Review: Tangled

Love them or hate them, there's no denying that, of late, Disney's animated movies (not counting Pixar's output, naturally) have been lacking sparkle in both an artistic and commercial sense.

The relative success of The Frog Princess went some way to redressing the balance; however,  Disney was falling a long way behind Pixar and even Dreamworks in the "movies kids love to watch a few million times in a row" stakes. Thankfully, for those of us that have been wanting the House of Mouse to up its game a little, Tangled (aka 'Rapunzel') can be met with an expansive sigh of relief.

Simply put, it's a delight. Yes, it's a CGI cartoon. Yes, it's in 3D. Nevertheless, the traditional Disney charm is there. The characters are recognizably 'Disney' in appearance, there's a great balance between humour, romance and action, and there are some distinctly dark themes running through it that wouldn't be out of place in a true Grimm tale.

The basic tale goes as such (deep breath): the Queen is pregnant but dying; a special flower with healing powers saves her; a crazy gypsy-witch lady steals the resultant newborn (Rapunzel), locks her in a tower and uses her magical hair (thanks to the flower's rather nifty powers) to stay young; after 18 years a young rogue (a typical Disney 'diamond in the rough' type) comes across her via a series of very unfortunate and unlikely events and so starts a chain of even more unfortunate and unlikely events that result in chases, confusion, needless singing, escapades, hi-jinks, an amusing horse, double crosses, more needless singing, sarcastic chameleons and camp barbarians.

Phew.

Specifics? Well, let's  start with the way it looks. Not to beat around the bush, this is a stunningly beautiful film; awash in a true fairytale aesthetic, offering moments of eye-melting gorgeousness (the festival of the lanterns being a particular highlight) and showing a real deftness of touch in regard to the character animation. Even the 3D, something I'm yet to be truly convinced of the merits of, works wonderfully well, adding a nice touch of depth throughout while offering some proper 'wow' moments in the many action scenes. I'd go so far as to say this is, visually, one of Disney's best. It's certainly up there with Aladdin and The Lion King.

Even the script, an aspect I never expect to be impressed by in most mainstream animated movies, is pretty solid. The dialogue is quirky, clever, well-paced and very well delivered. A particular mention must go to Donna Murphy, the actress who plays the boo-hissable villain of the piece, Mother Gothel. She's a terrific mix of Machiavellian mischief and pure bile; she even gets the movie's best song, Mother Knows Best.

Mandy Moore does well as Rapunzel, a part that could easily have come across as whiny, needy or a bit too knowing; but, aside from Mother Gothel, it's  Zachary Levi that gets all the best lines as the fantastically named kind-of-hero, Flynn Rider. Striking all the right notes, he conjures up a character that's somewhere between Han Solo and Aladdin: heroic when he absolutely must be, witty the rest of the time.

While the script offers up some amusing moments, the best laughs are reserved for the non-talking characters: Pascal, Rapunzel's chameleon companion; and Maximus, a horse who's half guard dog, half soldier, half detective... Wait a minute, that's one-and-a-half horses... Er... Anyway. They're funny. I won't ruin their best moments, but I will say that the interplay between Maximus and Flynn Rider is brilliant.

Weak points? Well, it's a bit predictable and some of the characters are typical cookie-cutter stereotypes, but then you don't go to see a Disney cartoon to be challenged intellectually or to learn something new about the nature of man. It's  a fine way to spend a couple of hours on a wet weekend afternoon. The kids will love it, and you'll probably enjoy it at least as much as they do.

Is this the start of a Disney renaissance? I certainly hope so. Without doubt, Tangled is Disney's best animated movie since The Lion King. If that's not a recommendation, then I don't know what is...