brianjohnson-20043

I find the 2013 Frozen movie to be fine. Not my favorite. I enjoy much of the music. The story, though acceptable, leaves something to desire for me. This stage adaption stretches the runtime with many new songs. There is a reprise of Let it Go at the end which is an improvement. Most of the other extra songs were a mix bag. I didn't think they were as catchy and a few just seemed to drag the story momentum and not fit with the established style of the original music. But I liked the emotional weight which was added due to a few of them as well. I also appreciated that their "Fixer Upper" version is easier to understand . I also liked the heavier character stake attention and drama from the song right before Anna is struck in the heart with the magic. The inclusion of a song at the ball between Anna and Elsa seemed nice as well, even if the song they wrong wasn't memorable. The others mostly felt ok or bad. I especially didn't like the scene of christoph and Anna getting gear as much as in the movie. They also made Hans seem more nice and selfless than necessary in my opinion while he was in charge of Arendal with a song that seemed more harmful than helpful.

They end up cutting some of the dramatic visuals from the movie due to challenges of showing things like a snow monster or a wolf sled chase or the characters falling off a cliff on a theater stage.

The original Let it Go becomes the first act conclusion. Which isn't what I would have done if I was in charge of the project. This sort of forces them to stretch out the first act and introduces Olaf prior to "Let it Go" where Elsa creates him in the movie accidentally. It felt weird to not see a magical snowman being created. It's not how I would have proposed the story. I also felt like there was little urgency in the first act because they had to push back Let it Go and add stuff to make the first act long enough.

I'd have ended the first act with the scene where Elsa is hit with the ice in her heart. I feel like you want to end the first act with an emotional cliffhanger rather than just a popular song which is really not at the heart of the overall story, but one of the main characters. I do appreciate that Elsa is more transparent with Anna about her magic and the fact that they shielded Anna from the truth. So overall, it's interesting and fine like the movie. Better in a few ways. Worse in a few ways. Worth comparing. Hopefully someday they can remake the movie in live action and get the best of both.

I struggled to really get invested in enough of the characters or stakes to make this film great. I would have given it a much worse score if it didn't have an interesting enjoyable ending and some ambitious original ideas that made me respect what they were trying to do even if I don't think they pulled it off.

I should add that I'm not a horror movie fan. So perhaps that's the bigger reason I didn't like it as much as other people. I do like thrillers and don't dislike horror because of the dark or scary nature of the content like some people. I just don't find horror stories very interesting or scary most of the time and don't think scaring the audience should be the point of a movie even if it absolutely can/should be the effect at times if it supports a good script. Often with horror, it doesn't.

The actors did a fine job. The cinematography was solid. The music fit the crazy style of the film that I didn't exactly like. But I don't blame the composer for that. The film has some stuff to appreciate. But I'd prefer some rewrites of the first 75% of the narrative.