Tangled Reviews

You may remember I posted this review ages ago to counter another reviewer's review of the movie, that reviewer basically just came across as someone who claimed to have seen the movie once or twice and enjoyed it but then got all sour about it and started whining about it and claiming that I was harrassing him, dude...how is me disagreeing with an opinion, harassment? Besides, I don't like the 'this movie is overrated' or 'this movie sucks because reasons' excuse.


But anyway hello i'm Nathan aka Monstermaster13 and this is another review. I have a confession to make, as a kid I was obssessed with Disney movies and Disney characters and by that I mean mordidly obssessed. And I still am - even though I could care less about those Jonas losers, Miley Cyrus, High School Musical and the like. Although I have seen Phineas and Ferb and it is awesome, just like Mighty Ducks, Gargoyles and Darkwing Duck. Today's review is of a different kind of Disney flick. This one is one of Disney's CGI movies that were done without the aid of Pixar. Now unfortunately when it comes to CGI, their last attempts varied - I thought that Chicken Little was okay and Meet The Robinsons was pretty good and I have a huge soft spot for The Wild (because it has a koala in it). This one completely blew me away. And even though I only saw the trailer of it, I decided to give it a watch and it did more than meet my expectations. This is Tangled, a playful spin-on the classic fairy tale Rapunzel. And I have to say it's one of their best non traditional animated works. The story is wonderful and there are some really funny scenes involving the chameleon and the horse. It has sort of a Hercules: Legendary Journeys/Xena: Warrior Princess vibe to it, and speaking of Xena - i'm probably not the only one who thinks that Flynn looks like Bruce Campbell as Autolycus only without the mustache.


Like the guys at Spill.com said in their review, it was just like a Warner Brothers cartoon. I thoroughly enjoyed myself throughout the whole thing, and even though the song at the beginning is a bit tooo..teen boppish but i'll let that slide. The rest of the songs are superb. Especially the villain song. Now onto the characters, Rapunzel is one kickass princess. She may be beautiful but she's also spunky like Belle, Jasmine, Tiana, Meghara, and Mulan before her - and also kinda like Buffy Summers from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Plus the fact her hair has magical properties kind of reminds me of the biblical hero Sampson and his hair. Flynn is one extremely lovable rogue, and I like him. I already mentioned how he kinda resembles Autolycus without the mustache. Plus I love his personality, who doesn't? This guy is almost on par to Jack Sparrow. The sidekicks are great too. Maximus is one awesome equine and I love how he's played out in this. Kind of a brute but not too mean. But my personal favorite is that chameleon Pascal because truth be told, I have a soft spot for reptiles in particular snakes and lizards. I'm serious. Chameleons facinate me, and their ability to change color is pretty awesome. Did I mention Maximus? He is soooooooo adorable and comedic, he's a loyal horse and a good boi. I just really like horses.


I had a CD rom game about animals when I was little and one of the coolest things ever was clicking on the chameleon to hear it make that sort of croaking/grunting sound as it rolled his eyes. I even still have the chameleon beanie baby Rainbow as well as his counterpart the Iguana beanie baby Izzy. And back when robot toys or "Robo-Pets" were all the rage, I had a robot chameleon toy named Muy Loco and it would teach you Spanish as make all sorts of comedic expressions. Heck...i've even had multiple dreams where I am at a friend's house and that said friend has a pet chameleon. One of my favorite characters in the Bloody Roar series if Buchizima because his beast form is a chameleon, he's also one of the funniest characters in video game history. Pascal is one groovy lizard and it shows, I love the expressions he makes and his color changing based on his mood - he's also extremely funny. I was laughing all the way through when he came on screen. He was just that funny.


Now onto our main antagonist: Mother Gothel. I love this villainess, she seems like a sweet motherly woman at first but then we get to see her true nature and she's truly something to behold, not to mention her villain song is one of the most beautiful songs i've heard. And I definitely see a bit of an Anjelica Huston vibe in her, as she kind of reminds me of the roles Anjelica played in movies like Ever After, the Addams Family and the Witches. Plus this may be just me...but she kind of looks like a mix of 1980's Cher and Queen Maeve from Mystic Knights of Tir Na Nog. Speaking of Mystic Knights....Flynn's history of being a thief brought to mind the character of Angus who was also a thief. There's nothing bad I can honestly say about this movie apart from the song at the beginning sounds like something you'd hear on the Disney Channel. The movie in general was one of the best animated movies of 2010 next to Megamind, Rapunzel even shares a similar facial trait to Megs...and we all know what this is. Yep, it's the eyes! She has very big beautiful green eyes, just like Megamind. In overall, this movie surprised me and I had a blast seeing it for the first time. And it's one of those movies that in my opinion will never get old or tiresome.


I rate it 100 out of 100, two monstrous thumbs up, and a Monstermaster13 Golden Seal of Fantasticness. I heavily recommend it if you haven't seen it, and if you have seen it - watch it again to truly understand how great it is.

'Tangled' is Disney's 50th animated classic! An overrated celebration...

'Tangled' is based on the play 'Rapunzel' which stars a princess who uses her hair as a ladder for people to climb up. Now it's not bad but this movie adaptation is overrated!

Don't get me wrong, it's well animated and at times it's funny but it's also overrated in my opinion!

The movie tangled is a Masterpiece….. Both Byron Howard and Nathan greno must have struggled a lot to construct such a masterpiece… Everything in this movie was absolutely brilliant… whether it is the story or the screenplay… everything was absolutely brilliant…. The songs were extremely pleasant to hear ….Before watching this movie I really didn’t expect that this movie might turn into one of my favorites… When I was very young I remember reading a tale with this story… So I was really surprised to watch that tale as a movie… I loved it.

I also loved the character Eugene as a thief….. When he tries to escape from the cobs after sealing the precious possession of the King and Queen he finds a very beautiful tower hidden in the forest… In order to save his life and to save his precious possession he climbs over the tower… I felt that this part of story was a very good beginning….



The next part I loved is the dream of Rapunzel which was to see the lanterns from very near as it was lighted up in the sky every year just on her birthday…. After making an agreement Eugene takes the girl to see the lanterns and both of them falls in love with each other…. I personally felt that the song “all those days watching from the windows” was great and pleasant to hear!!!!!





Well… then comes the climax… I tell you… I really didn’t expect such a shocking and lovable climax… I think I don’t need to write about the climax here… You might have watched the movie… Even those who didn’t watch until now watch it first... If I write about that you won’t be able to get the thrilling experience that I got……..

A classic story represented with a fantastic graphic work so it can be enjoyed both by kids and grown-up people. I especially appreciated the "light" effects, like the scene of the bright lanterns in the night sky. Songs are pretty nice and characters are likeable.

While Tangled is a beautifully animated film, the entire time that it was running before my eyes I kept thinking of the film that Disney originally announced and released artwork for. It would have been a stunningly gorgeous hand-drawn animated film made to look like French artist Jean-Honoré Fragonard’s work, keeping the original fairy tale’s name, Rapunzel, and Kristin Chenoweth as the titular heroine. To me, it would have been a more interesting project. But, maybe, I just miss the warmth and humanity that hand-drawn animation provides. While Tangled may not be the best film in the Disney canon, it’s a light-hearted and very humorous adventure.

What’s most refreshing about Tangled is how it puts the lie to the irony-laced, increasingly under-cooked, and artistically painted-in-a-corner entertainments like the Shrek franchise. Here is something that embraces its good-natured fairy tale origins, and finds poetic visuals and moments of true splendor in rendering them.

The scene where Rapunzel, after being held captive for most of her life, discovers the outside world is both hilarious and moving. The reaction shots of her character oscillating wildly between “Yippee!” and “I need to be punished!” are a perfect depiction of one’s teenage years. But it’s the way in which her character discovers the breeze, the feel of the grass beneath her feet, and the way cool water feels on her hand that is a quiet and artistically powerful way to depict the awakening of her senses, awareness, and ascent into adulthood.

Or the scene in which she sees thousands of lanterns being released into the air on her birthday. Which is breathtaking in its beauty, and joyous in its emotional uplift. It’s practically otherworldly in the way that it engulfs you. Behold, the power that only movies, and in this case animation, can provide.

And while Alan Menken, always a welcome presence in my mind in any Disney project, churns out serviceable songs, none of them truly stick. They touch you, mesmerize you, and greatly move the story along, but none of them are as memorable as “Under the Sea,” “Be Our Guest,” or “Out There.” Mandy Moore’s thin voice may be part of the problem, but even Donna Murphy’s diva-licious villain doesn’t linger in the imagination much.

It’s really the humor that lingers. All of the truly great Disney movies rely upon effective villains and sidekicks, be they good or bad. Tangled has memorable animal sidekicks, but our villain isn’t ever truly evil in the same pleasing way as Ursula or Maleficent, just passive-aggressive, abusive, and narcissistic. Where's the grand-scale plan? Stephen Sondheim's tormented and contradictory Witch in Into the Woods hints at what could have been with this character. Alas, it was not to be. But back to those sidekicks for a minute, the chameleon and horse in particular. Many of the best gags, including a reoccurring one relating to frying pans, either are started or continuously brought about by their presence.

Much like The Princess and the Frog, Tangled returns us to a happier time when animation was driven by warmth, humor, characters, and stories. This deliberate rejection of post-modernist conventions actually makes this feel like a breath of fresh air. Now, if only we could return to hand-drawn animation.

A drop of sunlight falls to the ground and grows into a magical flower, with the power to heal the sick and injured. An old woman named Gothel finds it and uses it to keep herself young by singing an incantation. Centuries later, the Queen becomes ill during childbirth, and is fed the flower. She is healed and gives birth to a daughter, whom they name Rapunzel, whose golden hair has absorbed the magical abilites of the flower. Gothel kidnaps Rapunzel and hides her in a tall tower, saving the powers of the magic flower for herself, and raising her as her own child. Gothel knows that if Rapunzel's hair is cut, it will turn brown and lose its magic, so Rapunzel's hair is left to grow. Every year, on Rapunzel's birthday, her kingdom releases thousands of sky lanterns, in the hope that the lost princess will return. On the eve of her eighteenth birthday, Rapunzel asks Gothel to let her see the floating lights, but Gothel refuses.

Meanwhile, a group of thieves, led by the charismatic Flynn Rider, steals the tiara of the lost princess from the castle. During the ensuing chase, a horse named Maximus is separated from his rider, the Captain of the Guards, and continues the search for Flynn on his own. Flynn outwits his accomplices and takes the tiara; he abandons them and stumbles upon Rapunzel's tower. Once inside the tower, Rapunzel knocks Flynn unconscious with a frying pan. She hides Flynn inside her closet and confiscates the tiara. When Gothel returns, Rapunzel requests, as a birthday present, a special paint made from white shells from a faraway beach. Gothel leaves on the three-day journey to bring back the shells. Rapunzel makes a deal with Flynn: a journey to the "lights" in exchange for the tiara. Flynn attempts to make Rapunzel end their journey by taking her to the Snuggly Duckling inn, which is full of Gaul thugs, but the thugs are charmed by Rapunzel, who encourages them to follow their dreams.

Mother Gothel sees Maximus riderless and worries someone will find Rapunzel. She returns to the tower to find Rapunzel gone. Meanwhile, the guards invade the tavern, but Rapunzel and Flynn have escaped. The pursuit ends at a dam, which Maximus causes to collapse; Flynn and Rapunzel are trapped in a flooding cave. Believing he's about to die, Flynn admits his true name: Eugene Fitzherbert. Rapunzel admits she has magic hair that glows when she sings. Using her power, they find a way out. Later, when Flynn goes to gather firewood, Gothel secretly meets Rapunzel. Gothel tells Rapunzel that Flynn does not care for her and merely wants the tiara. Gothel gives Rapunzel the tiara, insisting that she tests Flynn by giving it to him.

The next morning, Maximus confronts Flynn, but to Flynn's dismay Rapunzel befriends the horse. The three arrive at the kingdom and that night Flynn takes Rapunzel to see the lanterns. There, Rapunzel gives Flynn back the tiara. Flynn spies the Stabbington brothers and leaves Rapunzel waiting as he gives them the tiara back. However, the brothers tie him up on a boat and sail him across the lake. They reveal Flynn's "betrayal" to Rapunzel as they attempt to kidnap her for her hair's power, but Gothel "rescues" her and they return to the tower. Later, Flynn is arrested and sentenced to death. Maximus brings the inn thugs to rescue Flynn, and Maximus and Flynn race back to the tower. From various clues she found during her adventure, Rapunzel realizes she is the lost princess and attempts to flee the tower. When Flynn escapes on Maximus and returns to the tower, he climbs up Rapunzel's hair only to find her chained to the wall and gagged. Gothel stabs him from behind and prepares to take Rapunzel to a new hiding place, detaching the end of the chain from the wall and trying to pull her away. Rapunzel's gag comes off and she says she will always fight, but promises to go with Gothel willingly if she allows her to heal Flynn. Knowing that Rapunzel keeps her word, Gothel agrees, but before Rapunzel heals him, Flynn cuts her hair with a shard of broken mirror. Rapunzel's hair turns brown and loses its power and Gothel rapidly begins to age. Disoriented, Gothel stumbles around the tower when Pascal, Rapunzel's pet chameleon, causes her to trip and fall from the tower. She turns to dust before she hits the ground.

Rapunzel tries to heal the unconscious Flynn; however, with his last breaths he declares his love for her and says that she was his new dream. Flynn slowly dies in Rapunzel's arms. Heartbroken, she cries, and tearfully sings the incantation. One teardrop, filled with her power, lands on his cheek and revives him. The two embrace and kiss. Back at the kingdom, the royal family has a tearful reunion. "Years" later, Flynn and Rapunzel are married. Along the way, the Gaul thugs fulfill their individual dreams and Maximus becomes a respected official on the Royal Guard.

"This is the story of how I died. Don't worry, this is actually a very fun story and the truth is, it isn't even mine. This is the story of a girl named Rapunzel."

Following 2009's The Princess and the Frog with another tale of romance and princesses, Tangled is Disney's 50th animated feature film. And for this prestigious occasion, the studio turned to the story of Rapunzel, which was one of few fairytales that hadn't been given a trademark overhaul by the House of Mouse. In order to appeal to as many demographics as possible, Tangled has romance, action, adventure and musical numbers...in other words, it slavishly adheres to the exact same formula that was applied to the 49 feature-length animations that Disney produced prior to it. But while this computer-generated fantasy is generic, it's nevertheless charming, amusing and adventurous.

As an infant, young Rapunzel (voiced by Moore) was stolen away from her parents by the wicked Mother Gothel (Murphy), planning to use the girl's long magical hair to retain her youthful looks. Thus, Gothel houses Rapunzel in a tower and forbids her to leave, teaching the child to fear the outside world and convincing her that she can only be safe at home. From afar she watches the nearby kingdom and is enraptured by their festivities, and yearns for nothing more than to free herself from Mother Gothel's forceful grasp to explore the outside world. Into her life soon comes local thief Flynn Rider (Levi), who stumbles upon Rapunzel's tower while on the run from both the kingdom guards and the criminal partners he double-crossed. Rapunzel is shocked by the intrusion, and only agrees to let Flynn (and his stolen treasure) go if he escorts her to the kingdom so she can witness the beautiful annual lantern show.

The big problem with Tangled is its devotion to the Disney formula. Screenwriter Dan Fogelman (Cars, Bolt) stuck to the studio's well-worn staples: a feisty princess, a dashing hero, a villainous witch, wacky animal sidekicks and jaunty musical numbers. Heck, the music was even written by Alan Menken, whose contributions to The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Pocahontas and other titles have made him a Disney favourite. The songs, unfortunately, do not gel as well as they should have. They're enjoyable in the moment but forgettable, and their inclusion feels forced at the demand of the formula. There's a bit of tonal schizophrenia too, as directors Nathan Greno and Byron Howard tried their hardest to broaden appeal for maximum profits. The tonal juggling is not entirely slipshod, but some moments are too saccharine-coated for adult audiences while others are probably too intense for infants. The other flaw with Tangled is pacing issues; Flynn and Rapunzel's journey is admittedly lax from time to time.

But the above are the only drawbacks of what is otherwise a wholly enjoyable Disney production. The laughs are constant and satisfying, with a handful of sly one-liners (for the most part courtesy of Flynn), and some hilarious Looney Tunes-style antics featuring a stubborn white horse. Despite the formulaic structuring of Fogelman's screenplay, dialogue is surprisingly strong - the banter between Flynn and Rapunzel is sharp and witty, and the characters share good chemistry. Flynn is one of the most likeable Disney heroes in years, while Rapunzel is a genuine stunner of a princess (who knew cartoon females could look so beautiful?). Best of all, while the feature is generic and calculated, it works - the tragic moments tug on the heart, the upbeat moments make us smile, and the film leaves us with a warm and fuzzy feeling. Tangled successfully replicates that old Disney magic, allowing us to overlook any minor scripting faults.

Best of all, Tangled features some of Disney's most elegant visual craftsmanship to date. Directors Nathan Greno and Byron Howard elected a style of animation which replicates the traditional hand-drawn animation aesthetic in computer-animated 3-D, resulting in an impeccable hybrid of the old and the new. The filmmakers struck the perfect balance between realism and caricature; the CGI approach permitted a level of phenomenal detail that would be impossible to achieve with the former pen-and-ink style, while the movie's cartoonish look is also reminiscent of something like Pinocchio or The Little Mermaid. The colour palette is often lush as well, bringing about several instantly iconic images (the lantern scene is stunning), and the action beats were staged with immaculate finesse. This was Disney's most expensive movie yet, but the ridiculous $260 million price-tag has paid off.

As the young Rapunzel, Mandy Moore's vocal performance is chipper and amiable. The general aura that Moore brings to the role makes Rapunzel a truly pleasant character. Zachary Levi is also excellent as Flynn, with a completely charming line delivery befitting of the character. But it's Broadway veteran Donna Murphy who steals the show as Mother Gothel with brilliant menace and a wicked demeanour. Meanwhile, great characters actors filled out supporting roles (even the likes of Ron Perlman, Jeffrey Tambor, Richard Kiel and Brad Garrett feature here), and they all placed forth competent work. However, none of the characters are anywhere near as funny as Maximus, the silent royal horse who's rather hostile towards Flynn (and vice versa). The horse is easily the best character in the film, but it's good that his screen-time is so limited because it makes his fleeting appearances all the funnier.

Tangled may be business as usual in terms of Disney storytelling procedures, but it's surprisingly refreshing because it's not some postmodern, "hip" Shrek-style fairytale reinvention, and the comedy is free of pop culture references. With humour, heart, songs, and typical Disney-esque themes, Tangled is worthy of being Disney's 50th animated feature, and it's baffling that the movie was not even nominated for the Best Animated Movie Oscar.

7.5/10

Disney/Pixar and frankly most animated films usually leave me disappointed. Sure once in awhile there's a solid animated film, however this is a rare occurrence in my opinion. Tangled takes it up a notch and gives me hope in animated films to come.

The story of Rapunzel is fantastic for children yet, holds nothing special for other age groups. After watching this I loved the story and thought this film made it extravagant and well worth my time! Throughout the film I didn't get bored at all and enjoyed the characters along with their personalities.

My favorite aspect about Tangled was the humor. Sometimes cheese moments occur, but the majority of the humor is quite hysterical and well thought out. Another part I enjoyed would have to be the score and the musical numbers. Its songs were catchy, filled with surprisingly tasteful talent and humor. I don't know maybe I'm building the film up, but I believe that it truly deserves it! Shortly as soon as I can, I will be buying this on dvd...yes an animated film on dvd hahaha. Anyone with that lump, that looks like the balls in Wanton soup, in their skull should view this flick.

Flaws: Should not have ended.
Rating: (9.4/10)

What a cliche! Only good thing in this were the old little man acting amor, and very good-looking Flynn Rider. Ok, ok, the movie was very cute and very disney type, but I don't know.. Maybe I'm finally too old for a disney movie.