Is this possibly the worst film Disney have produced for a while???

Rating: 5/10 (8 December 2013)

(This review is written by a 38 yr old male father of four)
OK so first off, this film isn't terrible. My rating of 5 out of 10 stars is not a terrible score, but a strictly average one, which in my opinion, sums up this film. I have seen the IMDb film score, which at the current time is at 8.1 and I have also read some gushing reviews about this film, but personally speaking... I just did not feel it.
However, it is at least watchable, and in some parts enjoyable, and so not so bad as to feel the need to walk out of the theatre (which I have done twice in my life so far), but if it wasn't for the sake of my children sat right next to me, I may have at least nodded off in my seat (which I have also done twice in my life so far!) But to give Disney credit, the animated scenery looks magnificent, and parts of the film are visually stunning, but that is the least that we should expect from a power-house like Disney these days. But the storyline for me was also very predictable, which I guess is quite hard to avoid being in the fairytale-business and all, but i still feel that more of an effort could be made to shake these films up a touch, into maybe giving us the odd plot-surprise now and then, to keep things fresh.
Not only was the storyline predictable, it was a little dull, and to be honest, I also felt the songs were not up to the usual Disney standard either. Nor did they even have the usual Disney 'feel' to them. It was as if they were trying to slightly emulate the feel of a proper grown-up musical, like Les Mis for example, which may have been done intentionally, to bring something a little different to the mix, and also their thinking may have been influenced with the knowledge of Les Mis's recent success at the box office fresh in their minds at the time of film production. But for me, again, it didn't really work for a children's film. The songs were a little dreary compared to the usual upbeat Disney classics so far, and were very, very forgetful. I do not expect this soundtrack to live long in people's memories of top Disney musicals.
Whilst watching this film, i also thought that a slightly older audience may appreciate this film more than the usual demographic, but to my surprise, my 3 year old daughter sat through the whole thing without fidgeting at all, which isn't like her :D She loved it. She laughed quite a bit at the Snowman character too. But I have to say, if it wasn't for the inclusion of this character, I think that my young daughter would not have been as happy to watch the whole film. She did still ask if she could have Elsa's dress straight after the credits had finished though haha! So Disney have indeed kept my daughter entertained for an hour and a half (which felt more like 3 hours to me) as usual, but I do not expect it to take the place of her beloved 'Tangled' which she watches at least twice a week :)
No doubt Disney will make a decent fortune from this movie, but I just get the feeling it won't gross the usual amounts. I think most people will go to see this movie because they expect a certain format, and because most of us are Disney fans anyway, of which i class myself in that category too, but in my opinion, I think that this time, Disney have veered a little too much off track, and think would benefit from sticking to the usual winning format, which clearly works, such as films like: Lion King; Little Mermaid; Aladdin etc., as these are the great films which stick in my mind as, not only, memorable musically, but also great 'feel-good' and somewhat funny films. I believe Disney can still shake up the story lines a little to prevent the inevitable predictability, but by also sticking to the winning format, I do not think that Disney can go far wrong, especially where the music is concerned.