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Disney's "Tangled" (alias "Rapunzel") - review thread

CaptainCanada

CaptainCanada

Admiral
Admiral
Quite good. Despite the marketing, if anything this is more traditional than Aladdin or Hercules (both proto-Shreks).

Rapunzel's engaging and likeable, if for the most part in keeping with the standard heroine - though she's the most proficient with a weapon since Mulan. Flynn/Eugene is quite nicely handled (similar to Naveen, they seem to enjoy giving the latest batch of male romantic leads a slightly disreputable starting point), with just enough depth. Gothel is unexpectedly mundane in a lot of ways (by which I mean, she's got no powers or anything), sort of a softer, passive-aggressive Claude Frollo ("Mother Knows Best" is essentially a reprise of Frollo's part of "Out There").

The magic hair works as surprisingly well as a plot device (though the initial mechanics required are a little creaky: if Gothel was the first person to find it, why did anyone else know about it? If it can be moved, why didn't she do that earlier?), including actually making a deus ex machina in the original story make more sense.

Surprise scene-stealer: Maximus, the horse. Semi-sentient horses are a dime a dozen, but he's genuinely different from any of the other animal sidekicks we've seen in Disney films (whereas the trailers suggest he's just Flynn's horse).

The animation is absolutely gorgeous, particularly the scene with the lanterns reflected in the water.

If there's anything keeping the film away from the cream of the crop, it's the music, which is fine, but mostly unremarkable.
 
No other opinions on this? Well, it just came out here in Germany and I saw it today.

Visually, this may be the most stunning computer animated feature ever made. Perfectly rendered, with great animation and designs that are classical but very nice.

Storywise, it mostly follows the expected Disney fairytale formula, but it executes it well, has great pacing, a great number of terrific laugh-out-loud moments and memorable characters. The songs may not be the chatchiest tunes ever, but they work very well within the context of the movie.

All in all, it's a ton of fun for anyone who likes Disney animation and should definitely be seen on a big screen and in 3D. A true return to form for Disney Animation Studios.
 
I thought it was pretty good. Gorgeous to look at, funny, good action, the songs were good. My only complaint is that Rapunzel should have had prehensile hair like Medusa; I could've sworn they showed that in the trailer but I guess not.
 
I'm generally not a Disney fan, but from the commercials, it seems to me that Tangled shows a lot of John Lassetter influence. And I really like the character designs, especially Rapunzel, who's kinda gorgeous (and her facial design and animation remind me of Helen from The Incredibles). I'll probably make more of an effort to see this than I normally would for a non-Pixar Disney animated movie (i.e. more than zero), though I'm not sure if I'd actually want to see it in the theater. I might just wait for the DVD.
 
I kind of forgot this was a movie, but I definitely want to see it. I love Zach Levi and Mandy Moore.
 
I took my 4 year old daughter to see this on opening night a couple weeks ago, as she is a huge Disney princess nut. She lost interest in the middle a bit, but my wife and I both enjoyed it throughout. I would personally say it's the best "Disney Animated Classic" since Lilo & Stitch.

The horse Maximus was very definitely a scene stealer.
 
I'm not super keen on this one--and I blame Disney's marketing dept. on that--but from what I've seen, it does look stunning! I'm curious to see it, but I think I'll wait for it to come on on disc.

Even Disney's bad (just 'bad', not 'really bad') animated movies have their moments.
 
Yes, please Disney's marketing with a grain of salt. The movie is SOOO different and so much better than the trailers/commercials might lead one to believe. It's an amazing movie, with a brilliant cast and great music, and I can't wait to go see it a third time.
 
Joy said:
Yes, please Disney's marketing with a grain of salt. The movie is SOOO different and so much better than the trailers/commercials might lead one to believe.
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Well, that's disheartening, because it's the commercials that have gotten my interest.
 
Took my seven year old son to see it, and we both loved it. "It's good for both boys and girls" he says.
 
Saw this with my four-year-old niece and thought it was a pretty good flick and a real return to form. I thought they did a really good job translating the story of Rapunzel into something that could work within a modern movie framework.

The horse was indeed a great scene stealer and Zachary Levi did a nice job with his roguish character. It's hard not to be fond of Rapunzel and the mechanic of using her hair was fun and inventive. I liked that she was smart and spunky and not just a pretty princess.

I was surprised at how effective the mother could be as a villain with just her scheming and guile at her disposal. There are parts where you just want to yell out at the screen.
 
LOVED it.

I went back and saw it a 2nd time, even. What was the last movie I saw twice in the theater? I can't even remember. It's probably been a decade.

LOVED:

* That all the classic princess stuff was in there, but done in ways that didn't feel tired.

* That it felt modern WITHOUT having anachronistic jokes about Starbucks or TV shows. This is hard and it's something that's mostly been a Pixar thing although the other studios have been learning to do it too, recently.

* That Rapunzel was human and had strengths AND weaknesses. For a long time it seemed like the retort to the "damsel in distress' was to create a bunch of 'awesome super-girls.' They've finally found a good balance.

* That the animation was the most "hand drawn" of any CGI movie I've seen. Not only did they flatten the detail a bit (so they looked less "real" and more cartoony) but I understand they used new software that let the animators draw their golden poses as if they were drawing a 2D movie. They really treated this as a CGI movie representing old animation rather than CGI representing reality. You can tell. I hope Disney keeps this up. They have Pixar to do the "real world" kind of CGI. Let their other half do stuff like this. I don't mind the death of 2D so much if they have this to replace it.

* That the animals didn't talk and yet still managed to have more personality than many that do.

* That the jokes came from the nature of the characters NOT from one-liners or put-downs like you get in sitcoms.

* That the music paid homage to the classic Disney movies but also felt modern. It didn't sound exactly like Sondheim or Jason Robert Brown, but it sure felt like it belonged next to their works.

* That Rapunzel (especially end-of-movie Rapunzel) was totally hot. Ariel has finally been retired from the "little boy's favorite" pedestal. Little wonder as both characters were supervised by the same man.

* That what Flynn did to win surprised me. Don't get me wrong, I knew the evil mother would be defeated, I just didn't know that Flynn was going to do that RIGHT THEN and there. I thought the fight was gonna go on another 10 minutes. (A chase through the woods, maybe?) Bravo to any movie that surprises me at the climax.

* That Flynn didn't choose the crown, regret his mistake, and have to prove himself worthy again. I REALLY thought we might get a rom-com style "I made a mistake!" kind of thing where he has to decide, mid-movie, that he really should have valued the girl more than the [whatever]. Yes, I know it's a classic (as my link proves). But I'm tired of it. I was happy to see them avoid it after getting very close to doing it.

* That they're embracing new forms of marketing for this film. I saw that on Saturday Night Live and really didn't know what it was 'till near the end. I thought it was part of the show. Also, what the hell is this? And is this not brilliant? I love them all and there are many more on Youtube.


DIDN'T UNDERSTAND:

* Why they didn't commit to making it a full musical. It has less music than most of the classics (by a full song) AND they get through 3/4 of them within the first 20 minutes. It's like they didn't want to do a musical but felt they had to throw some classic-princess stuff in there. So they rush through them and then get on with the movie they really wanted to make. What's up with that? Does Lasseter not want to make musicals anymore? I loved the music they did do, but this was odd. What about the "she dances all over town scene?" That would have been a song in ANY other Disney cartoon. Here? Just a montage. Weird.

* Why they drug out the "Flynn is tied up" scenes before she leaves the tower. Really felt like they could have lost 1 minute of that.

* Why Rapunzel was so well educated. Seems like keeping her stupid would make her easier to control. I'll forgive this one 'cause I like the character so much. Still, I gotta point it out. I guess evil step mothers are stupid.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

But those are minor things. I really loved this film and can't recommend it highly enough. It's too bad Toy Story 3 came out this year because Tangled deserves to win the Oscar over many other Pixar movies. Other years it could have won. I think TS3 is just too amazing, though, so bad timing there. But yes, I like Tangled better than many Pixar films. I don't say that often.
 
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At the end of the day I think I liked TANGLED a little better than TOY STORY 3.

And Maximus, the horse, totally stole the show. He was like a Warner Bros character transplanted into a Disney flick.
 
Christopher said:
Well, that's disheartening, because it's the commercials that have gotten my interest.
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If you're not a Disney fan, it might still be worth watching in a theater for the stunning visuals alone. (and the best 3D I've seen next to Avatar and How to Train Your Dragon)
The trailers were definitely misleading, though - this is not a lame Shrek clone like the trailers suggested but a classical Disney musical in the vein of Beauty & the Beast and The Little Mermaid, albeit with a slight Pixar influence.
 
Small White Car summarizes the awesomeness of Tangled the best.

And yeah, I was disappointed that there weren't more songs... I am particularly disappointed Zachary Levi didn't get to sing more, 'cause he's got a beautiful voice.
 
Mike Farley said:
At the end of the day I think I liked TANGLED a little better than TOY STORY 3.
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To be clear, I totally liked 'Tangled' more, my comment was all about Oscar voting. On that, I go back and forth. It's a damn hard choice.

I forgot one more PRO:

* The 'love song' is good (not Disney's best, but good) BUT the visuals for that were the most amazing they've ever done for one of those types of songs. That scene alone makes the 3D version worth it. (I saw it both ways.)

I'm not a fan of 3D, and the rest of the film backs up my feelings there. But the lantern scenes is almost enough for me to recommend seeing this in 3D (which I never usually say).
 
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