I was rather pleasantly surprised by Tangled, which begins with unpleasant intimations of Dreamworks but soon reveals itself as, to adapt a Godardian formulation, un vrai film Disney; the above still is from the film’s very big set piece, a floating-lantern extravaganza that ranks as one of the most breathtaking pieces of animation the studio has done, ever. My full review is here, at MSN Movies.
I was somewhat less surprised by Christina Aguilera’s big-screen debut (I think), the rather not-good Burlesque, but I see that I do not come down as hard on it as a lot of other critics have, as witness Marshall Fine’s review. Why? I dunno; not so much a matter of being bored with shooting fish in a barrel as maybe a disinclination to break a butterfly on a wheel. Particularly when the butterfly is blonde, bats her lashes a lot, and has what Rick Moranis’ Merv Griffin would call “fascinating breasts.” Call me weak. I don’t care. My review of Burlesque (which, incidentally, I will defend to the death as being a ton better than friggin’ Crossroads, thanks), also for MSN Movies, is here.
You’ve pretty much just sold me on Tangled, Glenn. Until this point I honestly couldn’t have cared less about it, since all the promotional material thus far has yes, reeked of Dreamworks, which was disappointing from a new DIsney film. Especially after The Princess and the Frog, itself a sort of new classic in my estimation, easily among the ranks of the studio’s best films and a shining example of inspired top-quality classical 2D animation. Another initial disappointment regarding Tangled was merely seeing another 3D animation from Disney after such a glorious quasi-throwback in Princess. Then again, that screenshot above does quite a bit to sway me in the new film’s favor. So yeah, thanks.
“incidentally, I will defend to the death as being a ton better than friggin’ Crossroads, thanks”
The smartass in me is compelled to ask; the Britney Spears CROSSROADS or the Walter Hill one?
The forgetful idiot in me actually thanks you, lipranzer, because I was trying to think what Hill’s CROSSROADS had done to deserve the comparison, let alone the hate.
That screenshot has a more “painterly” look than most 3D computer animation (which looks rather plastic‑y to me). Is that sustained throughout the film?
@ Embarassed Anon: I’d say…sort of. It definitely doesn’t have that overweening “plastic‑y” feel you find in a lot of other stuff of this ilk. As with the Pixar stuff, the 3‑D effects were largely unobtrusive, except when they were supposed to be, as in the dam-bursting water-ride bit. But the painterly feel is a constant, and a pleasure.
@Lance McCallion: Just wanted to let you know that your comment inspired to finally watch THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG this morning, and I’m awfully glad I did. It’s total classic Disney, a surprisingly old-fashioned feeling film, in admirable and pleasant ways. It could hardly have felt less like a movie released in 2009; I would have believed it was a lost gem from the early 1990s, or 1940s for that matter.
The commercials for Tangled have been TERRIBLE, so your review is damn intriguing to me. Might wind up at this one instead of that Rock movie this weekend.
TANGLED is lovely.
What did Walter Hill’s CROSSROADS do to deserve hate? I only saw it once, long ago, but it didn’t seem crazy in a good way, like STREETS OF FIRE, just crazy. And the guitar duel at the end struck me as pretty awful.
Just based on that still, it looks as though the Ellenshaw influence remains at Disney.
That’s a wonderful thing.