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| Guess who's the villain in the story. Note I say villain and not an antagonist. |
I just want to get this out of the way. I don't hate Frozen; in fact, I just found it mediocre and enjoyable at most. It didn't stand out much to me, much less a masterpiece that everybody in the damn world vowed it to be. Nowadays whenever I see or think of the film, it left a sour taste in my mouth.
I do honestly like the film in the first viewing but upon other viewings... I was quite worried when everyone kept saying Frozen as "PROGRESSIVE!!!" and "FEMINISM!!!". I am quite worried about these statements because the formula is already used before (heck, they want to push for "THIS IS SISTER LOVE NOT ROMANCE GOT IT SISTERLY LOVE!!!!" so much they would add a red herring rather than you know go all out. Frozen isn't much different from other movies and shows that showcased platonic love over romance or don't feature romance at all. So why is Frozen getting credit for things that had been done before?) and female empowerment... it's more told rather than shown (I would have enjoyed Anna's clever actions if she had more personality that set her apart from Rapunzel and at least Rapunzel matured whereas Anna never ever did). I would rather discuss political and social topics with friends and family so I'm keeping it there.
As a result of forcing it onto my face every single damn time, my reaction was quite similar to TS3 and RoTBFD...add I don't know 6 and an H on that overly long title and you get a crack ship fandom that totally went off control... I react whenever I see it with a sneer. You would hear me rant about flaws and usually, my brother had to calm me down before I really go onto a rage.
But I am not here to hate Frozen. I hate to hate Frozen but the flaws people are either ignoring/didn't notice just makes it more concerning.
You would see me mention movies I don't like on here and compare them...so movies I don't like don't make me rant like Frozen does...considering how much I enjoy Frozen. Now I can't remember when I started to dislike it. I mean I didn't like Brave and TS3 but Frozen which I once liked and enjoyed... became bitter and I can't enjoy it like the first time I watched it.
I know friends who enjoyed and liked the movie and I'm not here to ruin your enjoyment of the said film. (The media already ruined my enjoyment of the film...and I would never ruin somebody's enjoyment) I am here just want to point out the flaws in basically the plot and character of Frozen. You can sing "Love is an Open Door" in the shower and dance to "In Summer" in public and put it on your favorite Disney movie lists (yes I am looking at you, Doug Walker. I'm kind and say that I respect your opinion even though I disagree greatly with how everything that had gone into the film. You can like it and enjoy it for all I care and thank god, you didn't seem to go overboard like the Frozen fandom, being respectful towards people's opinion although your critique doesn't have much objectivity in it. Although you are still a better reviewer than Confused Matthew; SFDebris and RedLetterMedia are better than Confused Matthew's reviewing because at least they understand what is needed in spite of possible subjective and Confused Matthew is just too subjective despite he can be intelligent such as his reviews on Matrix movies. I still say other online reviewers I am currently subscribing to such as Linkara and Rowdy Reviewer are better critics than you, Doug. Sorry. I was interested in your new era for Nostalgia Critic for a few episodes but personally for me, To Boldly Flee was a great swan song although your later installment was not that great, just a mixed response. I'm only watching you on and off now and only watching your old era so sorry.) for all I care but please for the sake of those who want others to see the flaws of the movie, please just listen and it's okay to criticize aspects of a movie. You can still enjoy and like something while acknowledging its problems. I love HTTYD2 but I admit its flaws. Frozen is not a flawless movie as much as HTTYD2 but in the grand scheme of things, the latter is better told than Frozen. Criticism does not equal hate. Popularity does not make it infallible to criticism.
I broke it down to plot, character, animation, and stuff like that, and in the end...well...
Let's start out small, shall we?
Plot
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| Where on earth did Elsa get her powers from? |
As much as I love fairy tales, I am only judging the film based on its own merits rather than a Name-only adaptation of The Snow Queen.
As a stand-alone, it does have potential.
Elsa has some powers for some reason and she has control over it. That is until she accidentally hurt her sister. From the advice of some trolls (which doesn't make sense by the way. Why to include trolls from Walt's original script?), she began isolating herself from her sister (whose memory had been wiped away...which doesn't make sense since they could just take away the accident and leave Anna knowing her sister's powers) by her parents' well-meaning actions. Anna also has to be kept up in the palace (which doesn't make a lick of sense by the way) and when the parents died, Elsa and Anna barely talked to each other at until the coronation of Queen Elsa where the Queen accidentally revealed her powers.
As you can see, lots of things aren't explained well enough. Why does Elsa have powers in the first place? Why is Anna kept in the castle in the first place when she has the ability to interact with the outside world? We heard a freaking servant outside her door and she acts like she's the loneliest girl in the world up to not knowing a single damn thing about her sister (besides chocolate and ice powers, what else does she know about Elsa?).
It seems as if they are trying to show us but here's the thing: you must tell when necessary. Like the Beast's curse in BatB and the magical flower in Tangled, you must explain what is essential in your story. We see Hiccup explain the war with his very sarcasm while even Brave managed this by setting up the relationships and interest in archery and Mor'du (even if things are broken as hell even if the relationship of Merida and Elinor was never shown that well and Merida didn't take responsibility as a ruler (I kept having this feeling that her speech near the end was her own ends rather than settling a war...) and of course, she didn't change when the film makes rather unsubtle visuals to change such as Elinor's loose hair...and how did Elinor change her mind? I don't know when but we were told that the two changed but never showed any evidence besides bonding... It wasn't the good kind of Show, Don't Tell as we didn't see Elinor's thought process during the whole bonding case with her behavior...only her slow humiliation as a bear and devolving into an animal which could be interesting...but again the film could have done more). But I digress.
We just can't take for granted that Elsa just has powers. I, for one, love fan theories from the craziest to the sanest. Just because her hair is platinum blonde and Anna has a streak due to being struck by the ice doesn't always mean that she's born with it. She could've been cursed. Rapunzel makes sense since she's a brunette and her hair was a result of the magical flower.
Moving onto the actual plot, Anna put Hans, a person she just gotten engaged to, in charge of the castle. Um...is not there supposed to be a regent before Elsa can take the throne?
Later on, she met Kristoff to guide her to Elsa. Why not Anna can travel herself? Couldn't she already know the outside world? Where, unlike Elsa, she isn't locked up and she could do whatever the hell she wants? Kristoff is just there to hammer in the "SISTERLY LOVE NOT ROMANCE!!!".
After fighting off wolves, which doesn't even provide real development between Kristoff and Anna but rather "challenging" Disney tropes, they met Olaf which Anna remembered. Olaf is a result of Elsa's happiness and perhaps could have jogged Anna's memory of being hit and why Elsa avoided her. She didn't even know that Elsa hurt her before and couldn't understand why.
Instead of you know developing the relationship between Kristoff and Anna (especially Kristoff which we know nothing about), they already arrived at Elsa's castle.
Anna wanted to reach out to Elsa but Elsa refused when she learned that she accidentally set off her kingdom in an eternal winter. She said she had no control (which doesn't make sense if she was able to create a castle, then she should be able to control her powers) and accidentally hurt her sister which she had been avoiding.
Then Anna and Kristoff had to go to the trolls and learn what the audience already know. Then Anna went back home where she believes Hans is her true love and could break the curse. Hans then reveals his evil intentions and that's a horrible execution. Again, the movie focused on "challenging" Disney tropes rather than actual development and many possibilities.
Olaf was willing to set up a fire even though he would die (admittedly, the movie does have its heartwarming moments but the overall story needs loads of work) and said Kristoff loved her. Kristoff was heading back to the palace, realizing what was wrong.
Elsa was captured and ran away because she believed she couldn't control her powers and can't do a thing to help her people. Hans told her of the eternal winter and that Anna died. Elsa was willing to die at this point but Anna sacrificed herself...which doesn't make sense by the way. She barely knew her sister and I know Anna is throwing love at anyone.
Elsa cried over her sister's frozen body and Anna healed as well as Elsa. Elsa finally knew what she could do to control her powers (which again healed her anxiety and depression quite easily! Cured by the love which doesn't work in real life but support!) and then happily ever after.
Westletown's trade route was cut and Hans was sent back to his home for trial. The people welcomed Elsa back and well...
It does have its pacing problems and cramming lots of materials all at once. Many things don't make sense or weren't explained. A lack of real human connection and interactions make this movie a near-failure. Everything (from telling us that Elsa and Anna have a strong relationship to Kristoff and Anna's love to Elsa's inability to control her powers leads to the question of why didn't she try to LEARN how to? She had it her whole life and she didn't think to discover what she could do!? What the hell do you take the audience for!?) is told rather than shown much like how Brave was told.
Most of the time, the movie lampshade Disney tropes rather than actively examining them. They are "challenging" Disney tropes at the expense of the plot and characterization.
There were many possibilities to be told. Have Elsa be the main and only antagonist in the entire film. Having Hans and Anna kiss did not work. Have Kristoff and Anna just be friends. Have Elsa realize she must confront her problems instead of running away. Have Elsa accept herself. Have Anna try to understand why Elsa is blocking her out. Have Anna realize what she could do to support her sister's problems. Have Elsa be angry and confused by her treatment of her powers. Have Anna realize that love is unconditional for there are people who do need support. Have Elsa explore her powers and accept herself for who she is. Have Elsa still need support in the end. Olaf's character deepens when Anna remembered speaking to him that she wishes he was alive and enjoying the sun with her. Have Kristoff's character be explored with his outlook on life and how much Anna had changed his life and how much he's a best friend for her and a confidante for her. Have Hans just wanting love as much as the rest of the lonely cast. Have Hans be a King Richard III-esque character choosing ambition and greed over love or something. Build the poorly constructed world more since how on earth does magic factor into the political world.
There were many possibilities that this stand-alone can be told and they are just what I said above. It's not progressive but rather shows a real black-and-white story.
Yes, the world is divided into douchebags and prince charmings. Yes, love can instantly heal your psychological problems. Yes, running away can solve all your problems and love can do everything to heal them instantly. Yes, the world has only bad guys whose out there to kill you and good guys who will be by your side without a second ask.
Characters
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| Most characters are useless in the long run. Doesn't help that they not only didn't live to their potential but were just there for the sake of either the romance or just being completely useless. |
Anna: A quirky princess with literally no personality. She's basically "Quirky! Awkward!" A poor man's Rapunzel. We are hardly shown her getting to know the world, unlike Rapunzel who read books and does literally everything! She's lonely, we get that, but we never honestly connect with this character. She talks to paintings and not her servants and does not you know go the frak outside unlike Elsa who needs to stay inside. There's literally nothing besides that.
There is Anna's impulsiveness in general. However, these are played for laughs rather than for drama. Ariel's impulsiveness was played for drama and look where she got. She paid for her mistake and bettered from it. Anna has her impulsiveness never called out and she should be called out not for her unconditional love but for her impulsiveness, playing it for drama.
It's her idea of unconditional love that was thrown back. She kept throwing love at everyone she met, even with her sister whom we know haven't talked to for like ten years. She was called foolish for that and not for her impulsiveness. She left her fiance in charge of her kingdom instead of a regent! Because the movie never took the time to develop, we see that as impulsiveness. Perhaps her love for others reached the level of an All-Loving Hero and she's willing to trust others and stand by that. Nope! Her love was challenged just because the movie practically dialed down the fact you can't marry someone just met and it's even more obvious when Kristoff came along. It's more focused on "challenging" Disney tropes rather than actually going into the character. I mean the first act had potential and I had thoughts where I thought it was going but afterward...yeah...more "challenging" over development.
Now, Anna's unconditional love does have potential. Even though she too does have her own personal problems as Elsa, it's never addressed. Anna is at least willing to reach out and understand but Elsa doesn't want to. She never tried to understand Elsa hiding her powers either. From hurting her yes but again Elsa's powers went back and forth from controlling to not controlling. In the end, her unconditional love was put into question which doesn't make sense by the way. She threw love at everyone!
She just has no personality so therefore she didn't change. AT ALL. Again, the unconditional love that she threw at everyone has potential and a willingness to understand her sister. So much potential if we just develop her personality beyond "Quirky! Awkward! Loving!".
Elsa: The Ensemble Darkhorse is yet severely underdeveloped. She is in the movie for about 20% of the time, therefore, we haven't been shown enough struggle. I know people who suffer from anxiety and depression and the claims that Elsa is that metaphor isn't proper when it's not addressed. The metaphor isn't the same as actually writing about that mental illness. The movie makes mental illness is magically based on what the movie framed it to be when it's not. It doesn't help that Elsa instantly healed up in the end.
Elsa, unfortunately, doesn't have much personality either. She's mature and intelligent but anything beyond that, we never know anything besides chocolate. That's it. She suffers from depression and anxiety but we aren't shown any struggle because she has little screen time.
Elsa ran away from her responsibility as queen and we are never shown Elsa embracing her powers. You could say Let it Go is an embrace of her disability...but it's not. That characterization came out of nowhere and we have no transition from a fear to a freedom mindset.
I am not an Elsa hater. I do like Elsa; it's just her underdevelopment as a character doesn't make me connect to her struggles as well as I did with Merida. Yes, even though I cannot stand Merida, I can connect with her rebellion towards responsibility (unlike her, I understand the responsibility and the movie could have explored Merida and Elinor's relationship with Merida taking the place as the queen but she rebels against what could have been war and just want to play... HTTYD2 is basically what I think Brave could have been especially with the case of war and responsibility that Hiccup has been shirking from. Merida on the other hand just doesn't care about her kingdom as long as it achieves her own ends and conforms to her ideals while Hiccup care for both dragons and the people.)
Elsa just doesn't have enough to connect me with. She's relatable in the sense that she wants to be free but here's the thing: we didn't get a transition between fear of herself to letting go. We didn't get into her mind.
After she runs away, the first shot after Anna went after her sister was Elsa singing Let it Go. When did she change her mind? A song doesn't make sense if we are shown Elsa realizing the strength of her powers, her ability to create beauty yet devastating storm beforehand. Show her being happy and one with her powers, creating snow bunnies or something like that, creating something for herself and accepting herself and trying to learn how to control her powers so she can really save her people rather than you know leaving them to rot in her icy prison (which doesn't make sense when how on earth do the people know they have an eternal winter). She embraces her powers instead of running away, controlling for real while having a weird mismatch of control-non-control. Let it Go doesn't make sense when you consider that we are never shown anything that changed her mindset. The song is more of a denial ballad to say that she's free when she's really not; she's denying herself that she's still imprisoned with her powers and thinks she's free.
When Anna was frozen completely, Elsa should have then realized that she needs support and that she couldn't shoulder the burden of her powers alone. That the cold really did bother her anyway. There's your reprise for Let it Go. When Anna is revived, she can sing that she will support Elsa.
The way it was executed was not so good...
She didn't change at all. Yes, her character 'development' is completely forced. She thinks love would make control her powers. (Did she NOT love her sister when she was little?) The plot forces these changes, giving Elsa a sudden change of idea. She remained the same; all she did throughout the film was scared and moped when all of a sudden she's confident and then she's back to scared and moped after saying basically said "F*** IT!". She didn't display any consistent characterization according to the plot. Elsa just suddenly changes her mind because she's healed up instantly. Because she had so little screen time, we didn't see what else she can be as a person.
Elsa is pretty much bland and has potential for becoming more deeper I have the feeling the movie wanted to go deep but most of the time the movie tries to push to have "SISTERLY LOVE NOT ROMANTIC!!!" rather go any deeper than the movie wants to be. It's not deep but rather too simple and black and white.
The sisters' character arcs set a premise to be really good but are stopped by really simple writing.
Hans: A prince from somewhere who would be happy to just meet Anna. I put him on higher because he has some personality. We can get invested in this guy because of his personality. He had proven himself over and over to be just like Anna....but with more personality. He's brave and selfless, showing more of a kinder side. Anna gives unconditional love to everyone and even though she is so awkward doesn't make sense since she has the ability to interact with the outside world more than Elsa.
...and then came the out-of-nowhere 'twist'. Here and no matter what you can say to defend Hans' 'sociopathic' nature, this is a liar revealed that only shows Hans is a poorly constructed villain. This time, it doesn't work. He's not manipulative like Gothel, Frollo, or Scar. He's not cruel like Lady Tremaine or Maleficent. He has a motive but his backstory wasn't built as well unlike his personality.
Again, the movie tries to be subversive and lampshade every single Disney trope but it didn't deconstruct. Making Hans the villain seem too black and white. This is not the reality that Frozen fans and lovers try to say it is.
I felt that Hans could have been another love interest that Anna can choose. By the end of the story, if the kiss didn't work out, the two would start dating and perhaps develop more into that true love. I thought that this story would have no villains. (Antagonists are someone who opposed the protagonist. It does not always mean a villain, an evil character basically. It could depend on the circumstance. The two terms seemed interchangeable in people's minds...and it seems Disney would always have a clear-cut villain rather than a good antagonist) I thought the film would really be different instead of lampshading and trying to be subversive when it's not.
Instead, there must be a villain. It's so black and white I could hardly believe the movie to be progressive.
Hans has layers to him. He's one of those dorky princes charming who has all the trappings of a prince and a kind ruler. Even if he's useless to the overall plot, at least I'm interested in his character and I can't say the same about Kristoff.
Olaf: A living snowman whose living purpose was to live in the sun. Now, this character has potential. He had appeared in the beginning and witnessed the accident. He should have jogged Anna's memory, right?
Wrong.
Even though this snowman does have a quiet humor, it doesn't save him either. He's just there for comic relief in the same manner as Sven....and that's it. None of what people speculated was ever acknowledged and addressed in the film. Not even Olaf's goal did anything to enhance the story.
He did say Kristoff loves her rather than let Anna realize her love for all is unconditional. I felt he is just wasted potential and doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things.
Kristoff: A sassy man who lives with trolls. He's a bore. I don't know why people think Kristoff is compelling. Unlike Shang or Flynn, we don't know his backstory or how much Anna changed him or his outlook on life. What would he do if anything happens to Sven? Where's his real family? Why is he with the trolls and not with the icemen?
He's cute but overall, Kristoff just exists and he loves Anna...which doesn't make sense by the way. His whole character just hammered in the sisterly love theme and that's it.
About Sven... It's smart that Kristoff communicated as if he talked, but overall we don't even know him as a character. Sven can be written off and still made no impact on the characters.
So if these two die...well.... then I wouldn't care. They're boring but they are cute I guess...
Trolls: Creatures that sing a totally useless song. We learn that Kristoff was raised by these rock trolls and...that's about it... They're love experts and unreliable ones at that. They said that they could not help and still Anna and Kristoff went anyway. The audience already knows so why go there again? Oh right, the characters didn't know.
If Kristoff was raised by the trolls, shouldn't he be watching the royal family then and there? (He did.) Shouldn't he have known that Anna has lost her memory and already knew her? There are many possibilities such as Kristoff keeping the fact that he had already met her and the memory erasure? The trust that could have been built there? The trust that could have been broken because Kristoff kept something valuable from her?
Nothing.
Kristoff is useless to the plot as much as the trolls.
Westletown: A villain who doesn't even need to be in this movie. He just literally doesn't. He's superfluous and never mattered to the overall plot or tension. I thought he could...I don't know...address the magical aspect of this world. He could also address the political turn if magic is involved. I even read somewhere that he was going to be the regent of Arendelle named Lord Louie. Why they didn't keep that?! The worldbuilding is already horrible enough and coming forth with the completely inept indifferent inhabitants of Arendelle's castle.
But we got nothing.
He's one of the antagonists...which by the way is useless and that's it. No development on what potential Westletown if there were any. He's just there to provide conflict...which should not exist.
The Royal Parents: Call them abusive or whatever but I don't see them as that. They are doing what they can do out of love, misguided sure but to proclaim Frozen is the first to portray an abusive parental relationship is incorrect. The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Tangled portray that relationship as that.
The parents...okay the father seems to have a close relationship with Elsa and Elsa trusts her parents. The parents are well-intention but not abusive. They are doing what's best for Elsa even though Elsa is a victim of circumstance. They effed up yes but the way the movie framed the parents just make as idiots. Caring but are idiots nonetheless. Then again the framing of the movie sets up the trolls as idiots as well and Elsa is a victim of circumstance just as much as Anna.
If Elsa's really close to her dad, then she should have some features of her dad, right? Wrong.
Besides, we hardly knew the family. The parents die within the first few minutes of the film. They love each other sure but the parents had no bearing impact but to have Elsa isolated and somehow Anna as well.
Besides, if we were known Elsa was to be the "perfect girl" if Let it Go is a Denial ballad...which again never went into her mind and struggle, should we see her behaving as a figure of authority or learning to? We could have seen how she kept such a problem to be an Ice Queen quite metaphorically and perhaps growing increasingly angry over the past decade to the point she is practically willing to throw Arendelle in eternal winter and think little of it. Don't give me anything the "she can't control her powers" crap when she could have learned through the years she had them. Again, the movie focuses too much on "challenging" than providing development that the potential had presented itself. I mean I'm an amateur writer and plan to be an editor and even I could see that the movie has so many potential turns BUT NEVER TOOK ANY OF THEM, leaving nothing explained or doesn't make sense, in the long run, riddled with plot holes, and severe underdevelopment of characters.
Relationships
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| We cannot take for granted that the two love each other when there are so few interactions. |
Anna and Elsa: The relationship that Disney and everyone pushed to be the good stuff in the film...and it's underdeveloped like the rest of the film.
The sisters hadn't interacted in like ten years. They didn't act like real sisters for that matter. Elsa shut out Anna and didn't even talk to her sister. I know she wants to keep her sister safe but here she can talk through the door. They act as if the past ten years had not been gone when they love chocolate. But still...
There is no real sisterly development. The writers have to know that platonic love triumphing over romantic love is nothing different than what churned out in the past. Put your focus on the sisters and Olaf than the male cast which has nothing to do with the rest of the story.
We know they love each other and were once best friends...but that's it. We are never actually shown any real interactions. Their fights aren't anything sibling-like (I have a brother and our fights aren't cordial!) or anything that evokes strong emotions. Most of the time, they look pretty and stiff with their emotions.
My brother and I hardly have fights that are so cordial (I want an explosive fight! A real sibling fight like Lilo and Nani in Lilo and Stitch! My brother and I are more in the line of how Lilo and Nani behave as siblings than the cordial and always nice interactions - or what's little of it - that is Anna and Elsa).
Anna and Hans: The only developed relationship in this lack of human interactions realm. Seriously, this is the only one that has real interactions. They act like they're in love, young and cute, in their bubble.
Nothing more Hans did was respect for her as Anna put her love for him. They hit it off quite well and I did expect them - Hans especially - to get to know more and even kiss - if the two had kissed, then it would mean that your true love wouldn't always mean that person and perhaps Hans could develop into that true love if given time (for f***'s sake, the world isn't black and white; there are people who are attracted to someone but maybe that person might not be the one for you to spend the rest of your life with. There are people with which you part on amicable terms, not so amicable terms, or still, have feelings for but not everlasting ones. Perhaps I would see Hans and Anna agreeing to spend more time together.) but nope!
Again, Hans isn't a well-constructed villain like Gothel, Frollo, or Gaston. He's like most characters in this movie useless and there for "challenging" Disney tropes.
So much potential in this pairing and character and wasted for "subversion".
The Royal Sisters and Olaf: Anna, Elsa, and Olaf went way back. Anna remembered building him but it didn't jog her memory?
Like the rest of the characters, Olaf was useless. He meant to represent Elsa's happiness and the sister's childhood playtime but...he's the comic relief... That's it. He wasn't examined or went deeper into his character.
Hell, when I first saw them in the prologue, I thought he would jog Anna's memory...but he didn't. He's comic relief. What wasted potential.
This relationship has a lot of potential for actually becoming deeper and I know the film wants to go deeper but it didn't. The movie should have focused on the siblings and Olaf or Hans. There are just too many useless characters bland as hell.
Anna and Kristoff: Unlike Flynn and Rapunzel, this relationship that is supposed to be the red herring never fully developed. As I said before, Kristoff is utterly useless and his character was completely hollow.
Most of the movie spent time with Anna and Kristoff but...there is no development at all. We don't see them interact on a romantic level, just talking, and getting to know each other. In the Disney Renaissance era, we see the female protagonists declare their intent and straightforwardness, getting to know their love interests. Most of the time was spent on "challenging" Disney tropes. I am concerned about how they are doing that rather than actually providing development. There are very few real human interactions in this movie.
Kristoff's sudden love for Anna doesn't help the issue. He loves Anna, is sassy, has a reindeer named Sven, and lived with trolls... That's it. We don't understand where this sudden love for Anna came from. Even though I was aware that Anna and Kristoff would get together, in the end, I hoped that Kristoff would pair off with Elsa instead...and well... yeah too sudden for my tastes just as much for the "Liar Revealed" of Hans as the villain.
He didn't give a s*** about her before so why now? Oh right, so you can push your plot to be more 'courageous' than it really is. We hardly saw Kristoff know Anna more than her "QUIRKY! IMPULSIVE! AWKWARD!" personality nor did we see Anna see Kristoff more than he already is. Kristoff didn't show any hidden depths. Shang and Flynn show more than just a hidden depth of themselves so why is Kristoff any revolutionary?
Having Kristoff as a friend sends a much better message just as I had discussed the Hans and Anna relationship above that someone who may be attracted to you might not be one to you and perhaps there are other people which you can date and part in terms depending. Girls and boys can still be friends, you know, believe me, I have a hard time trying to put off people who kept saying a friend of mine and I am dating when we're not.
Hell, Kristoff didn't even sing in comparison to Robert in Enchanted and Flynn in Tangled. The latter two are the love interests of their female protagonists...and said they didn't sing... But they sang with their loves...
Kristoff didn't even sing with Anna. At all.
Music
The songs are much catchier than Tangled but they lack the finesse in the songs that Tangled has. Tangled, much like Menken's other works, tells the story and character better rather than you know spelling it out for us to make up for development and a more constructive narrative. Even Princess and the Frog accomplished this no matter what I had to say about Randy Newman. The songs reinforced the actions the characters had shown to the audience.
So to say, "I See The Light" in Tangled reinforced the growing love between Flynn and Rapunzel. We see them falling in love with each other; it was gradual and seen from both of these characters' eyes. We have to be shown actions that reinforced it. Even if "For the First Time in Forever" doesn't make sense when it is put down into a story (the sisters had not connected in the last decade when they can talk through the doors...don't give me crap about doors being symbols when the movie never takes the time to develop anything (visual symbolism is great but only when it's developed enough and prominent for the audience to understand so if the doors at Elsa's castle opened, does that mean she's finally opened up to people and accept herself for who she is if Let it Go make sense in context but the context we got was that she suddenly changes her mind and then changes her mind again (to go back to the mopey scared coward instead of the confident queen that we should have seen based on the song she just sang) when she realized that she accidentally traps her kingdom in ice. Again, we didn't get into her mind so Elsa didn't display any consistency when it comes to characterization and plot. She's basically a plot device.), Elsa not trying to learn her powers and accepting herself and seeing more of her struggle, Anna being kept in the castle even though we could see that she had the advantage of going outside and socializing with her freaking people), at least we are shown that Anna is lonely...though she has the advantage of going outside and Elsa still having problems with herself...even though she could try to learn how to and accept herself or grow angry because all she ever wanted to do is release her powers and show the world that she doesn't care if her kingdom is thrown into an icy wasteland because she was too enraged of her treatment. See possibilities.
Frozen have too many songs, too poppy and some songs are useless ("In Summer", "Fixer Upper", "Vuelie"). I am not a musical expert but I know leitmotifs and reprises.
"Frozen Heart" is quite nice and I'll listen to this and Vuelie over Let it Go. While Let It Go is a powerful ballad, it seems out of nowhere. See my criticism of Elsa's characterization above.
There should have been "Life's Too Short", "More Than Just A Spare" and reprises of "Let It Go"/"Do You Want to Build a Snowman?" and "Love is an Open Door". They add a second meaning to these songs. So when Anna froze over or the two finally reconcile, they can sing the reprise of Let it Go that the cold did bother her anyway and Elsa finally admits that she finally realizes her mistake and allow her sister to be here thus allowing her sister to thaw and when Hans revealed himself... second meaning here people! Instead of useless songs like Fixer-Upper that had nothing to do with developing relationships.
Love is an Open Door is a cute song but not villainous by any means. People would likely remember Let it Go over that cute little song. There are no villain songs that people remember so well. People love to Be Prepared, Friends on the Other Side, Poor Unfortunate Souls, and so on because villain songs are always the greatest.
The songs are poppy and didn't fit the first song (Vuelie)'s tone at all. It's a mismatch; When Vuelie popped up again in the Great Thaw, it doesn't work when we have poppy music all the way through. Hey, at least Hercules' music fits the tone they're going for.
Animation and Design
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| The queen seems to produce through mitosis. |
The animation for the grounds is great. However, like Tangled, it's too perfect. Too symmetrical and a little cartoony. Sometimes, there are details then and there but this animation seems to lean towards cartoony and too bubbly. It's flat and smooth, it doesn't feel immersive.
The movie seemed to be too focused on "subverting" tropes. While there is nothing wrong with Disney CGI animation, I personally felt that everyone proclaiming Frozen has the best animation is just wrong. Everyone needs to stop acting like Disney creates the best of the best of animation when they're clearly not. Dreamworks holds the record for creating beautiful worlds that look dirty and real, creating details that Disney nor Pixar wouldn't likely add, and creating wonderful motion that seriously felt that you are in the air. And Dreamworks would keep making incredible strides in the animation department. So stop acting Disney pioneer CGI animation.
The character design is downright lazy. Elsa, Anna, and their mother look so much like each other. Pointing out differences, so small makes it all the same: They are too similar. Does the queen produce through mitosis or clone herself?
Giving background characters that look diverse...and have flipped models are not okay. They only have a second or two of screen time. They don't have enough to make an impact on the audience while the royal sisters do. Elsa and Anna are too similar to each other. They are supposed to have an age difference, right? 18 and 21? Then why do they look the same?
The animation of the main ladies seems to be stiff. Most of the time, I thought the princesses didn't emote as well as Rapunzel...mostly because they look pretty all the time instead of ugly. When they try to sing, they just didn't emote. Their rigging was good but their emotion didn't quite match the face.
Themes
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| SISTERLY LOVE NOT ROMANTIC!! |
Sisterly Love: They really wanted to hammer in this to the point they are willing to add useless characters. It should have focused on the girls and Olaf. As much as I love the theme, what pissed me off was the fact people kept saying it broke ground when it had not. There are already other movies and television shows that focus on platonic love.
It is nice just as much as I like Brave for focusing on the mother/daughter relationship. However, the two stories didn't focus enough on developing a middle for Elinor and Merida and didn't have Anna wanting to support Elsa on her powers.
The relationship between the sisters didn't hold enough water as I discussed above. Most of the time, it's focused on the supposed red herring....you know the love interest that should never exist. Despite what people think, the romance that even developed was between Anna and Hans. We are hardly shown anything of worth with Kristanna's relationship. To me at some point in the film, the relationship was more a buddy/big brother relationship; it didn't hint at any romantic notions, as well as Tangled or Princess and the Frog, did. Seriously even though I know Kristoff would end up with Anna, I thought the film would really be subversive and give Kristoff to Elsa instead. Considering this is Disney, of course, there has to be a love interest in there and a happily ever after.
Anna wanted to reach out to Elsa but Elsa kept denying it. I know this is real life but here...why not have a reprise for "Let it Go" that Anna will support Elsa's problems and that Elsa finally sang that the cold bothers her anyway. We aren't shown them having any kind of support since Elsa healed up by love instantly even.
The theme was too obvious when the characters are useless to the plot. They could have done better.
Overall
Overall, Frozen could do more. As it stands, it's mediocre and just okay. A princess flick with all the trappings. It's completely safe and parents won't spew out that it traumatizes their kids, sheltering their kids from the reality of life.
Moving on, Frozen is not a masterpiece and is nowhere near the brilliance of Disney.
It wanted to go deep but it wasn't deep. It has heartwarming moments and all that but as a structured story and characterization, it's not great.
The first act had the potential for what I thought it was going to go...but the way it went was sloppy and even the first act had its own share of faults. In the end, I thought Anna would support Elsa through her troubles, and Elsa reached out to others whom she didn't allow to get close to. I thought Anna and Hans would be dating by the end of the incident. I thought Kristoff would be a confidante and a brother to Anna in case Elsa is too busy with her duties. I thought Anna would learn that her love is unconditional or that she didn't need to depend on another person and she's fine. Well...yeah...sloppy writing here, folks. And I'm an amateur writer and plan to be an editor!
Frozen should never ever be the benchmark of golden writing. Never.
It's still enjoyable for a first watch (as long as you don't take in story and character but look at its superficial surface where practically the Internet can write better and fill in the gaps in the story and character) and I would only recommend the first watch as I would recommend Brave to be watched at least once. Even though I flat-out dislike Brave and can't stand Merida, at least one watch is enough.
Just stop praising it broke grounds when it did not. The only thing that carried Frozen was its publicity and that is something you can't deny. Frozen is everywhere. The Princess and the Frog and Tangled didn't even receive that kind of treatment. Those two have been acknowledged for flaws but Frozen's flaws are ignored for the 'perfection'. It's not fucking perfect and the more people realize that Frozen is imperfect, the better I can breathe.
You can't just accept it to be good because it's everywhere and people say so. Liking it is perfectly fine but the glorification of what it is not fine at all. The glorification that it's the most progressive thing that ever graced the planet and the godsend from the animation god pissed me off to the extremes.
You can enjoy Frozen for its superficial surface (with the symbolism but the symbolism is completely different from a well-told story and characterization.) but if you really go deeper... yeah, it's no masterpiece and doesn't even stand next to Lion King and Beauty and the Beast.
It doesn't deserve its awards. The Wind Rises, Ernest and Celestine, The Croods, Monsters University, and Despicable Me 2 deserve more than just awards, they deserve recognition. Frozen doesn't deserve its recognition and hype as one of Disney's best when it's clearly not. It would deserve its praise if and only if it's praised for the right things and not for what it isn't.
I do like the movie (once...unlike Brave which I didn't like, the two movies could have done so much more but they didn't and as of now, the movies are just okay and mediocre) but I recognize its flaws. A very flawed film was labeled perfectly while other films had done so much better, pushing their themes and writing to the next level so it can be enjoyed by all ages.
I don't even hate Frozen. Just disappointed that such a film with potential was left underdeveloped yet praised for having tired tropes drilled to the ground. It's not unique or groundbreaking...
This is perhaps one of the few times I would say fanon materials and the source material *cough*TheSnowQueen*cough* are way better. Even fanfics based on Frozen AU are way better because they at least try to explain and develop the characters and story to the point I just wished Frozen had done just like them instead of being left with an underdeveloped story and character.
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| My face whenever I see Frozen...or mentioned...or just-just everywhere. While Excalibur is hilarious and annoying, Frozen being everywhere is just annoying. |
