Ok, so I saw Tangled based strictly on the TV ads, which made it
out to be one of these slap-happy laugh riots in the same vein as Shrek. And I
was looking forward to seeing a really funny cartoon once more, but it appears
that I’ll just have to keep looking, because Tangled ain’t it. Based on the
Rapunzel legend, which tells of a princess with extremely long hair who lives
locked away in a high castle, Tangled tries to have it both ways by being a
traditional Disney film with musical numbers, as well as being humorously
irrelevant. But by trying to please everybody at once, Tangled winds up pleasing
nobody. Tangled tries very hard with elaborate and sweeping musical numbers that
recalls Broadway plays--but it just doesn’t recall the best Broadway plays, however.
The songs sung here aren’t very memorable--but then, that’s really not all that’s
wrong with this film. Rapunzel is given voice by Mandy Moore, the pop diva who
handles the singing well enough (I guess she should be used to singing bland pop
songs by now) but her natural exuberance just isn’t enough to lift the shoddy
material that she’s given to work with. It doesn’t help that the rest of the
characters in the film are all so flavorless to the point of almost being
interchangeable. The handsome hero who comes to Rapunzel’s rescue, as well as
the evil witch who imprisons her under the guise of being an overprotective
mother, are both very flat and forgettable.
The same could be said about Tangled overall, whose predictable script is complete
with the cliché about a band of thugs who all have secret desires, which Rapunzel
helps to unleash during a dull musical number that helps to save her dopey
boyfriend from harm. For the record, I enjoy a great musical animated film. I’m
a proud owner of Disney’s Pinocchio and Snow White on DVD, and my most recent
animated musical favorites are The Little Mermaid and Beauty And The Beast. But
these films deserve their status as classics because they each have songs that
are actually good, along with a strong storyline with fully realized
characters--which is everything that Tangled lacks. Avoid this one.
--SF
Main Review Page | Animated Film Reviews |Tangled on DVD
