Unreal Movie Review: Tangled

Being a grown ass man (or close to it) with no kids (that I know of), it can be hard to get out to see a movie like Tangled. Despite all its critical acclaim, which piqued my interest, no way in hell was I going to talk my buddies into it with Faster and Way of the Warrior playing next door.

But insert understanding girlfriend, and I got the chance to check it out, and  frankly, it’s been one of my more surprising movie-going experiences of the year.

I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen such a horribly marketed movie. Each trailer jam packs in nearly every slapstick joke that occurs in the film, with no indication that this is indeed on par with other Disney animated classics that have comedy, drama, singing and actual memorable characters. Nope, all we see is a guy getting beaten up by hair.

Or fists.

Tangled, despite largely slipping under the radar due to aforementioned shit promotion, is actually a big step forward for Disney and an impressive look at the future of their animated features. Yes, the hit-cranking Pixar is usually the over-achieving older brother of Disney animation these days, but don’t forget about all those classic movies the studio churned out before computers became the norm.

Recently Disney tried to bring back hand-drawn animation with The Princess and the Frog, and as quaint as that was, it is time to move on, and until now, most studios haven’t known how to render humans effectively in CGI form.

Either you try to go too realistic, and end up deep in the uncanny valley like Beowulf or the humans in Shrek movies, or you go the opposite direction, and do hyper exaggerated proportions like in Despicable Me, Up or The Incredibles.

But this is the first time I’ve seen an animation studio strike perfect balance. Tangled is simply gorgeous and its characters, though computer generated, are easily identifiable in the Disney cannon of heroes and princesses. Yes, we might see the individuals stalks of hair on Flynn’s sideburns, or the microscopic freckles on Rapunzel’s nose now, but it’s the best CGI humans have ever looked, realistic enough to be visually impressive, and cartoony enough to be inviting rather than creepy.

“Sha-la-la-la…Go on and… kiss the girl!”

But the movie is more than just visuals, and Disney has crafted a coherent reworking of the classic tale of Rapunzel that makes for a very satisfying feature. Not one that is begging for a sequel mind you, like most animated projects are these days, but one that works well as a standalone story.

Rapunzel (Mandy Moore, who no surprise, also does the singing) has been kidnapped at birth by an evil hag (Donna Murphy), who uses her long magic hair to keep her young and pretty. Rapunzel believes her to be her mother and the world outside the tower she’s locked in to be an exceedingly dangerous place, when the truth is, she’s really a princess and the outside world has been looking for her for eighteen years.

Enter Flynn Rider (Chuck’s Zachary Levi), a roguish thief who has just nabbed, coincidentally, the former princesses’ crown from its prized station in the castle. While escaping from the law, he climbs her tower, and finds himself face to face with a pretty girl with hair the length of a football field who clubs him over the head with a frying pan. Rapunzel thinks this is her chance to get out and see the world, and so she hides his crown until he escorts her on a field trip to the kindgom’s annual lantern festival (which unbeknownst to her, is to celebrate her birthday). Problem is they’re pursued by castle guards, Flynn’s former criminal pals and her dastardly mother.

I wouldn’t want to be chased by a pair of guys voiced by Ron Perlman either.

The film, is simply put, a Disney movie. Seems like a simple enough statement, but in my mind that’s one of the highest compliments you can give a kids’ movie in this day and age. It’s on par with classics like Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast or The Little Mermaid in terms of storytelling and a memorable cast of characters, not to mention the return of musical numbers that most current animated movies have scrapped.

It’s just fun. Yes, at its core it’s a typical prince saves princess story, which isn’t terribly high concept compared to most things Pixar churns out these days. Nor is it full with hidden innuendo like everything Dreamworks releases. It’s a simple tale, but one that’s gorgeously rendered and enjoyable from start to finish, no matter your age, and in the process, you’ll probably feel a few years younger watching it.

4.5 out of 5 stars

“YOU!”