Excellent family entertainment.

Rating: Null/10 (24 November 2010)

A few days ago I saw "Megamind", and thought it was just okay. I enjoyed it for what it was, but I didn't think it too spectacular. My faith in CGI entertainment was on the wane.
Well, tonight Disney pulled me from that depression, and help reinvigorate my belief in, well, just plain Disney.
What we have here is Rapuntzel turned on her head, with a dash of "Snow White" and "Sleeping Beauty" stirred in to keep our interest.
The film was charming, clever and witty without being too much of either. The comic timing was toned down for the young kiddies in the audience, mostly little girls and some younger boys, but the comedic aspect itself did not lose luster for this. If anything it showed just what good clever comedy was. Note Rapuntzel's improvised weapon, and how she brings it to bear on the baddies in the local tavern. Classic character sketch comedy, and I don't care if I was the only one who noticed it and was laughing. You're supposed to laugh!
The story itself regards fleeing the nest from a "Mime" like character, whose interest in our heroine is less than altruistic. The dashing rogue comes in to ground the story and keep Mandy Moore's character from running amuck and falling into despair.
All in all, even though a middle aged dude like myself is no where near the target audience, I enjoyed it immensely.
Some criticisms; the villainess seemed marginally cliché. She had the liberated 70s woman gone bad thing going on for her, but it almost seems like we may have seen this character before. Not sure, really. The horse was extremely likable, but his rider could have played more of a role. In fact the supporting cast almost seemed as if they were denied screen time so we could revel in Rapuntzel's golden locks. For all that, and even though the action did dive into classic Warner Brother's cartoon territory, "Tangled" does make a very respectable showing.
That, and it was good to hear the voice of Richard Kiel play a big galoot who turns out to be a good guy. :)
My final note is that there was a very good message for young girls at the end, and in fact anyone with some sense will have caught on to it. It's a message that won't last too long, but hopefully will serve as a reminder to those who paid attention. Remember, hair isn't everything. Regardless of color *wink*
Take the family, but, if you're the father, then please, PLEASE, do not spend countless minutes like the idiot in front of me paying for his four member family with several credit cards while the ticket taker next to him managed to whiz through four or five parties of several members each for the 7:20 showing at the Redwood City theatre on Theatre Row.
Yeah, if you're reading this, you know who you are. Stop being a putz!
Everyone else, go see and enjoy the film :)