Saturday, January 11, 2014

Post #12: FROZEN!!!

HEY! Sorry for being mega-weak on the updates, and Happy New Year! Between the end of the fall semester, the Holidays, and starting up the second season of the Purple Opinions video series, we truthfully haven’t had much time to keep the blog updated! Our deepest apologies!!!

So this past week we saw the new Disney movie, Frozen. Directed by Chris Buck, this film stars Kristen Bell, Josh Gad, Idina Menzel, and Jonathan Groff in the leading roles.  The movie takes place in the fictional Kingdom of Arendelle, and follows its two princesses, Elsa and Anna as they partake on a magical journey in which they find themselves and save their kingdom.

…okay so that last line was probably the cheesiest thing you’ve read all week, but its not far from the truth. I mean its DISNEY for god’s sake. What did you expect?

In all seriousness though, this movie is arguably one of the best films that Disney has put out in the past 15 years. With its incredible music and animated visuals, it already has a lot going for it.

The story only adds to this stellar film. Without spoiling too much, this film is quite atypical to other Disney movies in the sense that it focuses more on the familial love between two sisters rather than a romance between a damsel in distress and her prince charming. This change is a breath of fresh air for the typical Disney story, and everyone that I have spoken to (that has seen the movie) says that this unprecedented relationship angle is one of the strongest parts of the movie.


But let’s get to the fun stuff; the music. The original songs for this movie are amazing. Husband and wife songwriting team Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez (who also wrote music for 2011’s Winnie the Pooh) make Frozen an absolutely magical experience for adults and children alike, something that many movies fail to do. Songs like “Love is an Open Door” and “In Summer” provide a light-hearted comedic element to contrast more powerful pieces such as “Let it Go” and “For the First Time in Forever”.

Personally, I feel as though the opening song,
"Do You Want to Build a Snowman?" has a part so
emotional (No Spoilers) that it makes Mufasa's
 death in The Lion King seem like a walk in the park.
If I had to make one complaint about this movie, it would have to be the inclusion of the magical talking snowman, Olaf. I really struggle to understand why this character was placed in the movie for anything other than cheap laughs and some comedic-relief. Don't get me wrong; I know it's a children's movie and it is absolutely necessary to have a goofy side-kick to the hero...err....heroine. Heck, I thought Olaf was hysterical, but I just felt that there was so much more that could have been done with that character. Olaf had ZERO to do with any form of plot progression, and the film could have been just as good without the lovable snowman.

That being said, Frozen is still an AMAZING movie (That's why I saw it twice). I seriously recommend that anyone that hasn't seen it goes out and does that IMMEDIATELY. The movie came out on Thanksgiving, so I can't imagine it being kept in theaters much longer, so get on that ASAP!!!

Did you see Frozen? Tell us your Purple Opinions in the comment section below!