Review - Frozen

If you want a film that all the family can enjoy this Christmas, look no further than Disney's Frozen. 

Based on The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Andersen, Frozen tells the tale of sisters Anna (Kristen Bell) and Elsa (Idina Menzel), kept apart by their parents after Elsa's power to freeze anything brings harm to Anna. 

Years later and with Anna having no memory of the power that her sister possesses, Elsa is about to be crowned Queen of Arendelle until her powers are revealed. She flees, leaving the kingdom in an eternal winter.

Anna decides to go after her sister and embarks on a dangerous journey across the frozen kingdom to persuade Elsa to return.

Hans & Anna before the big freeze

Frozen is a treat from start to finish and delivers on all the things you expect from a Disney film. Firstly the story is strong and has enough to it for adults to stay interested throughout. I hate it when people automatically think there is nothing in an animated film for adults. 

There was one thing I was glad to see and that was the different take on the 'act of true love' scenario that we often see in these films. I was genuinely surprised when it occurred and that just has to be a good thing. 

To go with the story, Frozen has an array of characters that kids will instantly fall in love with. Anna and Elsa are the princesses that girls will want to be. They will join the already long line of feisty and independent female leads throughout the history of Disney. 

Kristoff (Jonathan Groff) and Hans (Santino Fontana) are the love interests of Anna. Hans is a prince while Kristoff sells ice for a living, so it it no surprise that Hans is the one that Anna takes a liking to.

Then there is of course the comedy relief of the film. Disney do normally have at least one character to provide the majority of the comedy in their films. Sometimes they don't work as well as others but in the case of Frozen, I am glad to say that they have come up trumps.

Olaf (Josh Gad) is the snowman that Anna and Elsa created as children who has come to life ever since Elsa froze the entire kingdom. Olaf is wonderfully voiced by Josh Gad and had me laughing most of the time he was on screen. He is genuinely a great Disney character.

Frozen also manages to stick to another Disney tradition in having great music. Some Disney films are most recognised for their songs and Frozen adds some great songs to an iconic Disney discography.

The best songs for me were "In Summer" where Olaf sings about how he wishes he could enjoy summer, totally oblivious to the fact that he would melt and "Let It Go", a song belted out by Elsa after she runs from Arendelle, quite handy when you have Idina Menzel to provide the voice. After all, she has worked on the stage before in shows like Wicked, singing such songs as "Defying Gravity".

The animation is fantastic and visually the film looks beautiful. For anyone who is a fan of Disney, I could not recommend this film more for you.

Verdict: 3.5/5