Scary Movie V, Movie 43 and The Big Wedding (2013) Movie Reviews

SCARY MOVIE V, MOVIE 43 AND THE BIG WEDDING (2013) MOVIE REVIEWS

Now these reviews were originally going to come out when the films got released but due to time restraints, I had completely forgot to review them. Now, in 2014, I am finally going to review these three awful, awful movies. 

Firstly, I shall review Scary Movie V, which to be honest, isn't that hard to describe. I mean, it's Scary Movie V. How this series has gotten to it's fifth theatrical release nonetheless, I have no idea. Anyhow, if you for some reason care, the film revolves around a couple named Jody (Ashley Tisdale) and Dan Sanders (Simon Rex) as they move into a new home, but after a few days, they start to notice paranormal stuff is occurring within the walls and from there, just everything stupid you could imagine happens. As if the whole premise behind a paranormal activity spoof wasn't bad enough, they also manage to ruin other phenomenal films like Evil Dead, Rise of the Planet of the Apes and even Inception. As far as the comedy goes, it is just the same crap over and over and over again. Seriously, it seems like every single joke in this film has to revolve around farting and shitting in some way, shape or form. Speaking of utter shit, the acting is just as bad as the jokes as when the main actress in the movie is supposed to be Ashley Tisdale, you know you have extremely big problems. While other actresses like Vanessa Hudgens seem to be moving forward, it seems that she is...well..left in their minor success. Seriously, when you're doing worse then people that have only been in one or two theatrical films, the troubles are already laid out right in front of you. Anyhow, to conclude, Scary Movie V is exactly what you would expect it to be, a terrible movie with crap acting and humour.

Still of Charlie Sheen and Lindsey Lohan

Next we come to Movie 43, a film that I actually thought would be one of my favourite comedies of the year. How wrong I was, how wrong I was. One of the things I was interested in about Movie 43 was the fact that it was a sketch comedy film, and with sketch comedy being one of my favourite forms of comedy, I thought it would be hilarious. And considering the line up of actors the film had, I could only assume that the movie was going to be one of my favourites in 2013. Never thought it would be one of my most hated from last year. One of the many reasons I think I hated this movie was because of the fact that since YouTube is mostly sketch comedy, it had me thinking "Why did I pay to see this?" I mean, I could have watched way, way funnier sketch comedy on a free website rather than pay around $20 to watch mediocre comedy. Another reason why I hated this film was because of the actors, it's not that they were bad, it's the fact that these actors were more or less forced to perform terribly ad unfortunately, amongst the actor line-up, it held some of my favourites including Chris Pratt, Stephen Merchant, Christopher Mintz-Plasse and many more. It also seems like everyone in the film doesn't look like they are having any kind of fun whatsoever. It's as if they are just waiting for their heavy paycheck. Overall, even the actors couldn't put in the effort to pretend that Movie 43 was a good movie. And thank god they didn't, because this film just frustrated me from start to finish. This should have been one of my favourites of the year, but somehow, it managed to screw it up, royally. 

Still of Terrence Howard in the final and funniest
sketch in the film

Now we come to the final film in our tri-factor of crap, The Big Wedding. Now I'm going to be honest, much like Scary Movie V, I didn't expect great things from this film. Though what I was expecting was something much better than what I got. The film revolves around a divorced couple who must fake they are together as their parents come to town for, you guessed it, the big wedding. Already the plot as many problems, one being why spend all this money on a fake wedding, just tell the parents and be done with it. Secondly, if you have been divorced for an extended amount of time, why wouldn't you have told your parents ages ago about this sudden split. As if this wasn't bad enough, the acting was just terrible in this film and even with comedic actors like Robert De Niro and Robin Williams in this film, they couldn't even save the film from its inevitable demise. Which is that it will be always be known as the film that never happened. Literally, this film was one of the worst films box office wise as it made barely any money, and managed to be one of the biggest bombs all year. Anyhow, the humour in the film is just as bad as the acting and the film actually did suffer from its advertising as it managed to show the funniest moments in the trailers, which to be honest, weren't all that funny to begin. Overall, The Big Wedding was a film that I just had too high of expectations for, even though I didn't have any to begin with. Real shame to, I wanted to like this film. 

Still of Robert De Niro and Diane Keaton

SCARY MOVIE V: 2.3

MOVIE 43: 3.7

THE BIG WEDDING: 3.3

Enough Said (2013) Movie Review

ENOUGH SAID (2013) MOVIE REVIEW

Just saying, but it is really, really weird to see a man like James Gandolfini in a romantic comedy. Just wouldn't expect it. 

After she divorces her husband, Eva (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) begins searching for a new man in her life at a friend's party. Here, she unexpectedly begins falling for a slightly overweight man named Albert (James Gandolfini). After they begin to hit it off, she soon learns more about her new lover through her new client and friend, Marianne (Catherine Keener). Unfortunately, she begins to wonder which is more important, her new love or new friend after she finds out that this new friend of hers is actually Albert's ex-wife. From the get go, the story seems like your typical romantic comedy problem though in this film, I felt that they handled it very well. This is because of the fact that no one knows what is going on, including Eva as she literally has no idea what to do with this new found information. Though on the flip-side, she uses this to her advantage by finding out problems as to why Marianne left him in the first place, this includes minor annoyances and nitpicks that ultimately led to the separation. Overall, the story I felt was really strong and although I knew what was going to inevitably happen, I had to idea what would lead to the inevitable. 

Still of James Gandolfini and Julia Louis-Dreyfus

Without a doubt the thing that made me keep on enjoying this movie right until the end were the characters that were created. Every character, whether it be James Gandolfini's loveable, misunderstood lover to Ben Falcone's doormat of a husband , every single character were funny in their own, unique way. Some of the stand out characters to me in the film include James Gandolfini's and Ben Falcone's as I mentioned earlier. One of the reasons I enjoyed these two was because they were more or less the two characters that were created to basically connect with the male demographic that see this film. And I must say, I immediately connected with both these characters as both brought some sort of humour to the already hilarious dialogue. Others that I enjoyed include Tracey Fairaway's performance as a daughter who is leaving for college, one of the reasons this character was funny to me was the fact that since she is leaving so soon, you can see where she is coming from when she asks her mother, Eva, for a little more recognition. Speaking of, another character that was just hilarious was Tavi Gevison as the daughter's best friend Chloe. I think the reason behind my enjoyment for this character is the fact that she herself is being pushed away from her mother, resulting in her continually hanging out with Eva, which causes the daughter to become a tiny bit frustrated though in the end, you can tell that she is just angry in that kind of laughable way, the kind of emotion that would come from your best friend hanging out with your mum more then you. 

Still of Tracey Fairaway and Julia Louis-Dreyfus

As for the acting, this is where the film managed to completely surprise me as I thought that the performances in the film were really good. Julia Louis-Dreyfus was a good choice for this specific role as she plays the kind of person that is regularly nice, though only becomes angry when pushed over the absolute edge, which only occurs once in the entire film. James Gandolfini man...he was just...wow in this film. He played up the misunderstood lover role almost perfectly and in my opinion was the best actor/actress among the cast. Since this is his last performance, I was expecting something but I didn't think I would get a performance like that, which is all the worse reason that he has passed. Anyhow, others who were good in the film include Toni Collette as Eva's best friend as I felt she brought that kind of Toni Collette performance to the table as she really does play up that off the rails lover well, which she also showed in the severely underrated film The Way Way Back. Lastly, one actor in particular that I fell should have been featured in the movie more is Toni Colette's lover in the film, Ben Falcone as Will as I felt he brought a kind of comic relief performance that is rare to see performed so real in romantic comedies in particular. While I feel they missed out by not putting Falcone in more scenes, I must say that the acting was incredibly strong by everyone in their respective roles. 

Still of Toni Colette, Ben Falcone and Julia
Louis-Dreyfus

Overall, I felt that Enough Said is easily one of the most underrated movies of the year. Bringing heart-warming performances, a hilarious script and good chemistry between James and Julia, it is an honour to call this movie James Gandolfini's last. Rest in Peace James. 

OVERALL: 7.6/10

Philomena (2013) Movie Review

PHILOMENA (2013) MOVIE REVIEW

Before going into this film, I was actually extremely worried about seeing it as from what I had seen from it, it didn't look like my kind of film. How wrong I was...how wrong I was. 

Based on the true story of Philomena (Judi Dench), the self-titled film follows the of a world-weary political journalist named Martin Sixsmith (Steve Coogan) as he picks up a story based around Philomena who for her whole life, has attempted to find her son after he was taken away form her years ago after she fell pregnant and had to live in a convent. Easily the strongest aspect that the story has going for it is that all the events that occurred in the film actually did happen, which immediately makes the audience sympathize with Philomena as she and Martin begin their search. Another thing that I really enjoyed about the story was that towards the end, when everything begins going down, it really does show how angry both Martin and Philomena are. This moment of intensity really did show how angry these two were and just so I can let you watch it yourself, I shant explain why they are filled with rage. Anyhow, one of the things that was going against the film was that the trailers showed too much. I felt that the film told you who the son becomes and immediately tells you where they will go and where they end up, which is a shame as that should be what the film is about. Slowly piecing it together and finding out where her son has ended up. Anyhow, I felt that the film obviously had a strong story, and just to clarify, I would be saying this no matter whether it was a true story or not. 

Still of Steve Coogan and Judi Dench

Considering that this film has to rely mostly on each actor's performance, you would have to have great expectations for everyone's performances. Thankfully, each actor I felt did a fantastic job in their respective roles. Judi Dench was an impeccable choice to play Philomena as I felt she has that loveable old person personality, though can show stone cold emotion when required to. As for Steve Coogan, I actually thought he did as good or even better job then Judi. I felt that he provided alot of the laughs throughout this comedic drama and had me really believe that he wanted to help Philomena find her son. However, Steve was unfortunately shunned at all the award shows this year which is quite peculiar as I felt he did an amazing job as a supporting actor, and should have at least got a nomination. Anyhow, another woman that I felt did a really good job is a woman by the name of Sophie Kennedy Clark as a young Philomena. Known only for this film and a minor, minor role in the forgettable film Dark Shadows, she was only in the film for about 10 minutes at the beginning to explain the back story and I felt that she brought something special to the performance. This is especially noticeable in the scene where her son is being taken away. Here, she manages to express an incredible amount of emotion that managed to almost make me tear up as I honestly felt like that she had lost her son forever. And considering that she is more or less a new actor in Hollywood, I can guarantee you that you will be seeing her face in many different movies later in life. Overall, the acting from more or less the main three people in the film was incredibly strong and managed to begin a career, or at least improve one. 

Still of Sophie Kennedy Clark as a young Philomena

To be honest, I'm not really sure what else I can say about this film other then the fact it has incredible acting, superb chemistry between Steve and Judi and that it more than deserves to win an Oscar for Best Actress, though maybe not Best Picture. Though that would be fantastic.

OVERALL: 8.0/10

Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues (2013) Movie Review

ANCHORMAN 2: THE LEGEND CONTINUES (2013) MOVIE REVIEW

After the surprising success that the original Anchorman had, it was almost inevitable that a sequel was going to be made. And boy am I glad that it did. 

After being his entire news team was fired from his news channel, Ron Burgundy (Will Ferrell) begins working as a trainer for Sea World. Unsurprisingly, he gets fired from this occupation as well and gets approached by a man named Freddie Shapp (Dylan Baker) who offers Ron a chance at redemption as a newscaster for a 24-hour news channel. Reluctantly agreeing, Ron decides to "get the band back together" to begin their new careers. To be completely honest, I thought that this movie was going to be completely blind in terms of its story as it seemed from the trailers to be just a funny movie, one that doesn't concentrate at all on its overbearing plot. However, much like the previous film, I felt that the writers actually did put some thought into the plot as at the beginning, it starts in a very simple style though towards the final act of the story, alot of stuff begins occurring. Now usually, this would make the film too overcrowded however in this particular instance, it somehow works perfectly as by the time the end credits are rolling, you leave feeling that they actually told a complete and ridiculous. So to be honest, I must say that the film had a really intriguing and just hilarious story and really did play its cards at the right times and did it flawlessly. 

Still of Paul Rudd, Will Ferrell, David Koechner
and Steve Carell

Now since this film is, of course, a comedy, I more or less must judge the movie on its overall hilarity factor. And I must say, I thought this movie was absolutely hilarious. Almost every single scene in this movie, whether it had an overlaying joke or just a simple one liner, made me literally laugh out loud. Most of this comedy of course comes from the four leading men in the movie, who were all hilarious in their own way. Whether it be Ron Burgundy's pride, Brian Fantana's (Paul Rudd) obsession with sex, Brick Tamland's (Steve Carell) way of being...well..Brick or a new character in the series, Jack Lime's (James Marsden) cockiness, I felt that each actor brought something new to either the movie or their character's personality. Now one of the things I despise most about comedy in general is the overuse of toilet humour and jokes literally about someone farting or shitting. Luckily, while watching this movie, it seemed that the film could still be funny without the use of the human feces, which I found extremely impressive. Not that I'm saying that toilet humour is a good thing, because it never is, but it's rare to see a mainstream film like this be successful without making reference to farts or feces. Speaking of shit, let's discuss some of the things that I did not enjoy about the film. Like any movie, there are minor problems that cannot be simply fixed like lack of ideas or certain angles, but there is one problem that seemed to not really bother, but rather stick out to me as being the only problem with the film. And that is that the film seemed a little unfocused at times as Jack Lime is supposed to be the main antagonist in the film, though he is only there for the first half, then he just kind of disappears for a while then for a tiny bit pops up at the finale of the film, which bothered me because I really liked that character as he seemed to be Ron's polar opposite in terms of personality. 

Still of James Marsden and his news team

As for the acting, I felt that the film had an extremely strong comedy ensemble much like the last film. With Will Ferrell once again bringing his iconic Ron Burgundy to life again, it is hilarious to see what antics he gets himself into and his very passive aggressive style of acting. Though Will Ferrell is the main star, I felt that the stand out in the four was actually Paul Rudd as I felt that he brought an extreme amount of charisma that, at least for me, was missing from the previous film. In this instalment, he is a drug and sex addicted man who somehow manages to compile a list of the Top 40 Best Vaginas in the Last Decade. This is but one example that proves why he is my favourite in the group. Well that and Paul Rudd is one of my favourite comedians but that's beyond the point. David Koechner as Champ Kind I felt, while hilarious, was the weakest of the four. And to be honest, that isn't a bad thing as when you're up against actors like Will Ferrell, Paul Rudd and Steve Carell, it's incredibly hard to stand out. Speaking of Steve Carell, I felt that his iconic character was brought justice once again as just everything he says makes me laugh, and even when Steve laughs, it just makes me laugh for some strange reason. Maybe it's just that stupid face he makes that triggers me to laugh, I'm not entirely sure but he was hilarious nonetheless. Others who were good in the film include James Marsden, Christina Applegate as Veronica Corningstone and although he was only in it for a short amount of time, Harrison Ford as Mack Tannen. Overall, I felt that the acting was really good and once again showcased these actor's hilarious talent.

Still of Christina Applegate, Meagan Good and
Will Ferrell

Overall, while some people may disagree with me, I felt that Anchorman 2 was better than its predecessor and is easily one of the best comedies of the year. With a hilarious script, impeccable performances and an ending that out-dos the firsts in every way, Anchorman 2 can be described in one simple word, surprising. 

OVERALL: 8.2/10

 

American Hustle (2013) Movie Review

AMERICAN HUSTLE (2013) MOVIE REVIEW

While I believe the movie defiently deserves to be nominated for an Oscar, how it got nominated for 10 of them, I have no idea.

A con man, Irving Rosenfield (Christian Bale) and his seductive British partner in crime Sydney Prosser (Amy Adams) are forced to work with an off the rails FBI agent named Richie DiMaso (Bradley Cooper). Because of this forced alliance, Richie forces the two into helping him prove that Mayor Carmon Palito (Jeremy Renner) is corrupt in his actions. With no choice, the three begin a new alliance to take down the Mayor of the corrupt city. For the most part, I really did enjoy the overbearing story that this film created. I felt that the biggest aspect that kept me intrigued in the story was the fact that it took place in a place corrupted by mafia and the underutilized drama that comes with it, which I really enjoyed seeing. While overall I did enjoy the plot as a whole, I felt that certain things in the story were sometimes forced and seemed a little too cliché or cheesy in my opinion. However, as a whole, I felt that the story was brilliant and kept me guessing till the very end, literally. 

Still of Christian Bale, Amy Adams
and Bradley Cooper

There are many aspects that this film had going for it, with one of them actually being the music. While I do not pay attention to scores much in movies, I will admit I more than pay attention to actual musical numbers in films. And this film had too many great songs to count. Ranging from Live and Let Die to Irving's montage music, this film easily holds one of 2013's best soundtracks, with the score from Man of Steel coming in right behind. Anyhow, another aspect of the film that is getting critical acclaim are the costumes, more precisely Christian Bale's wig. Seriously, throughout the entire movie he is basically trying to straighten it, which just added so much to his character's personality. Other apparels I thought were classy include Jeremy Renner and Bradley Cooper's various suits worn throughout the film. However, we can't talk clothing without mentioning the leading ladies in the film, even if half the time they weren't wearing anything. Anyhow, I felt that their dresses were incredibly classy and like Bale, it added so much to their characters as you can tell the struggles that are occurring through their trashy clothes. Lastly, the final and biggest thing that had this film receive and endless number of critic acclaim was the acting, which I shall discuss now. 

Still of Jeremy Renner as Mayor Carmon Palito

As for the acting, I felt it was extremely smart to market this film as a movie just filled with talent. I mean, when your main cast includes the likes of Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper, Jeremy Renner and Jennifer Lawrence, it's kind of hard not to hide that kind of acting talent from the audience. Anyhow, of course everyone does a spectacular job at their respective roles. Christian Bale just ceases to amaze me as every single role he is in, I think I have seen it all and then he just blows us away with his acting range, and his weight. I'm not positive on the exact numbers, but I know he put on alot of weight for this film and considering he was working on Out of the Furnace around the same time, that s dedication. Amy Adams I felt was one of the best in this film as she just showed such dominance and managed to stand her ground amongst the two leading men in the film, Bale and Cooper. Speaking of, Bradley Cooper while good in the movie, I felt that he was way better in the last David O. Russell he was in, which of course was the masterpiece known as Silver Linings Playbook. As for Jennifer Lawrence, what can I say that the internet hasn't already said? I mean, in 2012 barely anyone knew who she was until her role in The Hunger Games, and then it began. One day she got an Oscar and now she has grown so much as an actress. Oh and she was good in the movie. Lastly, I don't care what any critic says about his performance but I felt that the most underrated actor of this year is a tie between Jeremy Renner and Jake Gyllenhaal as each just brought so much personality and character to their respective roles, with Jake for Prisoners and obviously Jeremy for American Hustle. Without question, if I was on the judging panel for any award show, I would nominate Jeremy Renner for Best Supporting Actor. Yep, I though he was better than Bradley Cooper in this film. Anyhow, the acting as expected was phenomenal and continued to show the amazing talent that these people have.  

Still of Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper, Jeremy Renner,
Christian Bale and Jennifer Lawrence

Overall, while I was a tiny bit disappointed with this film, I cannot blame the movie as I guess I overhyped myself to the bitter end. But that doesn't mean it's not a good film, because it's a great one at that. If you haven't seen this one yet, you simply must see it as considering it could take home 10 Oscars, that more than says something about its quality. 

OVERALL: 7.8/10

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013) Movie Review

THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG (2013) MOVIE REVIEW

With the previous movie in The Hobbit trilogy being one of my favourite films of 2012, I, like basically everyone, had high hopes for this movie. So how'd it turn out? Pretty damn fine. 

Taking place after the events of An Unexpected Journey, this film continues the journey of the dwarves, Gandalf the Grey (Ian Mckellen) and Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) as they attempt to reclaim their homeland of Erebor from the ruthless dragon Smaug. Without question the thing that kept this movie going was it's impeccable story telling and just how everything ties in perfectly and it's seamless transition from page to picture. While some aspects were exclusive to this film from the book, like Legolas (Orlando Bloom) being in the story for example, the story for this film was more than reliable to the timeless source material. One of the things I really enjoyed about the story in this film was the timeless characters that are made or expanded upon. An example of this is Bilbo as in the first film, he was really afraid and was almost tempted not to come on the journey. Now in this film, he is very careful and shows various signs of leadership throughout their quest. Anyway, overall, the story for The Desolation of Smaug was by far better than the already great story of the first film and manages to tell a full story from start to end. 

Still of Martin Freeman and Richard Armitage
as Bilbo and Thorin 

As I mentioned earlier, one of the movies strongest aspects has to be the characters that are created. But this cannot be fully accomplished unless they are portrayed by a certain actor/actress, which this movie managed to nail perfectly. Each character was cast perfectly in my opinion as I cannot think of anyone in this film that did a bad job in their role, whether large or small. Martin Freeman once again reprises his role as a younger Bilbo and does it perfectly, Ian Mckellen also returns as Gandalf and of course does an amazing job as his signature character. Other actors/actresses that managed to stand out for me at least include Luke Evans as Bard the Bowman as I felt he just did such an amazing job as him as he showed such charisma as well as leadership and honour, which is what the character needed to be. Others that did really good include Aidan Turner as Kili and Evangeline Lily as Tauriel as I felt that although they had few scenes together, the chemistry that was shown in those scenes kept me wanting more from these two in particular. Now of course, we cannot talk about acting talent without mentioning the villains in this film, Smaug and the Necromancer, both played by Benedict Cumberbatch. Although he did play two villains in this film, I will only talk about the main villain he portrayed, which is Smaug the Dragon. They really did pick the perfect person to voice this villainous dragon as Cumberbatch has such a deep, eerie and menacing voice the entire time he was on screen. Another aspect I loved about this scene was the fact that he kept on taunting Bilbo by calling him such simple names like 'thief!' and 'barrel-rider!', which showed how menacing he can still be, even if he doesn't use creative insults and threats. 

Still of Luke Evans as Bard

As for the special effects, I'm not really sure what else I can say that hasn't been said before. I mean, the effects in this film are nominated for an Oscar and more than deserve to win in my opinion. Even though I cannot say much here, I will say that the stand out effects to me in the film include the barrel scene where the dwarves are riding barrels to escape a certain area. One of the biggest things that made this scene my favourite in the film was the fact that it never slowed down as while they are in the barrels, they continue to fight and take down everything in their path. Another stand out scene to me was without question the first encounter with Smaug the Dragon as the first time you see him is with Bilbo and it shows just how large he is compared to a hobbit, which also shows just how much length the special effects team went into these effects. Seriously, I'm not sure what else to say. I mean, the various locations that the group encounters throughout the film are all beautiful in their own unique way, whether it be the streets of Laketown, the mountains of Erebor or the tomb of Smaug. Overall, the special effects are some of the best of the year and more than deserve to win an Oscar for it's beauty. 

Still of Ian Mckellen and Sylvester McCoy as
Gandalf and Radagast

Overall, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is without question one of my favourite films of 2013 and continues to bring honour to the great franchise. Showing off remarkable acting, special effects and story telling, the film managed to keep me entertained all the way through, even through the 2hr 45min runtime.

OVERALL: 8.5/10

Frozen (2013) Movie Review

FROZEN (2013) MOVIE REVIEW

Usually Disney can produce just one stellar animation a year, well my friends, it looks like Frozen is the film this year for Disney. 

After her sister's icy powers cause the entire kingdom to be trapped in an eternal winter, Anna (Kristen Bell) sets out to find Elsa (Idina Menzel) and ask her to return the kingdom back to it's original state. During her quest to find her sister, Anna manages to befriend a woodsman named Kristoff (Jonathan Groff) and and his pet moose. As well as Kristoff, she also befriends a snowman named Olaf (Josh Gad) who comes alive as a result of Elsa's magic. With the cold now threatening to freeze everyone to death, this mismatched trio must now find Elsa and stop this eternal winter. One of the things I really enjoyed about the story in this film was that while I did know where it was inevitably going, I did not expect the route there to be filled with twists and turns that even for a Disney movie were surprising to me. Because of this, it managed to keep more interested in the story as well as the charming characters and the many dilemmas that they face in the film. But the thing that really kept me grasped with the story was the prologue as it shows why Elsa must conceal her powers from others and it really does show how hard it is for her to do this. As well as this, it also almost made me truly care for the character as it really does show her internal struggles as for a kid, it truly is a difficult thing to deal with. Overall, the story and characters were really good and kept me engrossed the entire time.  

Still of Kristen Bell, Josh Gad and Jonathan Groff

Since this is a Disney movie, superb animation is to be expected. And if this is the case, then those expectations were more than met. The animation in this film is easily Disney's best as since the setting for this world is primarily ice and snow, there are countless opportunities for creative and funny moments, which they use to their advantage here. Each character in the film appear very human like, both in their appearance and their personalities as everyone in this film, even including the snowman, are very relate-able. This is due to the different emotions each of them feel in different scenes, which are amazingly shown in their emotions and reactions. When going into this film, I just thought it would be another Disney comedy. While it is a comedy, the entire movie is actually more of a musical when you really begin to think about it. From I can remember, there are at least 7 or so different songs, though this is a film I saw about a week or more ago so I can't really remember specifics. Anyhow, these musical numbers while cheesy, were entertaining to say the least as they are usually used for story explanation and elements which is how I believe all musical numbers should be. Once again while they were cheesy, none of them felt forced into the plot in any way of it and it really did show just how creative the team over at Disney can be in terms of their story telling. 

Still of Alan Tudky, Kristen Bell and Idina Menzel

As for the acting, while I cannot really judge their acting as all that were used was their voices, I can talk about the characters they portrayed and how good of characters they were. And I must say, these characters are some of the greatest Disney has ever put on any screen. Anna I felt was the most relate-able character as she is a sister attempting to patch up a relationship with her older one whom is dealing with problems of her own. Kristoff was a good character in the right that someone has to be the relate-able man in the movie who is just a normal guy with a semi-normal job. While the snowman Olaf isn't exactly the best use of relate-able for this film, he was defiently a hilarious factor in the movie as he is just so charming in his delivery and basically nothing at all phases him and he is always happy, and if that is real, then that person MUST have problems. Out of everyone in this film I felt that the character that stood out to me was Elsa, the eldest sister. What I liked about her so much was that you could tell that she was going through a terrible thing and you could see that the film was putting her out to be the villain though in reality, she is far from the villain as she was not responsible for anything that occurred. Overall, the many different characters in this film were all remarkable in their own right and Elsa, n my opinion, is Disney's greatest female protagonist to date. And that's saying something.

Still of Idina Menzel as Elsa

Overall, Frozen really did surprise me in it's execution and overall impact. It really did show that Disney will continue to pump out phenomenal movies without even trying. While it may not be in my Top 5 or even Top 10 films of the year, I can fully understand why it would be on anyone else's.  

OVERALL: 8.4/10