FROZEN vs. TANGLED (In-Depth Review)

Hey, everyone! What’s going on?

Today, I came across an article as I was mindlessly scrolling through my newsfeed on Facebook. It was a MoviePilot article written by Kyle Watkins called, “Why Tangled is Better Than Frozen”. He made several points about both films, and after I read it, I thought to myself, why not write my own article?

After I watched Frozen, I thought it wise to keep my mouth shut about how I really felt about it. Because, as a fangirl, I know what can happen if you “trash” someone’s obsession. But, as a fangirl, I also know how great and wonderful the internet is what with anonymity and the awesome power to ignore hateful comments. So, here I am with another review. Since this is a face off between the two movies (two DISNEY movies, at that), this is going to take some serious compare and contrast.

Let’s start off with Tangled.

Tangled is my all-time favorite Disney movie with The Lion King running close behind it. To be honest, Rapunzel has always been my favorite princess, and ever since I was little I was always obsessed with every single Rapunzel thing I came across. Like, seriously, I was a fangirl before I even knew what a fangirl was. However, just because I had a childhood obsession with her doesn’t mean I can’t give good, constructive criticism when there are obvious flaws. And let me tell ya…there are no flaws. Tangled is a beautiful film.

It’s funny, it’s suspenseful, it’s dark, it’s happy, there’s comedy, there’s heartbreak, and it just has an all around feel-goodness to it. I feel like there’s a balance in power between Flynn (voiced by Zachary Levi) and Rapunzel (Mandy Moore), and they each get roughly the same amount of screen time. Plus, not only is Rapunzel kind and beautiful, but she can take care of herself when she needs to, which makes her a strong, female, independent character. Flynn is no prince charming, but he manages to marry the “princess”. The story line is as realistic as a fairytale can get, but it still gives kids a good WOW factor when Rapunzel’s hair can heal things. Really the only flaw that I can even think of is that the message of never giving up on your dreams is a little difficult to find, but even then I feel that kids shouldn’t have it handed to them like it was in Frozen. Back stories were given to many of the characters, (except for the villain, really, which I hate, but what are you gonna do?) and the plot was well-developed with very clear, but not IN YOUR FACE, beginning, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution. And probably one of the most important thing (at least to me) were the names. They were unique for their origin, but not ridiculously hard to pronounce.

And now, for Frozen.

I loved Frozen. I really did. I’m in love with the fact that it was based in Sweden and the fact that there was so much of the Norse culture involved in the making of this film. If you’ve read any of my other things, you’d know how much I love anything that has to do with Norse culture. As a film, though, I have to act more like a critic on this one. I like the general idea that they had for Frozen, but there are more flaws with this film than Tangled.

Yes, it has suspense, love, adventure, and very strong female leads, but there’s something missing. Or rather, something is being overplayed. What is it, you ask? Well, while you were watching the film, did it ever occur to you that it kinda felt like some kind of feminist propaganda product? Not that there’s anything wrong with that. In fact, I love the idea of Disney getting into that kind of thing…except not really. There’s a reason why I watch Disney movies–so I can get away from real life and more serious matters. With Frozen, it seems like that’s all I get. And it always seems like everything is a little over-done and over-rated. For example, the song “Let It Go”, which seems to really play on the popularity of Frozen, really isn’t all that great, if you think about it. Or at least there’s no real deep connection or point attached to it. In Tangled, the songs were more inspirational, and, like Watkins says in his article, were actually necessary, where as Frozen seems to place songs in the most random places. However, the film did have great back stories, but they could’ve at least worked on the names (seriously, Elsa is in the top ten most popular baby names in Sweden).

All in all, both movies are very good. I still enjoyed watching both of them, even though I prefer one of them over the other. Disney has really stepped up their game within the past five years or so what with graphics and plots and character connection and all that jazz. Truth be told, I have yet to see a bad Disney princess movie, so if you have any for me to watch or review, I would gladly accept!

Thank you so much for reading! I post fairly regularly, so stay tuned and I’ll be out with another article very soon. Leave comments and tell me what you think about this topic. I’d love to make conversation! 🙂

~ Myridian

Everyone Wants to Know…Why Benedict Cumberbatch?

So I have a similar article called, “Everyone Wants to Know…Why Tom Hiddleston?” and included were reasons why Hiddleston has so many devoted fans. Here, I will be explaining why Benedict Cumberbatch has so many fans.

It’s pretty much the same deal, although yes, he does have a strange appearance. The funny thing for me, and probably for some other people as well, is that if a person has a radiant personality, their looks are instantly enhanced. Not that looks are everything. Besides, I think he’s beautiful anyway, to be honest. Also, if someone has an admirable talent and is top notch at what that do, well, ring the wedding bells because now you have my full attention (Yes, Ben, I was hinting. Will you marry me?). I think that it is no coincidence that I like both Hiddleston and Cumberbatch. They’re both so great and wonderful and talented and fantastic and gentlemanly-like and there are just no words that exist in the English language that can equally describe how truly amazing these men are. But back to Ben, shall we?

Most people who think of Benedict Cumerbatch (left) think of Sherlock. Sherlock is a BBC television show (aired in the US on PBS) which has become extensively popular across the world. This show is an awesome display of how far Cumberbatch takes his talents–to a whole other level! His performance is stellar, and, in my eyes, no one could possibly have played a better Sherlock Holmes. He is Sherlock Holmes. Not only speaking for Sherlock, he is Smaug (The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug), he is Stephen Hawking (Hawking), he is Julian Assange (Fifth Estate), he is Major Jamie Stewart (War Horse). This man is terrific! I praise his way with the art of acting and how much he captures with each character he plays. His work is just so enchanting. He deserves so much more recognition, and I know he’s already so grateful for what he has, but truly he does deserve more. Like Hiddleston, he comes straight from the theatre, which I think is what we need more of these days and is therefore why he is among one of the greatest in my book. Benedict Cumberbatch, everyone.

Thank you so much for reading! I post fairly regularly, so stay tuned and I’ll be out with another article very soon! Leave comments and tell me what you think about this topic. I’d love to make conversation! 🙂

~ Myridian

Everyone Wants to Know…Why Tom Hiddleston?

I guess there are many reasons why I think Tom Hiddleston is such a beautiful person. Aside from his astonishing good looks and painfully enchanting voice, his mind is absolutely wonderful. The fact that he is so open, I think, is why I find such a deep attraction to him. Plus his taste in music and literature has definitely won the key to my heart. For me, anyone who listens to groups like Bon Iver seem more laid back and chill and also tend to be a little more serious, which I love. He has a nice balance, though.

Anyone who has ever watched or read his interviews knows that he can act quite silly, but that’s good! I know for me I would hate it if my partner was so serious all the time. I like someone who’s not afraid to curse a little and just have fun. His impersonations never fail to make me smile or even laugh… Overall, he’s a fun person to be around—or so it seems.

And, of course, one cannot possibly write an article about this amazing man without bringing up his phenomenal performance on-screen—especially the all-famous super-villain, Loki; God of Mischief. I will admit, I am a bit ashamed to admit that “Thor” was in fact the first Tom Hiddleston film I had ever watched. The man has done so many other brilliant films that it’s embarrassing I had to watch a pretty popular one to discover him. In fact, if it had not been for Thor, I probably would’ve never discovered him.

Getting to the point, his performance with the God of Mischief was extraordinary. From personal experience of despising action/superhero films, I have to say that Loki made me fall in love with them. I think it was because, for the first time ever, the villain was never really all that bad. He was actually very likeable in the first “Thor” film. That is until he went completely mad when he found out he was adopted, which would be a little heartbreaking for anyone to find out. On top of that, he was the least favored out of Thor and himself by Odin, who was to crown Thor the “King of Asgard”. I think because there was so much sympathy I felt for Loki, I found myself able to connect with him more, which is not something you always get with villains in superhero films.

I think what with all the different mixed personalities he had to convey in all those films as Loki it might’ve been very challenging. But the fact that he managed to pull it off so well was what really grabbed my attention from the get-go. With every acting role (knowing from my past theatre experiences) an actor/actress must always have an open mind when playing any character. In some ways, they can’t really have one set personality. They have to be everything, even if it’s not really who they are. That’s the beauty of acting, and I think Tom does it so well that it’s almost godly in a way.

Because he portrays all these different emotions and feelings and actions with all of the parts he plays, I think he has become such an open-minded person. He’s charming, he’s attractive, he has a beautiful way with words, he is talented, and simply fantastic. Even though he may doubt it or whatever else, he is honestly one of the most beautiful and inspiring people in the world.

Tom Hiddleston, everyone. Easily one of my favorite actors.

Thank you so much for reading! I post fairly regularly, so stay tuned and I’ll be out with another article very soon! Leave comments and tell me what you think about this topic. I’d love to make conversation! 🙂

~ Myridian