Darker as a Brothers Grimm story, Rapunzel gets cleaned up by Disney. Now, with some song and dance, you have Tangled, Disney’s 50th animated film. The best part is that this film is entertaining, genuinely funny, and for the whole family. Disney has brought back the princess story and made it enchanting while being visually stunning in the process.
For those who are not familiar with the story of Rapunzel (Mandy Moore), she has long, beautiful golden hair that can make someone young again and heal the wounded. Knowing what type of powers her hair has, Mother Gothel (Donna Murphy) kidnaps Rapunzel from her parents (who happen to be the King and Queen).
Mother Gothel keeps her hidden in a secret tower in the middle of the forest. She warns her “daughter” about how dark and cruel the outside world is and she must never leave the tower. But as Rapunzel gets older, she begins to get curious and wants to know what is outside her tower. Her one wish for her 18th birthday is to go see “the floating stars.” However, Mother Gothel will not allow it. But then Rapunzel meets Flynn Ryder (Zachary Levi).
Flynn is an egotistical thief. He adores himself and if he could stare at himself in the mirror all day, he would. He gets away by being sly and having good looks. But, he starts to take those for granted. While hiding from some partners he turned on, he finds the tower. But, he never counted on meeting someone like Rapunzel. After being knocked out twice by her, Flynn wakes up and the crown he stole has been hidden and the only way to get it back is to take Rapunzel to the “floating stars.”
From there, their journey begins and Rapunzel begins to experience what she has been missing out on for so long. Flynn may get them in to trouble, but if an adventure is what they want, then that is what they are going to get. The more time Rapunzel and Flynn spend together, the more they start to see each other for who they really are and may just unexpectedly fall in love. Who knows?
Moore and Levi really capture the heart and spirit of their characters. I did not know what to expect from these two, but they did a terrific job embracing who these characters are by lending their voices. Murphy plays the selfishly evil Mother Gothel with great cruelty and humor. Who can forget the horse who acts just as human as the humans do, Maximus, and Rapunzel’s only friend who is a chameleon named Pascal? He doesn’t talk but he doesn’t have to. His use of expressions and actions say it all. These two add some humor to the film, not that it needs it, but more is better.
Directors Nathan Greno and Byron Howard take a risk by re-telling a story that is very familiar and chose not to throw a lot of surprises in the mix. Instead, they created characters that we like and want to watch. The story is a visual pleasure which keeps the audience engaged and it does not matter if you are an adult or child.
Is Tangled the next Cinderella or Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs? No. Those are classics, but in this day and age of animation, this film has everything you would want. Even the songs are pretty good. You may not remember them like those of The Lion King or The Little Mermaid, but those are classics too. These are unfair comparisons so I will just wait until Tangled becomes one of those classics one day. Hey – it could happen.
Brandon Vick is a member of The Music City Film Critics’ Association, the resident film critic of the SoBros Network, and the star of The Vick’s Flicks Podcast. Follow him on Twitter @SirBrandonV and be sure to search #VicksFlicks for all of his latest movie reviews.
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