After seeing it again, I feel less strongly about some of my earlier criticisms. It might’ve helped that the theater was empty this time. Last time, a family sat right behind me, and the children wouldn’t shut up during “I See The Light”--the worst scene to lose your focus during, because it sets up the ending. I like Flynn and Gothel somewhat better than before. Though Gothel’s still not one of my favorite villains, and I would’ve liked it more if they had actually had her feel love for Rapunzel, I did enjoy what they
did do with her (I try my best not to dislike a film for what they could’ve done, but judge it for what they did do). I still don’t like how they give her some overly Broadway movements in the first “Mother Knows Best,” because they come across too silly. Loved the way they did the reprise though--that‘s probably my favorite scene in the movie (I especially like the part where they‘re back to back). Also liked the ending, where her whole body goes pale pale white. That she stabbed Flynn felt more believable after she is willing to allow the Stabbington brothers and Flynn just be hanged earlier. Part of the reason I didn’t feel as strongly about some of her knife moments is that the knife looked like a plastic toy--they should’ve made it sharper, with a gleam or something.
As a character, I still feel a bit of sympathy for Gothel, because she clearly was trying to escape death and wouldn’t have stolen Rapunzel if she could’ve just cut off the hair. Plus, it seems that she never allowed herself to get emotionally invested in Rapunzel, what with calling her “my flower” and all. That made it more easy to believe she would put her in chains at the end (and, yeah, I love the confrontation scenes between Gothel and Rapunzel at the end). Oh, and I agree with whoever it was (can’t remember) who said something about how the scene with child Rapunzel sneaking out after Gothel was in bed to look at the lights screamed child abuse--I felt that way the first time I saw it, too. I don’t know, besides the fact that she’s being kept in the tower (to the point that she doesn’t even know what grass feels like or what lanterns are), it just seemed horribly cruel for her to force the girl to keep her hair that long--her entire life was bent to meet Gothel’s needs. Overall, characters like Rapunzel, Snow White or Cinderella are extremely easy to sympathize with, which is probably why I came out of the movie liking her the first time, and still do.
About Flynn, I just felt more about the romance than before. I actually tried to focus on him throughout the film because I know I didn’t get much of him before. Of course, romance is rarely Disney’s strong point, but they did a decent job with it. I love the scene where he goes to meet the Stabbington brothers and Rapunzel is kind of worried he’s run off. I’m still left a little cold with Flynn, because the movie sets him up to be unlikable (particularly when he leaves the brothers to be arrested), and it’s hard to believe he would really fall for Rapunzel. Disney always does this opposites attract thing, but it was kind of iffy for me here. Plus, he comes across as too much of a repeat of Naveen, but then, the Prince and Prince Charming are practically the same, too. And I still felt weird about the death scene. Yeah, it’s more dramatic if he dies, and the flowing lights were awesome, but it seemed really stupid for him not to let her heal him first.
Oh, and to clarify on the pushing scene, which someone might have clarified already, Rapunzel was just forcefully holding Gothel’s hand after Gothel tried to pat her head with the usual lies, and then Gothel jerked away--clearly shocked that Rapunzel would ever be so defiant--and fell into the mirror. And I also saw the part where Rapunzel reached out as Gothel fell. In fact, Gothel’s whole death scene impressed me more than before.
The scene where Rapunzel “remembers” also worked better the second time around. It helped that I noticed they had showed a shot of the lost princess painted as a murial on a stone walking area which she must’ve seen during “Kingdom Dance” alongside the flashback. Also, someone complained about how similar Rapunzel and the Queen were, but I’m guessing they did that on purpose to explain why the Queen and King would believe Rapunzel was their daughter without proof--she looks just like her!
One last thing: I still feel the introduction is weak--the movie just seems to start without any lead-up--but the Flynn voice-over seems more appropriate at the end. I don’t know, the way Rapunzel interjected about how they eventually got married helped the relationship seem more real that way, considering I wasn’t accepting that he’d just drop the philandering based on what happened during the movie. I’m also still middle-of-the-road with the music, and I can’t say enough how much I wish Mandy Moore wasn’t the one singing, but it still works well within the film.
Overall,
Tangled is one of those movies that I enjoy whenever I watch it, but it never really leaves an impact on me. But it is a pretty good movie. With TP&TF and
Enchanted before it, things are looking up for Disney. Let’s hope they don’t blow it.
I hope these long write-ups don’t come across obnoxious. I don’t think my opinion means more than any other person on the internet, I just enjoy writing extensively about things. That can happen with an English major.
