Tangled review

Number 434 on the top 1000 films of all time is Disney’s animated fairy-tale film Tangled.

Based on the story of Rapunzel, we see the princess voiced by Mandy Moore kidnapped by the evil Mother Gothel (Donna Murphy) who raises her as her own daughter. Rapunzel knows nothing about her true identity. However, her hair has magical qualities that can heal all wounds and stop the aging process. She is locked away in a remote tower knowing nothing about the outside world. That is until the lovable rogue Flynn (Zachary Levi) stumbles upon her tower and soon changes her life.

Tangled is based on a fairytale, so like many of Disney’s films, it is formulaic. What I saw here was little different to the Disney princess films of old. You have your princess locked away by a parental figure with sinister intentions. She then meets a prince charming initially disguised as a selfish rogue, but who becomes a better person as a result of the princess. Throw in some magic, colourful animation and funny animals for good measure.

Yes, it is all stuff we’ve seen before but when you do it as well as Disney does then who’s complaining. Granted, I don’t think this is one of their best films, but it was certainly an entertaining watch. Rapunzel had a nice mixture of wonderlust, star-eyed naivety, agency and inner strength. This helped to give us a Disney princess for the modern age.

Although Flynn’s arc from selfish coward to unlikely hero was predictable, it was still enjoyable to watch. The villainous Mother Gothel wasn’t quite on the same levels as the likes of Scar, Jafar or the various evil stepmothers, but she had some great lines, especially when she was expressing her thinly-veiled contempt of her supposedly beloved daughter.

There were plenty of funny moments like when Rapunzel goes into the tavern supposedly full of thugs but they are actually full of gentle giants with a share of unrealised dreams.

Compared to some other Disney films, I don’t think the soundtrack was particularly memorable. This was a little disappointing as the music is often the best part of Disney’s films: I’m thinking of the Lion King, Mulan or Aladdin. Even the god-awful Frozen had an inescapable soundtrack. Yet I can’t remember any of the songs from Tangled.

True, I don’t think Tangled brought anything new to the genre. Disney were certainly treading familiar ground when they brought this fairy-tale to life, but when they do it as well as they do, who’s complaining really?