Tangled Review

After their brief return to traditional hand-drawn animation with The Princess and the Frog, Disney have revisited CG rendering for their new feature, Tangled. Loosely based around the Rapunzel fairytale, Tangled sees Princess Rapunzel (Mandy Moore) stolen from her cot as an infant and imprisoned in a tower for eighteen years by the fiendish Mother Gothel (Donna Murphy) so that the hag may use the power of Rapunzel’s magic hair to remain youthful. Though raised to trust the villain as her real mother and falsely warned of the treacherous nature of the outside world, Rapunzel is desperate to leave her tower and see it, specifically to learn the true nature of the thousands of mysterious lights that appear in the sky every year on her birthday. When the charming thief Flynn Rider (Chuck’s Zachary Levi), pursued by zealous police horse Maximus, arrives at her tower to hide out after a crime, Rapunzel, along with her chameleon companion Pascal, sees the opportunity to escape.

Recently, it seems that fairytales cannot be told without irony, as proven by the incessant pop-culture references of Shrek and by the far more charming genre-skewering of Enchanted. It is somewhat of a refreshing relief then that Tangled plays it pretty much straight. That’s not to say it isn’t funny – far from it. Many laughs are derived from the relentless pursuit of Flynn by Maximus, which plays out a little like a child friendly version of The Fugitive. A posse of rough-looking pub-goers also raise more than a couple of smiles.

Rapunzel, with her permanently bare feet and seventy feet of hair is a perfectly lovely heroine and, with her self-belief, intelligence and sense of adventure is a likable role model for the hordes of young girls who are sure to take her to their hearts. Interestingly, she is not a flawless character and the sequence shortly after leaving the tower in which she flits between revelling in and regretting her decision to deceive her ‘mother’ and leave the tower feels both surprisingly real and amusing. Flynn, who could so easily have been a rather annoying character, is funny and charismatic. The balance of between the two lead characters is poised cleverly enough that the film should have as much appeal for boys and girls.

The animation is predictably polished but stops short of photo-realism, ostensibly intentionally, which gives a warm, inviting look to the film. The action set pieces, particularly the chase at the dam (has there ever been a dam portrayed on the big screen that hasn’t at some point been destroyed? I can think only of the one in Goldeneye) are well executed and visually interesting. Another highlight is the truly beautiful scene in which Rapunzel and Flynn are surrounded by thousands of Chinese lanterns, which is stunningly rendered.

Unfortunately, despite boasting a fun central couple, humorous characters, a scary villain and an energetic plot, Tangled messes up one crucial ingredient of the classic Disney cartoon recipe: the songs. Though sung by with impressive gusto, the tunes are largely unmemorable and fall a little flat. Also slightly troubling was the central romance. Whilst the film makes a point of establishing Rapunzel as only just turned eighteen, Flynn is implied to be several years older, which made me feel a little uncomfortable. Parents are also advised to implement caution when taking more sensitive sprogs to see the film: there were more than a few tears in the screening during the scarier moments, especially towards the end, when even I began to question whether there would be a tragic ending rather than a happy one.

Despite some minor quibbles though, Tangled is a perfectly good animated adventure and will likely prove very popular with legions of children. It also the only film I can think of in which a man armed with a frying pan fights a sword-wielding horse, which is surely reason enough to see it.