DVD Reviews

Tangled - Blu-ray Review

By Jeff Swindoll Mar 30, 2011, 14:07 GMT

Disney presents a new twist on one of the most hilarious and hair-raising tales ever told. Your whole family will get tangled up in the fun, excitement and adventure of this magical motion picture. When the kingdom\'s most wanted - and most charming - bandit Flynn Rider hides in a mysterious tower, the last thing he expects to find is Rapunzel, a spirited teen with an unlikely superpower - 70 feet ...more

Tangled is Disney’s version of Rapunzel.  It’s also the 50th animated feature from the company.  The usual gift for a 50th anniversary is gold but Tangled, although our heroine has hair of such, doesn’t feel like it lives up to that high standard.  It’s still a good film, entertains all ages, but doesn’t feel like it towers above past triumphs. 

Legend says that a single drop of sunshine fell and where it landed a magical flower grew.  This was discovered by a woman named Gothel (Donna Murphy) who hoarded the find and used its healing magic to keep her young.  Centuries pass and a beloved queen is dying and only the legendary magic flower will heal her. 

Gothel’s clumsiness leaves the flower unhidden and it is found and taken to the castle where it does heal the queen.  The queen gives birth to a daughter that has the golden hair that is the same as the color of the flower.  Gothel realizes that the girl’s hair has the same powers as the flower.  She tries to cut the hair and take it away with her, but cutting it makes the power disappear, so she kidnaps the girl and sequesters her away in a hidden tower so only Gothel can take advantage of her powers. 

The girl is now approaching her eighteenth birthday, named Rapunzel (Mandy Moore), and has grown up in isolation thinking that Gothel is her overprotective mother.  Gothel only tells her that the world is an evil, dangerous place and that she’s safer in the tower.  Rapunzel sees a ceremony of floating lights in the kingdom next door and has always wanted to participate. 

What she doesn’t know is that her grieving parents do this every year on her birthday to commemorate their missing daughter.  Thieves Flynn Rider (Zachary Levi) and the Stabbington brothers (Ron Perlman) steal the missing princesses’ tiara and flee.  Flynn double-crosses the brothers and stumbles upon the hidden tower. 

Rapunzel conks him on the head and when he awakens she’s hidden the tiara and only promises to return it when he helps her attend the lights ceremony.

I guess I wasn’t paying attention since I hadn’t made the connection that this was Disney’s 50th animated feature.  Don’t get me wrong.  I really had a fun time with Tangled, but knowing that it was such an anniversary I guess I expected more. 

The film does many things right.  It’s based on a fairytale, is gorgeously animated, and features memorable characters.  However, the songs, though good, are not so memorable.  Not that I’m knocking them too hard, they’re still good, but mention Beauty and the Beast, Little Mermaid, or even Lion King and tunes immediately spring to mind.  Mention Tangled to me and nothing springs to mind. 

Disney is known for its villains (my morning coffee is drunk out of a cup with many of them on it), but Mother Gothel isn’t the most memorable of them.  She’s pretty awful since she kidnaps the girl and convinces her that she is her mother, but she is not one that we really grow to hate.  After all she isn’t a wicked stepmother, not that kidnapping and playing with the child’s mind is all that nice, but she never elicits the boos and hisses other baddies did.  Well voiced but not really that much menace. 

Moore and Levi acquit themselves nicely, but again not rising to classic status.  The non-talking performers steal the show as the upright Maximus the horse and sardonic pet chameleon of Rapuzel have hilarious moments.  In lieu of an unforgettable 50th film, Disney has provided a solid film that has some great moments. 

Not entirely forgettable, but if you want one that rises to the occasion you can’t help but think of other Disney films (the 50 movie roll call in the special features doesn’t help).  I might be too hard on Rapunzel since I had a jolly time and the kids loved it too. 

Tangled is presented in a 1080p high definition transfer (1.85:1).  Special features are in high definition and include 12 minutes of deleted scenes in various states of completion (with introductions by directors Nathan Greno and Byron Howard), two alternate openings with introductions (7 minutes total), 7 minutes of extended songs with introductions, the 12 minute “Untangled: the making of a fairytale,” 9 minutes of teaser trailers, a 4 minute Disney intro to 3D Blu-ray, and a 1 minute bit about digital copy.  Disc two is a DVD copy of the film. 

I’ve been too hard on the girl.  Rapunzel is a fine film that is gorgeously animated.  It just doesn’t rise to the hallmark that I wanted it to.  Otherwise I did find a fun family film that has some great moments.  Maybe I just wanted more.  However, what was delivered was a nice treat for what it was.

Alternate Opening (Bonus- Deleted Scene):

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