Movie Review: Frozen (2013)

The animated movie uses voices from Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel, Jonathan Groff, Santino Fontana and Josh Gad.

My daughters have both seen this film multiple times and, after hearing them talking about it and, of course, the various songs from it, I honestly didn't have much interest in seeing it. However, they will once again be skating in our annual ice show and, since this year's show is based off of this movie, I agreed to watch it with them last night (for research). And, as much as I hate to admit it, this movie was actually pretty good.

I think the thing I really liked about this movie was, unlike most other animated family films, it wasn't anywhere as near as predictable as I thought it would be. Elsa (Menzel) seemed to be in over her head with no way to control her abilities. Anna (Bell) eventually ended up seriously hurt to the point she was dying. And the solution to their problems just wasn't as obvious as you would expect.

In addition, I was admittedly impressed with the potential love triangle the movie created. Anna was in love with Hans (Fontana) but, after she meets Kristoff (Groff), it becomes pretty obvious they make a good couple too. Unfortunately, I already knew (via my daughters) what was going to happen with this but, if I hadn't, I think I would have enjoyed the surprise twists.

Another thing that surprised me was, even though this movie was more of a drama, there were also quite a few funny moments in it. The living snowman, Olaf (Gad), was as entertaining as advertised and I especially loved how he was able to make the transition from comic relief to serious contributor when the situation called for it.

Plus, there were quite a few subtle jokes throughout that kept us laughing. My particular favorite was seeing the reindeer, Sven, with his tongue stuck to the ice. This helped keep the movie from becoming too serious and made it much more entertaining as a result.

Yes, the songs are stuck in my head again. But, overall, I thought this film was one of the better animated musicals I've watched recently. I might have taken a while to watch it but, after seeing it, do recommend it.

My Grade: A