Tangled surpassed its budget?!!! YES!
I saw Tangled on Thanksgiving (awhile ago, I know), but with finals and Christmas, I didn't have time to post my thoughts. Here goes.
First of all, I went into the theatre hating the advertising campaign but hoping that it was all a trick. I knew that quite a few people liked it, so I went to see it with moderate expectations. And Tangled surpassed them. I felt that the opening sequence was a little hard to get immersed in, but after a few minutes, I was
there. After half an hour I leaned back in my chair and thought, "Thank you, God. This is just what I wanted." Obviously, I really liked it.
That said, there were a couple things that didn't meet my expectations. Rapunzel is good, but not great. She's really cute, but her eyes are a bit much. I loved the scenes in the tower, her reprise of "When Will My Life Begin," and the conflicted emotions scene just following it. She seems like a uniqe character in them. But once she hits the road with Flynn, she's a little too much like Ariel or Giselle. I still like her, though; I just felt like she wasn't original the rest of the time. I didn't really like Pascal. I felt like he was unnecessary. The little old man. He bothered me big-time. And I hated the fact that HE'S THE LAST PERSON YOU SEE!

I did think he was funny in the breakout scene, but that was it.
The songs were below par, I thought. They're not as bad as some people say, but, honestly, they could have been way better. I agree that the emotion in Mandy's voice is very clear (esp. in WWMLB reprise), and her voice is unique and less perfect than the other "princesses." That's not what I have a problem with. It's the lyrics. The lyrics seem very clichéd, especially in lines like "And it's warm and real and bright..." The tunes of the song and the instrumentation are lovely, but the words are kind of amateur. I didn't like the montage that when along with "Mother Knows Best," but I think it will grow on me, now that I know the words to the song. Btw, did the tune to MKB seem Sondheimesque to anyone else?
They only other thing I disliked was the overly long shot of Mother Gothel falling at the end. It was a stunning shot, and I had to admire the lighting and everything, but it was too long. Oh, and
I didn't lilke how Pascal trips Mother Gothel. Couldn't they have Rapunzel's hair trip her instead of a supposedly loveable sidekick?
I think that's everything. Anything I didn't mention, I was pleased with. Overall, I rate it at 8 out of 10. It's Disney's best solo movie in a long time. I will definitely buy it. I think Tangled has entered my Not Quite Favourites But Very Enjoyable category.
