Tangled is fun for the entire family!

Rating: 8/10 (31 January 2011)

¨Superhuman good looks, I've always had them. Born with it. But superhuman strength, can you imagine the possibilities of this?¨ Tangled was a pleasant surprise and it reminded me a lot of the fairy tales I read during my childhood years. This is actually Disney's first CGI fairytale film and it was brought to us from the creators of Bolt and Meet the Robinsons (Nathan Greno and Byron Howard). The movie began a bit slow for my taste, but midway through it picked up and completely hooked me until the very end. There are several scenes which reminded me a lot of Disney's early movies such as Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, and The Little Mermaid. The main characters aren't really the stars of the film; it's the secondary characters like Maximus- the horse, and Pascal- the chameleon who steal the show. They were the ones who got the most laughs out of the audience, but Rapunzel and Flynn did make a great couple and were very likable characters nonetheless. There are also a couple of scenes were a small man dressed only in diapers shows up drunk, and he is hilarious every few seconds he appears on screen. Disney took a huge risk at trying to go back to the classical fairytale stories, but it absolutely worked. The story was amazing and had several emotional moments along with very funny scenes that the entire family could enjoy. The CGI effects also gave the story a more magical feeling to it, and the lantern lighting scene was just breathtaking.
As for the plot goes we are introduced to Rapunzel (Mandy Moore) who was born with magical healing and aging powers in her hair. The only problem is that if she cuts her hair those powers vanish (which explains why her hair is so long). She was born a princess, but due to her healing powers she was kidnapped by an old lady named Gothel (Donna Murphy), who locked her up in a tower so no one would ever find her. Gothel raises her as her child and Rapunzel grows up believing she is her daughter and thinking that the outside world is a dangerous place. Her only friend is a chameleon named Pascal with whom she spends the entire day locked up in her tower. One day a wanted man named Flynn (Zachary Levi) shows up accidentally in her tower while trying to hide from the castle guards who are searching for him because he has stolen the crown. Rapunzel knocks Flynn down with a frying pan and takes the crown from him. When Flynn wakes up Rapunzel realizes he is not as dangerous as her mother has told her men were, and she decides to make a deal with him. If he takes her to the castle to see the lantern lightings which are released every year on her birthday she will give him the crown back and let him go. Flynn realizes this will be a hard task since he is a wanted man, but it is his only opportunity so he takes it. Together they begin their journey, but the only problem is that everyone is after Flynn, including a guard's horse named Maximus, who is more committed to his mission on catching Flynn than anyone else.
I actually watched this movie in Spanish (Rapunzel and Flynn were voiced by Chayanne and Danna Paola) and the translation was really well done as in all Disney films. The story is really well written and has several funny moments along with some emotional ones as well so Tangled is well balanced. The main reason I think this fairytale worked for both genres is that it doesn't only focus on the princess. This time the main characters are both Flynn and Rapunzel and they both get a lot of screen time. Flynn, despite being a thief, is a likable guy and has a good heart, while Rapunzel is the usual innocent girl who is being taken advantage of. As I mentioned before the secondary characters also are one of the main reasons why this film worked so well. Tangled is one of the best animated films of this year (after Toy Story 3 of course) and is well worth your time. I didn't expect to like this movie as much as I did and didn't even like the trailer that much, but it really surprised me. I absolutely recommend this film for the entire family. The story is really well written and the dialogue in this film is hilarious.
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