movie: Frozen
So, I went to see Frozen with family today and liked it. Before I say anything about it, though, let me rant a bit:
Before the movie started, we had to sit through FORTY MINUTES of previews and commercials. Well, about 30 minutes of previews and commercials, and then 10 minutes of a short Mickey Mouse movie that was very "tee hee extreme cartoon violence is so funny." One of the first commercials was some phone commercial that started with a naked man waking up in a morgue. You see pretty much everything but the money shot. Given that this was a children's movie on Saturday morning and so almost everyone in the audience was either a child or an adult accompanying a child, there was a collective gasp and you could hear kids complaining because their parents had instinctively covered their eyes.
Anyway, FORTY MINUTES. I literally could have watched almost half the movie in the timeframe that I was waiting for it to start. (Kids in the audience were also more vocal, eventually moaning and going "Not again!" every time they realized something other than the movie was starting.
Anyway, the movie.
It has even less to do with the fairy tale than trailers and descriptions would imply, which is something of an accomplishment. It was actually to the point where I wonder if they came up with the plot independently, then added a few elements of a decently well known fairy tale so that they could tie it in to their fairy tale princess movies.
That said, it actually is, IMO, a good plot and movie on its own. Despite what the trailers would have you believe, it's very very much about the sisters, Anna and Elsa, and their relationship, and doesn't think the audience is going to find a female lead on a quest to be shocking or unusual. And unlike, say, Brave, there was never a point where I thought the writers felt they needed to apologize for having female leads and making the men secondary. (Listen, I like Brave, but it was like every few minutes they went "Wait, people's attention might start to wander. TIME FOR A SCENE OF MEN DOING MEN STUFF." The few scenes here that didn't have Anna and/or Elsa in them had the characters in the scene talking about one or both of them.
The art direction and special effects are also stunning, and the characters look considerably less derivative of other Disney movies than the trailer and stills would imply. Also, this is one of the few animated movies I've seen where the animators realize that people who freckle tend to get freckles anywhere on their body that's exposed to the sun, not just a few spots on their faces. Well, without the freckles being used to make the character be less attractive, or emphasize their cartoonishness, at least.
The movie also does a good job of subverting "true love means romantic love" and poking at previous Disney movies tendencies towards insta-true love, though it's somewhat heavy handed about both.
There's been some discussion of appropriative elements in the movie, and while I haven't really had a chance to look into them, but it's Disney, so I have no doubt that it's warranted.
Spoilers:
-I was pretty sure they were going to go where they did with Hans, and I'm not sure how I feel about it. Though I spent some of the movie wondering if they'd have either Hans or Kristoff end up falling for Elsa.
-Part of me wishes that this wasn't a children's movie, so that the emotional abuse could have been explored more, particularly in light of the fact that, unlike most emotional abuse we see in fiction, Anna and Elsa's parents' emotional abuse came from love and a genuine desire to protect their daughters.
-And I'm pretty sure fandom is going to latch onto how that affected Elsa (unless fandom collectively decides she's weak and whiny or something-I haven't worked up the courage to look up reactions yet) and ignore how it affected Anna. Because their actions made Anna think that one day her sister just hated her for no reason, and then continuously rejected her the next decade or so, and while she may not have been confined in her room, scared she might hurt or kill anyone she interacted with because of her powers, Anna was also isolated, though I figure she went out and about more once their parents died.
-I liked Elsa's "Snow Queen" outfit, but I suspect the animators designed it more for how it would look with her powers and all the ice and snow than from consideration as far as whether or not it's something Elsa would wear.
-The snowman annoyed me some, but not as much as the firefly in The Princess and the Frog.
Before the movie started, we had to sit through FORTY MINUTES of previews and commercials. Well, about 30 minutes of previews and commercials, and then 10 minutes of a short Mickey Mouse movie that was very "tee hee extreme cartoon violence is so funny." One of the first commercials was some phone commercial that started with a naked man waking up in a morgue. You see pretty much everything but the money shot. Given that this was a children's movie on Saturday morning and so almost everyone in the audience was either a child or an adult accompanying a child, there was a collective gasp and you could hear kids complaining because their parents had instinctively covered their eyes.
Anyway, FORTY MINUTES. I literally could have watched almost half the movie in the timeframe that I was waiting for it to start. (Kids in the audience were also more vocal, eventually moaning and going "Not again!" every time they realized something other than the movie was starting.
Anyway, the movie.
It has even less to do with the fairy tale than trailers and descriptions would imply, which is something of an accomplishment. It was actually to the point where I wonder if they came up with the plot independently, then added a few elements of a decently well known fairy tale so that they could tie it in to their fairy tale princess movies.
That said, it actually is, IMO, a good plot and movie on its own. Despite what the trailers would have you believe, it's very very much about the sisters, Anna and Elsa, and their relationship, and doesn't think the audience is going to find a female lead on a quest to be shocking or unusual. And unlike, say, Brave, there was never a point where I thought the writers felt they needed to apologize for having female leads and making the men secondary. (Listen, I like Brave, but it was like every few minutes they went "Wait, people's attention might start to wander. TIME FOR A SCENE OF MEN DOING MEN STUFF." The few scenes here that didn't have Anna and/or Elsa in them had the characters in the scene talking about one or both of them.
The art direction and special effects are also stunning, and the characters look considerably less derivative of other Disney movies than the trailer and stills would imply. Also, this is one of the few animated movies I've seen where the animators realize that people who freckle tend to get freckles anywhere on their body that's exposed to the sun, not just a few spots on their faces. Well, without the freckles being used to make the character be less attractive, or emphasize their cartoonishness, at least.
The movie also does a good job of subverting "true love means romantic love" and poking at previous Disney movies tendencies towards insta-true love, though it's somewhat heavy handed about both.
There's been some discussion of appropriative elements in the movie, and while I haven't really had a chance to look into them, but it's Disney, so I have no doubt that it's warranted.
Spoilers:
-I was pretty sure they were going to go where they did with Hans, and I'm not sure how I feel about it. Though I spent some of the movie wondering if they'd have either Hans or Kristoff end up falling for Elsa.
-Part of me wishes that this wasn't a children's movie, so that the emotional abuse could have been explored more, particularly in light of the fact that, unlike most emotional abuse we see in fiction, Anna and Elsa's parents' emotional abuse came from love and a genuine desire to protect their daughters.
-And I'm pretty sure fandom is going to latch onto how that affected Elsa (unless fandom collectively decides she's weak and whiny or something-I haven't worked up the courage to look up reactions yet) and ignore how it affected Anna. Because their actions made Anna think that one day her sister just hated her for no reason, and then continuously rejected her the next decade or so, and while she may not have been confined in her room, scared she might hurt or kill anyone she interacted with because of her powers, Anna was also isolated, though I figure she went out and about more once their parents died.
-I liked Elsa's "Snow Queen" outfit, but I suspect the animators designed it more for how it would look with her powers and all the ice and snow than from consideration as far as whether or not it's something Elsa would wear.
-The snowman annoyed me some, but not as much as the firefly in The Princess and the Frog.