Princess and the Frog
Okay. So I went to a screening of The Princess and the Frog Wednesday night before Thanksgiving. I have a slight review under the cut if anyone cares to know. I will try to stay clear of spoilers.
So, before I went to see the film I had received an awards screener of Up to watch. In retrospect, it was not a good idea to watch that movie before going to see Princess and the Frog. Mainly because Up has such a strong story and thoroughly explored characters I think it influenced my opinion of Princess and the Frog. Now Princess is not a bad film, but it's definitely not the film that has brought back the magic of Disney Animation. I'm glad 2D is back, and the film was well drafted by the artists. It was the story and music that didn't cut it. It could be because I'm not a fan of Randy Newman, or it could be because there were just too many songs in the film. Whatever the case it didn't flow as well as the old movies did. Usually the song seemed to fit and you didn't kind of cringe going "another song?...do we have too?" Granted I didn't cringe a great deal. Quest for Camelot by WB, that's a movie that you really cringe when the music starts up. But it was just a slight, is another song really necessary kind of moment. And then the characters just didn't seem all that developed. There were some gems though. However, maybe because there were just too many of them they seemed flat. And the villain, who had some great animation and voice work, was sorely under used and when he got his punishment in the end you're left going "meh" instead of going "yay". In some cases the heart was there and you felt for the characters, but it came and went. Overall the film was entertaining but it didn't draw you in completely. Some reviewers have said there wasn't any real conflict in the film and yeah I can agree with that. And that was probably one of the main reasons the villain's end fell so flat. So yeah, I wonder if I hadn't watched a movie right before that did draw you into the film and really care for the characters would it have changed the way I saw Princess. Again it was entertaining. I wasn't sitting in the theater going when is this going to be over, but I couldn't help but leave the theater a little disappointed. I was hoping for more. But then that was probably the hype. This is the film bringing back 2D animation to Disney, you kind of expected it to be a great classic. But going by the audience reactions it did it's job at entertaining and will hopefully bring in lots of money so the "suits" will say people do want to see 2D animation. And maybe a film or so down the road that magic will come back. At least I can hope. :)
So, before I went to see the film I had received an awards screener of Up to watch. In retrospect, it was not a good idea to watch that movie before going to see Princess and the Frog. Mainly because Up has such a strong story and thoroughly explored characters I think it influenced my opinion of Princess and the Frog. Now Princess is not a bad film, but it's definitely not the film that has brought back the magic of Disney Animation. I'm glad 2D is back, and the film was well drafted by the artists. It was the story and music that didn't cut it. It could be because I'm not a fan of Randy Newman, or it could be because there were just too many songs in the film. Whatever the case it didn't flow as well as the old movies did. Usually the song seemed to fit and you didn't kind of cringe going "another song?...do we have too?" Granted I didn't cringe a great deal. Quest for Camelot by WB, that's a movie that you really cringe when the music starts up. But it was just a slight, is another song really necessary kind of moment. And then the characters just didn't seem all that developed. There were some gems though. However, maybe because there were just too many of them they seemed flat. And the villain, who had some great animation and voice work, was sorely under used and when he got his punishment in the end you're left going "meh" instead of going "yay". In some cases the heart was there and you felt for the characters, but it came and went. Overall the film was entertaining but it didn't draw you in completely. Some reviewers have said there wasn't any real conflict in the film and yeah I can agree with that. And that was probably one of the main reasons the villain's end fell so flat. So yeah, I wonder if I hadn't watched a movie right before that did draw you into the film and really care for the characters would it have changed the way I saw Princess. Again it was entertaining. I wasn't sitting in the theater going when is this going to be over, but I couldn't help but leave the theater a little disappointed. I was hoping for more. But then that was probably the hype. This is the film bringing back 2D animation to Disney, you kind of expected it to be a great classic. But going by the audience reactions it did it's job at entertaining and will hopefully bring in lots of money so the "suits" will say people do want to see 2D animation. And maybe a film or so down the road that magic will come back. At least I can hope. :)