Tangled - Movie Review

MOVIE REVIEW


Tangled


DISNEY ANIMATION

DVD Release Date: March 29, 2011

Rated: PG

Network: Disney Channel

Original Air Date: January 4, 2013

CAST:

Mandy Moore ... Rapunzel
Zachary Levi ... Eugene "Flynn Rider" Fitzherbert
Donna Murphy ... Mother Gothel
Brad Garrett ... Hook-Hand Thug
Ron Perlman ... the Stabbington Brothers
Jeffrey Tambor ... Big Nose Thug
Richard Kiel ... Vladamir
M. C. Gainey ... Captain of the Guard
Paul F. Tompkins ... Short Thug
Tom Kenny ... Guard
Tim Brooke-Taylor ... Old Man
Maurice Dean Wint ... Paulo
Frank Welker ... Pascal and Maximus
Delaney Rose Stein ... Young Rapunzel

PLOT:

DVD Synopsis:

Disney presents a new twist on one of the most hilarious and hair-raising tales ever told. Your whole family will get tangled up in the fun, excitement and adventure of this magical motion picture.

When the kingdom's most wanted - and most charming - bandit Flynn Rider hides in a mysterious tower, the last thing he expects to find is Rapunzel, a spirited teen with an unlikely superpower - 70 feet of magical golden hair! Together, the unlikely duo set off on a fantastic journey filled with surprising heroes, laughter and suspense.

Let your hair down and get ready to cheer for Tangled.


MORE PLOT DETAILS:

SPOILER ALERT: THIS PLOT OUTLINE IS FROM WIKIPEDIA AND CONTAINS SPOILERS!

A single drop of sunlight falls to Earth and becomes a golden flower filled with magical properties. A woman named Gothel discovers the flower and hoards its ability to restore youth for hundreds of years. The pregnant queen of a nearby kingdom falls deathly ill, leading the king to seek out the legendary plant. Despite Gothel’s efforts to hide it, the flower is found and ground up into medicine for the queen. It heals her, and as a side effect the newborn princess inherits the plant’s healing powers – which manifest through her golden hair. Gothel, wanting to reclaim her immortality and youth, breaks into the royal nursery to cut a lock of the princess's hair, only to discover this causes it to lose its magic. She kidnaps the princess instead and names her “Rapunzel”, raising her as her own in an isolated tower. The king and the queen honour their missing daughter by releasing floating lanterns on the night of her birthday each year.

For her 18th birthday, Rapunzel asks Gothel for permission to go outside the tower to see the source of the annual floating lights, but Gothel refuses. Meanwhile, Flynn Rider and the Stabbington brothers steal the tiara of the lost princess. During the ensuing chase, Maximus, horse of the Captain of the Guards, is separated from his rider but continues on his own. Flynn outwits his accomplices, takes the tiara, and stumbles upon Rapunzel's tower. He climbs up into the tower, but Rapunzel knocks him unconscious with a frying pan and puts him in a wardrobe. When Gothel returns, Rapunzel tries to show her the captive Flynn to prove she is capable of handling the outside world, but Gothel cuts her off by saying she is never leaving the tower. So Rapunzel instead asks Gothel for a special paint, the ingredients for which require three days' of round-trip travel. Gothel leaves, and Rapunzel rushes to get Flynn from the wardrobe. She ties him up in her hair and then tells him that she will give him the tiara back if he takes her to see the lights. After much arguing, Flynn agrees. While en route, he takes her to the Snuggly Duckling Inn, which is full of Gaul thugs, in hopes of scaring her into giving up her quest. The thugs, however, are charmed by Rapunzel, who encourages them to follow their dreams.

Mother Gothel returns early to the tower: Rapunzel is gone but Gothel finds the tiara. She then teams up with the Stabbington brothers so she can get Rapunzel back and the brothers can get revenge on Flynn. Meanwhile, the guards invade the tavern and chase Rapunzel and Flynn to a dam which collapses. Flynn and Rapunzel become trapped in a flooding cave. Believing he is about to die, Flynn admits his true name: Eugene Fitzherbert. Rapunzel admits her hair glows when she sings, then realizes they can use the light from her hair to find a way out. Rapunzel later uses her hair to heal Flynn's injured hand. Flynn tells Rapunzel that he was an orphan who dreamed of being like the storybook hero that inspired his alias, but Rapunzel tells him she likes Eugene better than Flynn. When Flynn goes to gather firewood, Gothel meets Rapunzel insisting that Flynn does not care for her and gives Rapunzel the tiara, suggesting that she test Flynn by giving it to him. The next morning, Maximus confronts Flynn but Rapunzel befriends the horse and convinces him to help them instead. Arriving at the kingdom, Flynn takes Rapunzel round the city and later in the day takes her to see the lanterns. There, Rapunzel gives Flynn back the tiara. Flynn spies his old accomplices and leaves Rapunzel to give them the tiara, realizing that he cares more for Rapunzel. However, the brothers knock him out, tie him up on a boat, and sail him across the lake. They claim Flynn betrayed Rapunzel as they attempt to kidnap her for her hair's power, but Gothel rescues her and takes her back to the tower. Later, reflecting on what she had seen during her adventure in the kingdom, Rapunzel realizes she is the lost princess and attempts to flee the tower.

Meanwhile, Flynn is arrested and sentenced to death, but he is rescued by Maximus and the Gaul thugs from the inn. Flynn races and climbs up back to the tower to find Rapunzel tied up. Gothel then stabs him from behind and prepares to take a struggling Rapunzel to a new hiding place. Rapunzel tells Gothel that she will stop resisting if she can heal Flynn. Gothel agrees, but before Rapunzel can heal him, Flynn cuts her hair which subsequently turns brown and loses its power causing Gothel to age rapidly, fall out of the tower, and turn into dust. With his last breath, Flynn declares his love for Rapunzel who cries, and the healing power of her tear revives him. Returning to the kingdom, Rapunzel is reunited with the King and Queen. Flynn then closes the film, telling the audience that he readopted his original name, and he and Rapunzel eventually get engaged and married.

Movie Review:

Tangled is such a sweet little movie. It reminded me a lot of the animated scenes from Enchanted. Rapunzel is good and brave and struggles against going against her mothers wishes. She is basically all alone in her tower until Flynn suddenly appears and she is so scared – she hits him over the head with a frying pan and knocks him out. Don’t worry, however... it is a cartoon – so he does eventually awaken.

The dialogue is witty and quick and the scenes are beautifully created with bright, colorful, beautiful fairyland scenery landscape. Rapunzel leaves the tower as she is seeking to find the answers to the lanterns of lights that fill the sky every year on the night of her birthday. Flynn, in the beginning, is seeking only to get rich.... until he develops feelings for Rapunzel along the way.

When they do discover the Lantern Lights in the Sky – it is such a memorable, beautiful scene!

There are a few moments that may be kind of scary for young ones – as Flynn and Rapunzel run for their lives at various times and even are nearly drowned in a flooded cave... until they at the last moment, discover a way out together.

It is a fairytale story with magic... much like any other Disney tale.... so of course, it also has a “Happily Ever After” fairytale ending!!!


See or Skip:

See this Disney Movie with your Family!

--