Frozen

Joss Whedon was asked why he focuses so hard on writing believable female characters. His answer was along the lines of "Because you're still asking that question!" I don't know where he said that or why, I just know it was said from a bluray commentary I was watching from the creators of Legend of Korra. But that quote hit me. It's true. Why should female characters be treated differently than males? They need to be believable, and strong. Just like males. The problem? So many female characters are written to be masculine, mistaking strength for manliness. It gets frustrating.

In that regard, this movie is an awesome breath of fresh air. I loved seeing such lovable characters leading the ensemble, ones that were recognizably flawed, beautifully strong, but still girls for women to connect with. I love how instantly, the idea of "true love" as dictated by fairy tales is dropped as unrealistic and fake. And I certainly love the complete lack of focus on romance for the vast majority of the movie. It keeps just enough for Disney Princess lovers to enjoy, but not so much that it feels forced or silly.

This doesn't mean that I loved everything. Even though I loved the strength of women displayed in this, I didn't like that men had to be portrayed as all evil, greedy, or stupid. I hoped the movie was going to have a bit more of a fair minded view towards people in general, but instead it did keep its leading characters in much higher esteem than anyone else. Which I suppose can be done with no problems. But to have such strongly written female characters, and then such a beautifully mature moral in the end, it really did bug me that the film resorted to generalizing the opposite gender.

As for the music, I'll be honest. I hated the first few numbers. Especially that awful song between the prince and Anna. What a boring, bland, pointless number. I hated it a lot. But then, "Let It Go" happened. And the number with the trolls. These numbers really saved the rest of the films music, spectacularly. I genuinely hope that "Let It Go" takes the Oscar for "Best Original Song." The voice cast for this film are actually mostly actors who are active on the Broadway scene, so the vocal performances are astounding. And each musical number has its own charming and awesome animation.

But then there's my biggest problem - the snowman Olaf. Sure, he's cute. But he has no personality other than being zany. It comes from nowhere. I'd have loved him to be more socially awkward, being a snowman inexplicably brought to life and never meeting people before. Instead, he just has little quips to be funny. But the film didn't need comic relief. It had its strong funny moments without him.

I'm sure everyone disagrees with me about Olaf. Don't get me wrong, I really liked the film. But at the end of the day, I hold Disney to a constant high standard. And this was so close.

Rank - 3.5/5