Tangled

Oh, Disney.  You can take the princess out of the title, but you can't take the princess out of the movie.  Despite their best efforts to make their 50th animated feature, Tangled, look a little less girly to moviegoers after the disappointing box office of last year's The Princess and the Frog, they still made a film starring a princess that also includes an evil witch, the prerequisite animal sidekicks, and a handsome prince to save the day.  And it's got songs.  Lots of songs.

Tangled is the story of Rapunzel (voiced by Mandy Moore), the princess with the impossibly long golden hair who was stolen as an infant by the evil Mother Goethel (Donna Murphy), who needs the magical properties of Rapunzel's hair to stay forever young and beautiful.  Isolated in a lonely tower in the middle of the woods from which she is never allowed to leave, Rapunzel's chance of escape comes in the form of Flynn Ryder (Zachary Levi), a thief on the run who takes refuge in the tower.  After clobbering Flynn with a frying pan (everyone's weapon of choice throughout the film), Rapunzel promises to return the crown he'd just stolen from the palace if he promises to take her to see the yearly lantern festival that up until now she has only been able to see from her tower window.  Flynn reluctantly agrees, and from there adventure and an unlikely love story ensues.

As far as princess movies go, I didn't think Tangled was quite as good as The Little Mermaid or Beauty and the Beast.  In fact, I think I liked The Princess and the Frog a little better.  The story didn't seem as strong as their earlier films.  But it's still a lot of fun.  The CG animation was beautiful, and it's got some really funny moments, my favorite being Maximus, the horse who chases after Flynn for most of the movie.  He doesn't speak, but his facial expressions are hilarious.  And it gets a little sad when you meet Rapunzel's heartbroken long-lost parents, which I wasn't expecting, but it's very well done.

Now I love musicals, so it was nice to hear some new Alan Menken songs (who composed the score with lyricist Glenn Slater).  We got a great new villian song, a really funny bar song, as well as "I See the Light," a terrific new duet between Rapunzel and Flynn.  And props to Zachary Levi - Chuck can sing!

I saw Tangled in 3D, but don't fall for it...it's nice but it added nothing to the film.  You're perfectly fine seeing it in 2D and you won't miss a thing if you do. 

Whether you like it or not, Tangled is most definitely a princess film and it's girly as all hell.  But that's definitely not a bad thing, and it still manages to be a good movie anyway.