fjord had me in tears, even though I knew she would come back to life, because you can tell that Anna really did think she was going to die (heck arguably she DID die but was resurrected) but she would rather that than live without Elsa. Kristen Bell did a great job at portraying Anna.
Olaf was a funny character and as I've mentioned before, he was actually extremely important because without him, Frozen would not have had a happy ending. Olaf also embodies the happiness and innocence Elsa and Anna had before the accident and Elsa's longing to be reunited with her sister.
Kristoff and Sven were okay and their little "conversations" were quite amusing but overall, I wasn't too interested in them as characters. Hans' betrayal came out of nowhere but it worked because it can give people a reality check; too much trust can be dangerous. The Duke of Westleton was an okay character and I like that they didn't portray him as just a villain. He's greedy, paranoid and prejudiced against magic but unlike Hans, he's not evil. He showed genuine sadness when he thought Anna was dead.
I hope the sequel is as brilliant as this movie.