There will be spoilers ahead, so if I'm wrong about being the last person to see it, and story plot points matter to you, then you may not wish to read the rest. ;-)
Certain things that jumped out right away were, the opening sequence that was perfect classic Disney, but then they never really use that whole ice farming at any point in the movie other than that was Kristoff's profession, that we never saw him doing as an adult. For me, it made the scene mostly forgettable. The song was smart, lots of foreshadowing and gave me high hopes for the rest of the film, but then... it's like they set a scene and never used it. The song however makes its way onto many of my playlists so there's something!
Also, the pacing was too fast to really develop an emotional connection to the characters which is what impacts the final scenes. The more you care about the characters, the more you're going to emotionally invest in the final scenes even though you know the good guys win and everyone gets their happy ever after, you still hold your breath and a lump forms in your throat, then joy when the happy ending comes to be. You leave the theater happy and how you feel when the credits roll is how you'll remember the film.
When the credits rolled I was like,
"cute" then moved onto what was next to do. That's not a film that will stick with me and that's sad because in this case, this film was filled with likable, charismatic characters that I should have been rooting for and I just wasn't, not really.
Anna was sweet and I felt for her lonely upbringing and the sense of loss she felt for her sister. I had a similar situation with my own sister, so I was able to project a lot of my own emotion into that part of the film. Elsa's isolation, that broke my heart. Again, because I could identify so strongly. However, I think the Elsa character was a fascinating one that was just sort of left out to hang with no real character development and I really think the story tellers here missed an incredible opportunity to tell her story. Especially in her learning that it was her emotions that powered her magic. Instead she was left a background character while they told... I'm at a loss.
This isn't a love story, it's a tale of two sisters. Only one sister had an adventure, the other... I'm not sure.
Although Elsa got the song of the film so I supposed we shouldn't feel too badly. lol
Sigh... he's dreamy in my opinion with a fabulous voice!
But I may be off track. lol
I just feel overall the movie was a bit schizophrenic. It had so many great pieces and rather then tell any one story great, they told a handful, good ones, but nothing that really grabbed me and made me watch it.
Reminds me why I've broken down Starlight Key and stopped trying to put more than one story in at a time. sigh... it's a good idea, but only if you take the time to develop each and in Frozen, they just didn't.
Why was Olaf suddenly back? Adorable though he was. What about the trolls? And why was Kristoff an orphan? I just was left with so many questions that as a story teller myself, it's driving me crazy and I want to go in, pick the thing apart and re-tell it!
Anna's story of a lonely princess discovering love and her own strength as she saves her sister.
Elsa's story of power and fear.
And what was up with Hans?
They didn't develop the character enough to be a real villain, and so what, they gave us a secondary weak villain in the Duke?
Disney is known for their timeless villains and this story needed a villain to bring the sisters together with a unifying purpose to fight for... but no... we got Hans, the spoiled selfish dick prince... I was not impressed. :p
Even the Duke, he wasn't villainous, he was pompous and ignorant. I just kept picturing him as a child throwing a tantrum and not much more. I wanted to give him a lollipop, pat him on the head and tell him to go play in the corner.
I know I sound very down on this film, and yes, I'm being harsh, but that's because I did like it. It's just that I saw what they had on the table, the characters and the story that could have been told and it frustrates me to see it told the way it was.
I know this film is being touted as this great girl power film, but sigh.. really? Just because no one fell in love and fit their foot in a shoe, doesn't make it a girl power story.
Yes, Anna was great going after her sister, but she did that out of love, not some misguided notion of girls rock.
And Elsa... that was a girl power story, but they missed it.I know this is a film aimed at young families, but you cannot tell me you can't pull great emotion and story telling in a film like this... Beauty and the Beast, Lion King, Wall-E and Up ring any bells?
It's not that I expect every film to have depth and emotion, but when you have great material to work with, you have a responsibility to tell the story and here, I just feel like too much was missed.
Maybe I'll get more from Once Upon a Time this season as they bring the sister's story to life in their unique way. I've been excited to see that ever since last season's tease they left us with and I hadn't even seen Frozen then. No one gives emotion and depth to fairy tales like Once Upon a Time, so maybe I'll finally get what I'm looking for there.
Story telling is an art form, it's a gift, for me it's a passion, it's who I am and I'm seeing that more and more as I continue to walk my own personal journey.
I'm so excited about what's about to happen in my own writing life and to quote Queen Elsa...
It's time to see what I can do To test the limits and break through No right, no wrong, no rules for me I'm free!
And who knows, maybe I'll find a way to re-tell this myself and give it all the high points I think they missed!
