So yeah. It's good. It's not great, but it is good.
Perhaps this is too vague a start, I'll explain. 'Frozen' is now the most successful animated film of all time - and that is one hell of an achievement considering how many truly great animated films there have been. Not that success is the best indicator of quality mind - Pinocchio was famously a complete flop on its release and almost bankrupted Walt Disney. Now it is regarded as one of the most influential and powerful animations in the history of cinema. This is not to say that 'Frozen' is bad, absolutely not. Only that after the sheer amount of explosive hype the film has gotten, and given how the internet has latched on to the accompanying song 'Let It Go', the actual product is sort of underwhelming as a result.
It is a beautiful, beautiful film. The animation is stunningly detailed, and characters emote with absolute authenticity. Even the story is a rather lovely one; based on Hans Christian Andersen's 'The Snow Queen', it follows two royal sisters - one of whom has the ability to manifest ice and snow out of thin air. After an awful accident at the Royal Court, Queen Elsa (Idina Menzel) flees into the mountains, and her sister Anna (Kristen Bell) pursues her. The kingdom is stuck in a permanent winter, and will not survive if Elsa cannot figure how to undo what she has done. It's all pretty good dramatic stuff, and the voice cast get their teeth into the material well. There's also a rather pleasing comedic turn from Josh Gad (Elder Cunningham from the Book of Mormon) who is a rare case of a Disney comic relief character who doesn't make me want to remove my own eyes with a clawhammer. The whole thing has a grace and sincerity that sets it above the Dreamworks pretenders of the same type, and the fictional setting it chooses gives the film a striking visual aesthetic.
And yet...and yet....
The film sort of begins to, if not precisely fall apart, come loose under close inspection. There is a certain sense that despite the fairy-tale trappings, we have rather seen this before. The dramatic turns and twists get irritatingly predictable, especially in the resolution of a rather tricky love triangle that is solved in a pretty flat manner. While questioning character motivations may seem like nitpicking, these are pretty serious problems that do impact the plot. I'll start with Elsa - whose abilities appear to work however the filmmakers wish. She creates ice and yet also seems able to change the weather and create life. Also for a person who has no idea how to harness her abilities, she is more than capable of creating a palace out of nothing.
Then there's Prince Eric, who (if you hadn't guessed it) turns out to be the upper-class toad trying to marry Anna in order to be King. After leaving her dying (through means too complicated to explain right now) he then explains in detail to the flabbergasted royal advisors. Uh...really? This is seen as a credible plot twist? It kind of feels like it's forcing our emotions at times. Also Sven could be totally edited out of the film he has so little impact on the plot.
The biggest audience for this of course is children, and children could give less of a flip about whether or not Frozen makes a lot of sense character-wise. What they see is an enchanting little fairytale, but what I see is something that has been done often before by Disney, and often better. It just treads a lot of familiar ground and not as well as others, even making the ending 'power of love' plot device so literal it comes across as kind of half-arsed. As I said, this is not a way of me saying the film sucks; it does not suck, absolutely not. It is the highest quality production, and when Elsa sings 'Let It Go' by god, does she mean it, weird rules about her powers or no. It is just that as someone who has watched almost every Disney film and has laughed and cried along with everyone else, it all just feels a bit too familiar.
P.S And you can stop sharing links of 'Let It Go' now! Dear lord!!
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