Tangled

In preparation to play Kingdom Hearts 3 I decided to watch Tangled (2010), the only film featured in that game that I had not watched before. Tangled seemed to spark the beginning of Disney Animation's recent wave of success though discussion around the movie seemed to die out when the studio's next production, Frozen (2013), became a cultural phenomenon.

Rapunzel is a pretty shallow fairy tale so I was surprised by how well the creative team managed to use its elements as a springboard for making a fun world. Though the world building gets off to rough start with a lengthy exposition dump that explains how Rapunzel's hair is magical and Gothel kidnapped her in order to exploit that power. It felt inelegant and sloppy though most of these writing issue are relegated to Act 1 with the movie finding its footing in Act 2.

Most of the cast is very likeable with Rapunzel being a highlight as a protagonist with a big personality but with enough agency and intelligence that she always felt competent in any situation. Her and Flynn end up having a nice chemistry with their courtship being fairly cute. Even the animal side kicks, a horse named Maximus and a chameleon called Pascal, have nice comedic moments while avoiding being annoying.

Beautifully animated and with colors the pop, Tangled is visually gorgeous. Some sequences like the fight in the canyon utilize dynamic camera work that gives the set pieces a nice sense of energy. The visual design exuded charm and it was hard not to smile at times. Character designs are nicely varied even though it does all into the trapping that many animated films have where the main character are all traditionally beautiful while the more unique designs of its supporting cast are treated as being ugly or abnormal.

Surprisingly cute couple that isn't as generic as promo pics led me to believe.

The film's biggest flaw is its antagonist, Gothel. Her position as Rapunzel's kid napper/ adoptive mother presented the writers with two possible avenues for her character's development: they could have made her sympathetic or unapologetically evil. While giving Gothel some kind of true motherly attachment to the protagonist would have been an interesting direction rich, exploring that kind of captor/captive relationship is a dark subject matter that may be too much for the movie's target demo to handle or understand.

So while I can not begrudge the writers for choosing to make her fully evil I can say that she failed to leave any kind of impression. Gothel has the motives of a crazy mastermind but lacks the larger then life personality that makes these type of villains enjoyable to watch. She mocks our heroes with petty insults and jabs that just feel juvenile and as a result she never feels like a true threat. Instead og coming across as a serious, manipulative monster she ultimately feels like a rejected extra out of a Disney Channel original movie.

Tangled was a pleasant surprise and a fun watch. It has a clunky start but it eventually settles into a nice grove. If its villian got some major reworks I could see this film being on par with many classic Disney films. Still a enjoyable movie and a worthwhile watch if your in the mood for some family-friendly entertainment.