Tangled Up

The last movie I saw in 2010 was the latest animated feature from Disney, Tangled. I had heard such praise for the movie that my expectations were perhaps a little too high. Put simply, it was not the best movie of the year.

But it was among the best. This version of the Rapunzel story features a slim number of major characters, voiced by Zachary Levi, Mandy Moore, and Donna Murphy. This is no Beauty and the Beast or The Little Mermaid, peppered with a small army of wise-cracking secondary characters. The focus here is on two relationships -- Rapunzel with the dashing Flynn Ryder, and Rapunzel with her "adoptive mother," the witch.

In other respects, though, the film does forge a connection with that 90s "second age" of Disney animated films. Alan Menken is back (with a new lyricist) to provide the music. The visual composition of many scenes seems more consistent with hand-drawn animation than with CG.

But I did feel like it took a while to hit its stride. Throughout the first act, the characters are entertaining and easy to laugh at, but there was a little something missing. Similarly, the music got the job done, but seemed to be missing that special spark that might really have pushed the film over the top.

All of that changed at right about the point of an action sequence, of all things. An exciting escape from a shattered dam amped the adventure into high gear, and soon after followed scenes of playful sweetness, dark menace, and sweeping emotion. Musically, there came a sinister reprise of an earlier number, and a touching duet to close the second act. Basically, the last half of the movie seemed to hit every beat perfectly, and culminated in a touching ending.

All told, I'd rate Tangled a B. Though it won't displace some of my Disney favorites, it's a worthy addition to the lineage.