Four hawks out of five

For being a long time Disney fan, I found Frozen to be an optimistic movie about sisterhood. Elsa, voiced by Idina Menzel, is a protective older sister that is best friends with her younger sister Anna, voiced by Kristen Bell.

Princess Anna is much more modern than other Disney princesses. When she wakes up on coronation day she seems much more natural: bed head, drool, and half asleep like when most of us wake up. Most princess are too proper, so I like Disney’s change of pace in their new movie.

In addition, Disney’s new approach to the male lead is a thumbs up. Princess Anna gets engaged to Prince Hans, but he has a secret. Kristoff is the main male lead for most of the movie which fits the upbeat theme better.

My only issue with the movie is the character development. Random magical things keep coming into the plot with not much lead in. Don’t get me wrong, they are cute. The problem is that there was opportunity for them to bring in the characters but, did not use the opportunity.

The music is cute and most definitely broadway-ready, which makes sense since Idina Menzel, Elsa, is in many musicals. Some of the songs have depth like “Do You Want to Build a Snowman?” which is a cute song about the sister’s relationship. It shows how the change in ages affect a relationship. “In Summer” is much less intense since it is about a snowman in summer.

The journey picks up three fun filled characters; Kristoff, an antisocial mountain man, Sven, Kristoff’s goofy reindeer, and Olaf, a wisecracking snowman who came to life after Elsa built him. Most Disney movies have a distinctive villain, but in Frozen the villain is a heroine. Queen Elsa has the ability to create snow and ice, but it can be used as a weapon.

This icy blast and beauty of the animation makes Frozen a must see of the season. It is the coolest movie of the season, involving an eternal winter set off by Elsa, while her sister sets off on a journey to find Elsa and to stop the winter.