Tangled

Rating: PG

Brought to you by OBS staff member Annabell Cadiz

A magical flower which grants healing power is found by Mother Gothel (Donna Murphy), an old vain filled woman. She uses the flower to rejuvenate her youth and hides it away so no one else will be able to use it. The Queen of the kingdom becomes ill as she is giving birth to her new child, the King hears of a story of a powerful flower which can heal and restore, he sends his soldiers out to retrieve the flower.

The flower is reborn in the new Princess Rapunzel, in her hair. Mother Gothel sneaks into Princess Rapunzel’s room and cuts a lock of her hair, hoping to steal some of the magic flower powers for herself but as soon as she cuts the hair it turns brown instead of remaining in its constant brilliant shade of gold. Mother Gothel realizes the only way to keep her youth forever is to kidnap the princess. Mother Gothel hides away in a tower far from the kingdom and raises Rapunzel as her own daughter.

Rapunzel (Mandy Moore) is now eighteen years old and seeks to be free of her isolation in the tower. She wants to be on the outside and most of all, she wants to learn what the floating lights are that fill the sky every year on her birthday. Rapunzel knows Mother Gothel will not let her out of the tower or anywhere near the kingdom, aide comes to Rapunzel in the form of Flynn Rider (Zachary Levi), a notorious and slightly dim witted bandit. Flynn Rider sneaks up into the tower to hide away from the soldiers who are chasing him. Frightened, Rapunzel knocks him out cold, Mother Gothel having always told her men are not to be trusted. Once Flynn Rider comes to, Rapunzel strikes a deal with him: he takes her to see where the floating lights come from and she will return the bounty he had stolen before appearing in her tower, and so begins Rapunzel’s journey in the outside world.

Tangled proves Disney still has the magic to create a fantastic movie and make it look effortless! Animation worthy enough to go toe to toe with Pixar, Tangled is filled with beautiful CGI, you end up forgetting you’re watching a movie completely made from CGI effects. The backgrounds are lush and gorgeous, you can see every blade of grass, every strand of Rapunzel’s hair. One of the BEST scenes in the movie is the floating lanterns, when the entire kingdom emerges from the darkness cast by the night sky and illuminates with bright golden light–magic only Disney could bring on screen!

The characters are filled with depth and heart. You will laugh with them, cry with them, and cheer them on throughout their adventures. Mother Gothel voiced by Donna Murphy is a character everyone will love to hate. She is classic Disney villain– all determined, vain, and slightly off her rocker! Rapunzel voiced by Mandy Moore was not at all disappointing. She is strong even through her fear, has a very big heart, and very quick on her feet. I love that Disney created a princess who doesn’t need a man to save her, she can stand up for herself and even helps to save Flynn Rider! Flynn Rider who is voiced by Zachary Levi is terrific! He’s clever, handsome, loveable, and an all around good guy (despite the whole making his living off of stealing from others bit lol).

The relationship between Rapunzel and Flynn Rider is SO MUCH FUN to watch! Rapunzel holds her own against Flynn’s world of scary and menacing, somewhat quirky, characters. And one of my MOST favorite characters was the horse Maximus who is just soooo determined to capture Flynn Rider and return him to the kingdom. He cracked me up so bad! His facial expressions and mannerisms were right on point. I wish he was real, I would so be his friend!

I truly LOVE this movie! I had so much fun watching this movie with my nephew I am determined to go see it again! Tangled is charming, beautiful, and heartfelt. No matter your age, you will find yourself laughing just as much as the kids!

Running Time: 90 minutes
Director: Nathan Greno and Byron Howard
Rating: 10/10 stars!