Frozen - That's right, I watched Frozen

It will not come as a surprise to people who know me that I didn't really know anything about the animated Disney film Frozen until just the other day.  Apparently many of the songs from the film (it is a musical) have permeated into the current zeitgeist and are widely recognised by even those who don't have small daughters badgering them to watch it again and again.  For me - being the pop culture waste land that I am - all of this was new.  My Mum insisted on lending me her DVD of Frozen when I visited Ilford in November, I was rightly skeptical.  But, you know me, Friday evening is DVD night - and so it was that last Friday evening as the cold permeated around Crowthorne, my DVD player got Frozen.

It is times like this when you have to throw your preconceptions of film out of the window.  Though I call myself a film junkie, I maintain a distinct taste for the horror and science fiction genres.  One might think that Frozen - an animated Disney adventure in which a princess has to save her newly-crowned elder sister queen from her own hidden magical powers, aided only by a handsome woodsman, a talking snowman and goofy elk - would be the type of film I wouldn't get along with.  Not so.  In fact, who am I kidding, not just 'not so', but emphatically 'not so'.  Frozen was bloody brilliant.

The plot is thus: Elsa is the heir to the throne of the magical medieval land of Arendelle, where all the sassy characters we're meant to like are Americans and all the weirdo locals we're meant to laugh at are some sort of generic Nordic breed.  Elsa and her sister Anna have magical powers that allow them to control the elements.  When Anna is involved in an accident that nearly kills her, to save her life her magical powers are removed and all memory of magic is purged from her (don't ask why - it just is).  The snag is that Elsa's powers will grow as she ages, as will Elsa's guilt at what her powers did to her sister.  Fast-forward several years and the sisters are grown up, Elsa is an isolated queen avoiding contact with anyone and closely guarding her magical secret.  On the other hand, Anna is carefree and furious of her sister's aloofness.  It can only be so long before Elsa's secrets are revealed and all sorts of icy shit hits the fan...

This is a film that's classic Broadway.  The story is told through a series of pretty catchy songs, all leading up the extremely chirpy 'Let it go' - in which Elsa throws off her self-imposed shackles and embraces her magical powers / womanliness, building a castle of ice around her as she makes a statement about herself / girl power / liberation.  The graphic design in this scene is amazing, and the production of the song spot-on.  It's a great example of how to make something that appeals to everyone at the cinema - something Disney has always excelled at.

The film's about family, love and respect; with an ending about the meaning of love that should probably bring a tear to the eye.  It has excellent comic asides and the music is great (though I could have done without the song that Olaf the Snowman sings - complete filler that one). However, does Anna really need to punch the 'bad guy' out at the end?  Do we want to teach young girls that it's OK to punch men in the face if they're naughty?  C'mon Disney, you can do better than that.

So it might be riddled with cliché and the story might not make that much sense, but it's a film that has an unbridled sense of fun with visuals that look amazing.  I can't imagine why anyone wouldn't enjoy themselves watching it.  So to anyone out there sticking their heels in the tundra and refusing to give Frozen a go, put your preconceptions aside and let the magic of Disney wash over you like it hasn't done since you were a kid.  Just let it go.