Not A Horrible Film, But Very Bad On Disney's Standards

Rating: 6/10 (27 February 2016)

Frozen is directed by Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck, and is one of Disney's newest animated movies. The story follows Anna (Kristen Bell) and her older sister Elsa (Idina Menzel) as Elsa reveals to their kingdom of Arendelle that she has secret ice powers, and immediately runs away to build an ice castle and be alone, freezing Arendelle in the process. Anna must team up with mountain man Kristoff (Jonathan Groff) and his reindeer Sven, along with little snowman Olaf (Josh Gad) in order to find her sister and thaw out their frozen kingdom. To start, I enjoy Disney movies, when they're good. I'm not bias against this movie at all. I wish it would've been good, but it just wasn't. The same old Disney formula was used here, utilizing dead parents, a female heroine that needs a man (in this case, two), and a "funny" supporting character. This formula has been used so much, it's almost like watching parts of the same story over and over. This is why Disney movies such as Big Hero 6 (2014) and Wreck-It- Ralph (2012) are such a breath of fresh air from Disney, and are generally good films. The best thing I can say about this film is the music. This move has the best music in a Disney movie since The Lion King (1994). With songs like "Do You Want To Build A Snowman?" and the ever so famous "Let It Go," It has some pretty good music. Then it has "For The First Time In Forever." This song is good, yes, but, it's taken straight from the movie Tangled (2010). All Disney did is change the verses. and insert it into this film's soundtrack. However, the music is still the best thing this film has going for it.
The first horrible thing this movie brings to the table is it's elaborate plot. The plot sounds simple, indeed, but there's so many subplots in this film that it's truly hard identifying the overlying, main plot. To list some of them: unfreezing Arendelle, Anna making friends with Elsa, Anna marrying Prince Hans (Santino Fontana), Anna marrying Kristoff, etc. I've narrowed it down to the first two listed above, but I can't figure out which one is the predominant plot.
However confusing the plot is, I do have to mention the directing and animation. The animation, mostly, is very good in this film. There's absolutely no complaints to be had with it. There are no ugly shots in the movie at all.
The last thing I'll mention is the character, mostly Anna. To save least last, I'll start with Elsa. Elsa honestly isn't too bad of a character, but she is a confusing one. Her emotion is hard to read, but that, at points, is a good thing. Overall I'd say Idina Menzel does pretty good as Queen Elsa. Kristoff is a good quality character as well. His funny relationship with Sven, a reindeer, is probably the most funny thing in the entire film. This leads me into the next character: Olaf. Olaf is a snowman that tries to be the Timon and Pumbaa (from The Lion King) of this movie. However, Timon and Pumbaa were likable, and fun. Olaf just isn't. Josh Gad doesn't do great with this character, however, he doesn't exactly good bad either. Olaf is ultimately okay. Just that.
The last character, and definite worst thing about this whole movie is Anna. Anna is a princess that constantly needs a prince. She's not a strong female character at all, and is very disappointing all around. To compare to another Disney princess, I'll use Belle from The Beauty and The Beast (1991). Belle was a strong, independent woman that went alone to save her father, due to none of the "tough" men in the entire town volunteering to help. She was at first imprisoned by the Beast, and fell in love with his personality, and what's on the inside, despite his monstrosity of an appearance. Anna falls in love with Prince Hans due to his title: prince. Just due to his money and role in society, she falls for him. This makes Frozen a disappointment for any female character.
Overall, Frozen has a messed up plot, and upsetting characters, mixed with great animation and wonderful music. It's definitely the worst Disney film since The Emperor's New Groove (2000). I think Frozen deserves a C, or a 6 out of 10.