A little slow, but fun

Rating: 6/10 (22 December 2010)

I didn't realize this was a singing movie. Ugh. I usually don't like singing. However, hearing Zachary Levi sing was enough for me to bite my tongue and not complain. If you've got little kids, they'll certainly enjoy themselves. Everyone knows the story of Rapunzel; it's nice to see her get a face lift in this. But like any Disney movie, this was incredibly predictable (Except for one part, but I'll get to that in a moment). The voicing was great, but it gets squandered by a delusional Rapunzel singing the SAME 5 NOTES OVER AND OVER AGAIN about how her dream is to see these "magical" lanterns fly through the sky. I get the jist of it, but I just never really got into it.
Without a doubt Zachary Levi and Rapunzel's pet chameleon (who's name is Pascal) are the strongest things this film's got going for it. Of course, in almost every Disney movie now there seems to be the clichÃ© creature of some sort that makes funny faces and amuses the audience. ClichÃ©s aside, Pascal is really funny, especially when he interacts with Flynn Rider (Zachary Levi's character). A chameleon for a pet is a great choice by Disney- his color would change with the tone of the characters and really set the mood.
Flynn Rider is the unmatched diamond amongst the dust in this. Unlike the original Rapunzel story, he accidentally finds Rapunzel, leading to a rather funny scene where Rapunzel smashing her frying pan into his head. How he survived this I don't know, but it's a kids movie so I won't complain. Zachary Levi had fun with this and it really shines through.
The star of this whole movie was, to be nice, a dud. After about the third time she sang about how she wants to escape her tower, even though she already did so, I really wanted to punch her in the face. Not hard, but enough to get her to STOP SINGING! Why on Earth Flynn Rider stays with her is beyond me. I felt myself getting angrier and angrier the longer the film lasted.
Rapunzel and her singing ability aside, this was a great movie. There's a nice twist at the end that I don't want to spoil. It's worth your $15 to see Zachary Levi sing, but cover your ears once Rapunzel starts "singing". Take your kids or grandkids, they'll enjoy this, but hope with all your might they don't try to sing some of the songs on the way home.