Movie Review: Frozen

So I went to see Frozen this weekend with my family. I enjoyed the movie more than I'd expected. Of course, it's hard not to enjoy something with Idina Menzel singing in it. I thought the voices and music were really well done. I liked that the relationships were complicated, and I appreciated that the snowman was linked to their past together as children, and not just something completely random. I also liked that the snowman Elsa made to act as her guard was very different from Olaf, but not so much so that you couldn't see a relationship between them.

That said, what was really a gorgeous story was, in my opinion, not helped by the addition of an entire song for Olaf -- one that I didn't didn't serve a sufficient role in the overall plot. I couldn't get past the feeling that Olaf was sort of leftover from a previous version of this movie that was a lot more cutesy than the finished product.

Snowmen aside, though, I felt that it was a really lovely movie. It's been a long time since I felt any sort of magic at a kids' movie, Disney or not, but they had it here, due in no small part to the amazing use of music in the film, particularly in the first half. I love that although Kristoff could, perhaps, have saved Anna, he didn't need to. And honestly, the film doesn't encourage you to believe that he was the solution to Anna's predicament, at least not yet. It's not a love-at-first-sight sort of story. It's refreshing, really.

Also, Kristoff's expressions and body language AND sense of humor resembles my son, William, far too much for his comfort. :) That was highly entertaining.

So yeah, go see Frozen. Even better, go see it when it's a stage musical, as it's bound to be. I'm sure it'll be absolutely fabulous.