Doubt if you must, but Tangled will win you over.

Rating: 7/10 (3 November 2013)

Although Disney will forever be immortal for their varied peaks of films since 1937, they have been struggling to stand out lately. The word Disney has become synonymous with animation and its easy for Pixar, Fox and Dreamworks to all come under the same label for kids, rather than show themselves as competitors. They thrive on franchises whereas Disney tries to keep its sequels to its straight-to-bargain bin department. These franchise films become events and although I would call Wreck-It Ralph an event movie, the average joe has no idea who made it anyway. So in retrospect, I do feel bad for overlooking Tangled as it belongs in a difficult and murky time for unique animated films, especially as it's CGI as opposed to Disney's previous landmark The Princess and the Frog. But surprisingly, it's a super charming film and it has an broadness that truly does appeal to everyone. I think it's in the sense of humour, it's very quirky and dry, reminding me of the laid-back attitude The Emperor's New Groove and Shrek. There's brilliant running gags and details sprinkled around that land immediately and make it a more involving experience.
The quality in the animation was definitely worth the ballooned budget and more as they can compete with Pixar at this point. However, the storytelling is typical and overfamiliar at this point. Sure, it's Disney's style, but it's nowhere near as refreshing as Wreck-It Ralph for instance. Its biggest mistake was the songs. It could've been okay if they were unique, but they seemed like they were tagged on out of necessity. Too often do they drag the film into melodrama when it actually hits some poignant notes from time to time, but its biggest sin is that they're too plain. I also found myself wanting to know a lot more about the antagonist. She was hundreds of years old and her motivation seemed to only strike in the last twenty. There's something Walt Disney used to say which I wish the makers of Tangled took on board which is a film is only as strong as its antagonist. Sometimes it seems like the good guys will never make it as she's hot on their tails, but then it never follows through until it's hit the point it wants to show. But it's fine, the enjoyable side characters more than make up for her and in the end, Tangled wins you over. Definitely a great attempt at Disney modernising without selling their spirit.
7/10