Tangled (Review)

They tell me 2010 has been a great year for animation. Unintentionally, I have been avoiding it. For one reason or another many films such as Despicable Me, How to Train Your Dragon and Megamind have eluded me. Again, this was not an active attempt on my part to avoid animated movies. As a whole, they are far more consistent than other genres, and as such the one animated film I’ve seen this year (Toy Story 3) is also one of the best films of the year period. I was determined to break this animation-less habit of mine with Tangled, the 50th animated feature from Walt Disney Pictures. (This does not count Pixar projects, apparently.)

Tangled tells the story of everybody’s favorite secluded girl who separately needs a trip to Great Clips: Rapunzel. It all begins with a prologue narrated by Zachary Levi of Chuck semi-fame, who tells us about a magical flower which heals wounds and makes people young again, etc. Eventually, this flower is used to save the queen of Wherever They Are, and thus a young girl named Rapunzel is born. This is all much to the chagrin of an old woman named Gothel, who had been using the flower to remain young. Gothel runs into the kingdom and steals Rapunzel, and keeps her hidden in a tower, secluded from the rest of the world. It is here where I briefly mention that Microsoft Word does not recognize the word “Rapunzel”, despite the fact that just a couple weeks ago it recognized “Azkaban” just fine. Just sayin’.

Soon we get a face to match with the oh so witty narration of Zachary Levi: Flynn Rider (if that’s his real name, and it’s not). Essentially, he’s a thief, and the film begins with him snatching a crown from the royalty of Wherever They Are, and it turns out to be the crown of the missing princess Rapunzel. Whilst fleeing the kingdom of Wherever They Are, Flynn decides to take shelter in a seemingly abandoned tower. However, it’s not so abandoned.

The great thing about Tangled is its ability to take the tried and true Disney princess movie formula and translate to the modern world of 3-D animation. It also has a sharper wit than most traditional Disney films, no doubt taking a leaf out of the Dreamworks playbook. To its credit, however, it keeps itself from going over the Shrek deep end and wears its heart on its sleeve. It translates what people look for in a classic family film and presents in a wholly modern way.

Many will probably disagree with me on this next point, but I didn’t find many of the songs very memorable. Classic Disney films always have a handful of classic, catchy tunes, and in that arena Tangled comes up short. In fact, there really aren’t too many musical numbers, but when they do come they are expected and relatively generic. An opening song describing Rapunzel’s secluded life under Gothel? Check. A song by Gothel to boss Rapunzel around with? Check. A goofy song by a group of comic relief characters? Check. A song going into the third act where our two leads declare their love for each other? Check. Oops, might have spoiled it there.

The good news is that even though none of the songs are particularly memorable or exciting, the characters and the story are engaging and always joyful. I wasn’t rolling around laughing in the aisles of the theater, but I was smiling from the opening titles to the end credits. Levi does an admirable job voicing Flynn, but what truly helps Tangled is that it doesn’t advertise the actors’ voices. I enjoy the first two Shrek films, but it’s hard to listen to Donkey without visualizing Eddie Murphy. While watching Tangled, I was never preoccupied with the voice talents of Mandy Moore, Levi, Brad Garrett, Jeffrey Tambor or Richard Kiel (!), but instead I focused entirely on the fairy tale I was being told. The experience is better for it.

Is this one of the best animated Disney films ever? Absolutely not, but it was great fun to see the classic Disney formula adapted to a more modern technology. Also deserving of praise: the 3-D. Admittedly, more often than not I have elected to see 3-D movies in 2-D because it has never struck me as a necessary technology. This is the fourth film I have seen in 3-D after Avatar, Toy Story 3 and Piranha 3-D. Only in Avatar was a great deal added to the equation (though of those films Toy Story 3 is the best by a mile). However, Tangled is a victory for 3-D, something that is growing increasingly rare. To me it seemed to brighten and enrich the picture substantially, and thus I end with a recommendation you won't hear me make often: see this film in 3-D.

Rating:  (out of 4)