Movie Review - Tangled

Who thought so much hair could actually lead to a lot of fun?


"This is the story of how I died."  I don't think anyone going into this movie expected to hear this somber quote as the first lines of the new Disney movie, Tangled.  Sitting in the theater, as I heard this line spoken by the hero of the story "Flynn Rider" (voiced by the hilarious Zachary Levi of the television show Chuck), I was immediately interested in where this story was headed.  The 50th animated movie by Walt Disney Animation Studios follows the story of Rapunzel, a princess trapped in a giant tower with no way of leaving and long locks of hair to lower down to her prince to ascend.  This is how I knew the story growing up, so the movie interested me mainly because I never knew why she was there in the first place.  Maybe I should have read the original tale by the Brothers' Grimm.  But I digress. 

This Disney tale tells of Rapunzel, who has magical healing abilities associated with her long blond locks on hair.  She is kidnapped when still a baby from her kingdom by an old woman wanting to become young again, and thus needs Rapunzel's powerful hair to turn back the clock.  The old woman locks Rapunzel in a secret tower hidden in the forest to raise her as her own.  Fast forward eighteen years, and Rapunzel wants out.  Her "step-mother" forbids Rapunzel (voiced convincingly enough by Mandy Moore) to leave the tower.  While the "step-mother" is away from the tower for the day, a young thief, Flynn Rider enters the tower, and adventure ensues.  The rapport between Moore and Levi as the two leads is fantastic, each giving them depth and emotion, really making you get to know what makes the characters tick.

"Here comes the smolder."  Zachary Levi as Flynn Rider.

 

I was surprised by the amount of comedy in the movie.  Sure, there are plenty of laughs for the kids, but the dialogue was well written, and adults will not have a problem laughing at a couple parts.  This is mainly due to Zachary Levi, who does a great job channeling his voice through the actions and emotions of Flynn Rider.  Mandy Moore does a serviceable job as Rapunzel, really showing why Rapunzel wants to leave her tower and what she wants to do next.  But, for me, I was more interested in Flynn.  Sure, the characters are cliche like all Disney movies, and while that does hurt the formula, it works here.  Characters change, like Flynn, for instance, from a thief into someone the princess can rely on. 

Rapunzel and her long-ass hair.

The animation in Tangled are some of the best I've seen.  I had to close my eyes and open them again and remind myself I wasn't watching a Pixar movie.  Each strand of Rapunzel's hair moves with a natural flow and beauty.  The attention to detail was staggering, with one such scene showing a dam breaking apart and the water flowing and destroying everything in it's path.  I can see where the movies' $260 million budget went, and I can say it was money well spent.  The characters themselves are animated very thoroughly and the motion capture is very well done.  Everything in the movie is brought to life, creating a very convincing fantasy world.

While the story was interesting enough, and held my attention to the end, you couldn't help shake the feeling of the "Disney" ending coming.  Sure, the movies are for kids, but it would be a nice change of pace to not know what's going to happen next.  Also, the final act uses a pretty big cliche, even for Disney's standards.  I literally found myself laughing at what happened.  Despite the foresight of the story, and the final act "twist", Tangled was still a great movie for the entire family.  The voice-work and animation are top notch, and it's nice to see a really good animated movie come out of a studio other than Pixar.  Congratulations to Disney for raising the bar on this one.

4 out of 5 Stars