Tangled was a bit of a surprise for me – I LOVED it! I regret not having seen it in theaters, but I own it on Blu-Ray now and have seen it more than 10 times…probably even way more than that.
I love almost everything about this movie. The songs are catchy, Rapunzel is sweet, Flynn is sarcastic and likable, and Pascal and Maximus are both hysterical additions to the cast. From the great introductory “When Will My Life Begin?” to the amusing “I’ve Got a Dream” to the heart-warming “I See the Light”, Alan Menken does yet another fantastic job composing songs for a Disney animated film. The story is also one of my favorites by Disney; the princess not knowing that she is a princess is a nice twist on the traditional fairy tale.
It seems to me that there are a couple of nice parallels or references to earlier Disney animated films. For example, “I See the Light” makes me think of Menken’s “A Whole New World” from Aladdin every single time I hear it, and the end healing scene is reminiscent of the ending of Beauty and the Beast. Just an observation!
The only part of this movie that I didn’t like was Mother Gothel, particularly her opening song, “Mother Knows Best”. I know she’s the villain and that I’m not supposed to like her, but this was more than dislike – it was annoyance. I can’t stand “Mother Knows Best”, but I love the reprise later in the film. All in all, it’s a pretty petty complaint about a film that I enjoy immensely.
Tangled is an all-around fantastic movie, and it’s not just for girls, either; boys, if you’ll give it a chance and watch it, I’m willing to bet that you’d really enjoy it. Aside from the romantic aspects of the film, there is plenty of comedy, action, and adventure to appeal to just about everyone. Give Tangled a chance!
-Chad
Rating: 5 (out of 5)
MPAA: PG – for brief mild violence
P.S. – Read my review of this film’s score, composed by Alan Menken, here!
Chad Likes Movies 
July 31st, 2012 at 11:25 am
Interesting review. My Mom and I watched this some time back and thought it was okay. But we were rather bothered by the very prevalent feminist worldview, which is about as subtle as a punch to the face. And while “Mother knows best/ total control of your life” is bad, I think that “Daughter knows better than Mom and I really don’t care what you say” is worse. (And I understand that the Mom is the bad guy here and that’s she’s not really Rapunzel’s Mom, but that’s still the message we got.) What do you think?
July 31st, 2012 at 12:51 pm
Personally, I think the message is more along the lines of “you should make your own decisions and not let anyone else control your life; chase your dreams”. I see where you’re coming from, but, without any offense intended, I think it’s reading into it a bit too much. The film isn’t about Rapunzel ignoring her “mother’s” wishes, it’s about her and Flynn and the thugs at the bar gaining freedom from other people who have decided the way their lives should go, i.e. Rapunzel never leaving the tower, Flynn having to be a thief, the thuggish guys expected to be nothing but thugs. Does that make sense?
Thanks for your thoughts!
-Chad
July 31st, 2012 at 1:27 pm
Actually, we didn’t have to go very deep to get that message. 🙂 It was one of the first things we noticed. And I think that the whole ‘chasing your dreams and don’t let anyone control your life’ thing could be just as dangerous, they are practically the same thing, the later version is just nicer. Also, while the movie may not be specifically about Rapunzel disobeying her “Mother’s” wishes, I think it’s still a worrying, though, subtle message. Thanks for the response and discourse!
August 10th, 2012 at 12:41 am
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December 9th, 2013 at 3:11 pm
[…] as those set in the 1990s (though I’m certainly partial to their 2010 offering, Tangled – my review), but they certainly hark back to those animated films that I grew up with, making it quite an […]