#266
Post
by BigSal51 » Thu Aug 25, 2011 8:47 am
Saw this the other day on DVD aswell. Indeed I'm in agreement with most other people here, its classic Disney back in the saddle again; great animation, good songs, likeable protagonists, balanced comedy and drama, badass villains and a touching romance. While I wouldn't say it was quite as good as The Princess and the Frog overall, it's still up with that film as being a return to form for the studio's tradition, also showing that they don't need to hand draw their films to recapture their magic. I believe we're witnessing the fourth Golden Age of Disney, and its about damn time!
However, on the down side I must say I was disappointed with the film's ending, plus the main romantic song "I See the Light" didn't hit home as well as it should have. But my main problem was the ending. I just thought it was a bit of a cheat. Read on to see why (be warned, its long winded!).
SPOILERS
[spoiler]I know all Disney films are guaranteed to have a happy ending and I'm cool with that, its part of their fairytale charm afterall. Most importantly its always in the face of great suffering and sacrifice, so the happy ending becomes a reward, not just for the characters, but for the audience too. Tangled has the suffering and sacrifice thing down, for sure. Both characters, after spending most of the movie falling in love with each other, sacrifice their lives to keep the other safe, so when Eugene dies, its genuinely sad.
So now what's needed is a suitable way for these struggles to be rewarded by giving the characters what they want in a convenient, yet satisfying manner. Take examples from other Disney movies; in Pinocchio, the main character is brought back from the dead because his act of selflessness by saving Geppetto turns him into a real boy. In Snow White, true love's kiss breaks the sleeping spell. Same with Sleeping Beauty. In Beauty and the Beast, the Beast is transformed because Belle confesses her love for him just before the last petal on the rose falls. Even in The Princess and Frog, the couple turn back into humans because in marriage Tiana becomes a Princess, thus the kiss breaks the spell.
The common factor in those magical endings is that they all successfully satisfied the conditions the main protagonists must overcome to get what they ultimately want (e.g. Pinocchio can only become a real boy after proving himself truthful and unselfish, the spell over Tiana and Naveen can only be broken if they fall in love, get married and kiss). Tangled doesn't do this. The healing quality of Rapunzel's tears just comes out of nowhere and we're never told about it at any point throughout the movie. Granted, this is no more fantastical and ridiculous than any of the other conclusions I mentioned, but at those times we knew it was coming because the rules were already laid out and the films built up to it. Here it feels like a last minute twist in the script just to force the happy ending.
It could also be argued that, well, if her hair could heal, it's certainly reasonable that her tears could do it too, but that doesn't seem very meaningful; near the start of the film, when confronting Mother Gothel about going outside to see the floating lights for the first time, she quickly and casually does the singing healing hair thing on request without much intent. By that principle she could just as easily fake cry a few tears to heal someone, why did it have to be over a dead loved one? Plus, it could have all been avoided completely if Eugene had just waited for Rapunzel to heal him before cutting her hair. That way Eugene lives, Gothel no longer has a reason to keep Rapunzel, everyone lives happily ever after, no magic healing tears necessary. But as it stands, this misstep puts a bland aftertaste on what was up to that point an excellent movie, possibly the best Disney have done since The Lion King.[/spoiler]
I might be looking too far into this, seeing as its a Disney movie aimed at kids afterall. Its still a good movie regardless (the rest of it is far too strong to change that), but it could have been something really special had the ending turned out differently. So what could have been an 8 or even a 9 comes down to a 7 out of 10 for me.
MIJ
Amy 
)
this is ruining my day.[/spoiler]
