Jack Reacher (2012)

In other news, go see Edge of Tomorrow - it is very good blockbuster film.  

And now another, less good Tom Cruse film.....

Movie: Jack Reacher (2012)
Rating: PG-13

Starring: Tom Cruse, Rosamund Pike, Richard Jenkins, Werner Herzog, David Oyelowo, Jai Courtney, Joseph Sikora, Robert Duvall
Score: 4.8 out of 10 stars
Family Friendly: 2/5 (sniper attack on civilians, some action violence)
Recommended: If you want to see Tom Cruse or Rosamund Pike....

Plot Summery (No Spoilers):Guy shoots up downtown Pittsburgh, and is caught, and he asks for Jack Reacher....

Plot Summery (Spoilers): (From Wikipedia)In Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, a man drives a van into a parking garage across the Allegheny River from PNC Park and, after dropping a quarter into the meter, readies a sniper rifle. He takes aim and kills five people on the river’s North Shore Trail from long range before fleeing in the van.

The police soon arrive at the scene of the murder, headed by Detective Emerson (David Oyelowo), and discover a shell casing as well as the quarter used to pay for parking. A fingerprint taken from the coin points to James Barr (Joseph Sikora), a former U.S. Army sniper. When the police raid his house, they find the van, equipment for making bullets, the rifle in question, and Barr, fast asleep in his bed.

During an interrogation by Emerson and the District Attorney, Alex Rodin (Richard Jenkins), Barr is offered a choice between life in prison in exchange for a full confession or guaranteed death row, as Rodin has never failed to convict. Thinking Barr is going to confess when he takes the notepad, they are bewildered when he instead writes "Get Jack Reacher". Jack Reacher (Tom Cruise) is a drifter and former U.S. Army Military Police Corps officer. Reacher later arrives in Pittsburgh after seeing a news report about Barr and the shooting. Emerson and Rodin deny Reacher’s request to view the evidence but agree to let him see the suspect. Barr, as it turns out, was brutally attacked by fellow inmates while in police custody and is now in a coma. Reacher meets Barr’s defense attorney, counselor Helen Rodin (Rosamund Pike), the District Attorney’s daughter, who's been saddled with the apparently hopeless task of saving Barr from the death penalty.

Helen says she can arrange for Reacher to see the evidence if he will become her lead investigator. Reacher retorts that he is not interested in clearing Barr. He reveals that Barr had gone on a killing spree during his tour in Iraq but was not prosecuted because his victims were under investigation for major crimes — and the U.S. Army wants them forgotten. Reacher vowed that if Barr tried anything like this again, he would take him down.

Reacher agrees to investigate if Helen visits the victims’ families to learn about the people murdered that day. Reacher goes to the crime scene and finds inconsistencies about this location, thinking that a trained shooter would have done the killings from the cover of the van on the nearby Fort Duquesne Bridge. After Helen reports her findings about the victims to Reacher, he suggests that the owner of a local construction company was the intended victim, with the killing of the other victims intended as a cover-up.

After an apparently spurious bar fight, Reacher realizes that someone is attempting to strong-arm him into dropping his investigation. Reacher is later framed for the murder of the young woman who was paid to instigate the bar-room brawl, but this only motivates him further. Reacher eventually follows up a lead at a shooting range in the neighboring state of Ohio, owned by former U.S. Marine Corps Gunnery Sergeant Martin Cash (Robert Duvall), who will talk only if Reacher will demonstrate his U.S. Army sniping skills.

The real perpetrators are the members of a Russian gang, who are masquerading as legitimate businessmen. The gang's elderly leader spent much of his life in a Soviet Gulag and is known only as the Zec (prisoner). The gang kidnaps Helen with the aid of Detective Emerson and holds her hostage at a quarry. Reacher outwits the mob guards, killing them with Cash's help, before confronting the Zec about the conspiracy. Reacher kills the Zec to prevent him from eluding justice.

Reacher and Cash flee the scene with confidence that Helen will clear Reacher's name. When Barr awakens from his coma, he tells Helen that he has no recent memory but believes that he must be guilty of the shootings. Barr's mental reconstruction of how he would have committed the shootings confirms that Reacher's theory was correct from the beginning. Still unaware of all these developments, Barr is willing to confess and accept his punishment, fearing that Reacher will mete out justice if the law does not.

My Thoughts:  Meh

This isn't a good film at really any level.  It is full of tropes and the usual suspects of action sequences.   It is also old that the main Character is a Mary Sue.   He really doesn't make one bad mistake, which makes for bad Drama.   For me, it is only so long I can stand wise ass guys who use baseball players as fake names who never make a false step.   Apparently, this is from the source material, and perhaps I would enjoy the movie more if I had read the novel.  In addition, this is only the 2nd movie directed by the director of my previous review, "The way of the gun" while he has Written many great films.


There are a few reasons why this is perhaps watchable for someone who has Netflix or Amazon Prime.

1. Warner Harzog

Actually plays a good bad guy

2. Rosamund Pike

The neckline on this outfit is notable

3. Competent action sequences

Nothing bad, but nothing you had not seen before action wise

4. If you are a huge fan of Tom 

I need to earn a point for not doing a Scientology joke

I mostly enjoyed it for the lovely Rosamund Pike, I know some people really like this film, however while it is competent, it really does not bring anything special.  For a moment I thought it was going to rise up as Reacher points out the facts that are not being connected by investigators, and then it slowly sinks back to being a mediocre film.  

Way of the Gun (2000)

Welcome back, glad I have had so many view from the Frozen review.   Now for something completely different.   

Movie: The Way of the Gun (2000)
Rating: R

Starring: Ryan Phillippe as Mr. Parker, Benicio Del Toro as Mr. Mr. Longbaugh, Juliette Lewis as Robin, Taye Diggs as Jeffers, Nicky Katt as Obecks and James Caan as Joe Sterno
Score: 6.5 out of 10 stars
Family Friendly: 0/5 (Violence, a lot of violence)
Recommended: If you wanted to see a Micheal Mann film with a low budget....

Plot Summery (No Spoilers):
Two Criminal microminds try to kidnap a expectant mother for ransom, and nothing goes right for them.   



Plot Summery (Spoilers): (From Wikipedia)

Parker and Longbaugh are at a sperm donation facility, where they overhear a telephone conversation detailing a $1,000,000 payment to a surrogate mother for bearing the child of Hal Chidduck. Parker and Longbaugh resolve to kidnap the surrogate, Robin, but their attempt escalates into a shootout with her bodyguards, Jeffers and Obecks. The kidnappers are able to elude the bodyguards, who are arrested.

Jeffers and Obecks are bailed out and returned to Chidduck by Joe Sarno. As Sarno begins coordinating Robin's rescue, Longbaugh contacts the surrogate's gynecologist, Dr. Allen Painter, and orders him to a truck stop to examine Robin. After the examination, Painter returns to Chidduck, and it is revealed that the doctor is Chidduck's son.

Longbaugh calls and demands a $15 million ransom. Jeffers and Obecks, tempted by the money, begin forming a plan to save the child and keep the money. As Longbaugh hangs up the telephone outside a motel, he is approached by Sarno, who offers to pay $1 million if they surrender Robin and simply walk away. Longbaugh declines the offer and returns to his room, where Parker and Robin are playing cards. Sarno then returns to Chidduck's home to plan the next step.

Jeffers comes to realize that Robin is Sarno's daughter. Jeffers, Obecks, and Painter leave to meet with the kidnappers, while Sarno departs separately with the ransom. At the motel, Parker is having second thoughts. As he confers with Longbaugh outside the motel room, Robin takes the opportunity to seize a shotgun and barricade herself inside.

A woman and a gun

As sirens are heard in the distance, Parker and Longbaugh hastily escape, and Robin emerges just as Mexican police arrive, followed by Jeffers, Obecks, and Painter. As Painter and the bodyguards try to persuade Robin to leave with them, the officers pull their guns and order everybody onto the ground. Parker and Longbaugh open fire from a nearby hilltop, and the shootout leaves the two officers dead and Obecks wounded. Jeffers shoves Painter and Robin into his car and drives off.

Parker and Longbaugh torture Obecks to learn Robin's location, while Jeffers confines Robin in a room in a Mexican brothel. Jeffers forces Painter to perform a Caesarean section to retrieve the baby, despite Robin's confession that the child is hers and Painter's and is not Chidduck's. Meanwhile, the heavily armed Parker and Longbaugh infiltrate the brothel. The ensuing gunfight, which leaves Parker wounded, turns into another standoff, until Painter shoots Jeffers. Outside, Sarno arrives with a group of men and the ransom, which they stack in the courtyard. Parker wants to kidnap Robin and Painter again, but Longbaugh, guilt-ridden after seeing her condition, responds: "She's had enough". Despite realizing that the money is bait, Parker and Longbaugh charge headlong into an ambush.

All of Sarno's men are killed in the ensuing firefight. However, Sarno manages to shoot and cripple the already wounded Parker and Longbaugh, and then calls for an ambulance. Painter emerges with Robin and the baby. Lying in a pool of blood, Parker and Longbaugh call out to Sarno, informing him that the baby is in fact Robin and Painter's, and thus Sarno's grandson. Parker wonders aloud if this fact will influence Sarno to let them keep the child. Robin and the baby are then taken away in the ambulance with Painter, Sarno and the money, leaving Parker and Longbaugh to die.

Days later, Chidduck's wife reveals that she's pregnant.

My Thoughts:

Yes, she is that woman from that TV show...

I am a bit conflicted with this movie.   Mostly since it is about three steps away from being a great movie, and two steps away from being utter trash.   

Back in 2000 there was a bunch of "Reservoir Dogs/Pulp Fiction" clones, movies with impressive output of violence slathered over with pseudo-deep thinking.  By and large these films took everything that is bad about a Quentin Tarantino film, and remove all the good points. The writer of 1990s crime classic "The Usual Suspects" went out and made a film called "The Way of the Gun".  When Way of the gun came out, it was quickly banished as one of these knockoff films and buried.

Somehow it didn't die, and slowly has gained a  cult movie reputation .   Its biggest weakness is that it tries to be too cute with the plot.   Otherwise it is a solid, if flawed movie. 

Our "Heroes" ready for the final fight...

The entire movie is really a reverse of what you normally see, and sometimes that really works, and sometimes it falls flat on its face.   It has protagonists who are petty criminals, and it turns out the villain, played by the always great Caan, is actually in most movies would be the hero, saving his daughter from a bad fate.   Also the casting Ryan Phillippe as a bad guy is also counter to what was expected.  

Some things are done very well, it still looks good 14 years later, as you can see by the screenshots.   Also some of the acting is very well done.   Caan is great as the villain, and Juliette Lewis does very well in moving like a women who is about to deliver a child.   Most of the acting talent is however the better end of the TV side of skill.   

One thing that this movie will be known for years is the excellent "Gun play", that for a movie at least, that most people use guns property, follow safety rules even in a firefight, and guns DO need to be reloaded.   And not just as the dramatic point, but all thought-out a gunfight.  

Reloading

Yep, more reloading

This movie does bring up a question of violence in movies.  As you are well aware, I normally dwell on the content of movies, perhaps it is the juxtaposition of my latter day saints religous views with the sex and violence of movies, and that I do enjoy violent movies.   This movie has a R rating, which it should, and it brings up a philosophical question.   What is more harmful, showing the actual violence realistically, with blood, people dying, and even innocent bystanders hurt and killed, or something like avengers where a entire city is basically crushed, with 10,000s of deaths, and not even a mention of this.   I have come to the point that I really think that Hollywoods CGI destruction fests that are PG-13 are much more harmful to society then a R rated film that shows the real cost of violence.   

The way of the gun is a violent movie.    There is no if and or buts about it, as people are shot, one person is tortured, and one moment of body horror as one of our So-anti-heroes that they are the villains does a Hollywood style dive into a dry fountain, and finds as he lands that the entire bottom is covered in beer bottles.  The torture sequence did cause me to knock it down a entire point as it was unneeded, and very violent.   

This movie uses guns a lot.   In fact, I would call it gun porn.  Every character with a speaking role will have a gun at some point in time except for the couple who unborn child is being ransomed.  However in it favor it is thought of as one of the few movies that shows how police, military, and other trained professionals will handle guns, with fingers not on the triggers unless firing, proper room clearing techniques, and as mentioned, reloading is part and parcel of the movie and its action sequences.  

   

Mexico....

Some of the set piece action sequences are very good.   The actual kidnapping sequence is okay,  but the low speed chase (that right, it is brave enough to do a low speed chase with a hostage) makes for a great action sequence.   The shootout to get to Robin is decently well done, and last but very not least, the ending firefight is one of the best shootouts in the movies, up with Heat and the other classics.

What you always wanted, to have a child in a Mexican brothel.

This movie is not nice to woman.   Not that it nice to men, but it has the visceral darkness that many 1990-2001 movies had.   The opening sequence is semi-famous, where a incredibly foul mouth woman played by a young Sarah Silverman who eggs on a fight to get punched, and the fact that Robin is in bad hands throughout the movie.   Just so you know in case your are sensitive to such things.

Another nice thing is that it shows that 15 million dollars is not a small amount of cash.  As in volume.   It takes a lot of space to have all that currency and the movie actually shows it.   Impressive non-hollywood when it normally would be a briefcase of cash.  

In the end, it is what it is.   A movie that is violent, from the "amoral 1990s", and at times talky.   It has some strong points, such as the great action sequences, and some major weak points, such as the characters who are shown to be dumb having very witty conversation.   The acting is uneven, with the couple who surrogate is kidnapped putting in sub-par performances, while Caan and Del Toro doing well.   In the end it falls under the magic 7.0 that I use as a good movie.   However those who like violent westerns and crime movies in the mold of 1970s movies like Thief or the works of Peckinpah or  Elmore Leonard might find it a good watch.

Some final images...

The Seven Day of X-men (Xmen (2000)

Over the next seven days I will be reviewing the Xmen films.  Part of this is that I noticed I am reviewing mostly good films, and I needed to review a few poor films to counterbalance all these good reviews.  Don't get me wrong, The most recent and Xmen 2 are very good films, but you have some films in the series that are poor.  

Movie: X-men (2000)
Rating: Pg-13

Starring: Patrick Stewart, Hugh Jackman, James Marsden, Halle Berry, Femake Jennsen, 
Anna Paquin, Ian McKellen,  Rebecca Romijn, and Shawn Ashmore
Score: 7 out of 10 stars
Family Friendly: 3.5/5 (minor action violence, one guy turns to water)
Recommended: Anyone who likes superhero films.

Plot Summery (No Spoilers):


In the future, people with Mutations that give them superpowers come into being, and the battle between those who want to eliminate humanity and those who want to protect it begin. 

Plot Summery (Spoilers): (From Wikipedia)

In 1944 German-occupied Poland, a 13-year-old Erik Lehnsherr is separated from his parents upon entry to a concentration camp. In attempting to reach them, he causes a set of gates to bend towards him, as though attracted by a magnetic force. Decades later, in the not too distant future, Senator Robert Kelly attempts to pass a "Mutant Registration Act" in Congress which would force mutants to publicly reveal their identities and abilities. Present are Lehnsherr, now known as Magneto, and the telepathic Professor Charles Xavier, who privately discuss their differing viewpoints on the relationship between humans and mutants.

In Meridian, Mississippi, 17-year-old Marie D'Ancanto accidentally puts her boyfriend into a coma upon kissing him which was caused by her unknown superhuman ability to absorb the life force and mutant abilities of anyone she touches. In fear that she is harmful, Marie, now going by the name of Rogue, runs away to Laughlin City,Alberta. While at a bar, she meets Logan, an amateur fighter known as "Wolverine", who also possesses superhuman healing abilities, heightened senses, and metal claws that extend outwards from between his knuckles. While on the road together, both of them are attacked by Sabretooth, a fellow mutant and an associate of Magneto. Cyclops and Storm arrive and save Wolverine and Rogue, and bring them to the X-Mansion in Westchester County, New York. They are introduced to Xavier, who leads a group of mutants called the X-Men, who are trying to seek peace with the human race, educate young mutants in the responsible use of their powers, and stop Magneto from escalating the war with humanity.

Senator Kelly is abducted by Magneto's allies Toad and the shapeshifter Mystique and brought to their lair. Magneto uses Kelly as test subject of a machine that artificially induces mutation. Kelly uses his new mutant abilities to escape imprisonment. After an accident causes Rogue to use her powers on Wolverine, she is convinced by Mystique (disguised as classmate Bobby Drake) that Xavier is angry with her and that she should leave the school. Xavier uses his mutant-locating machineCerebro to find Rogue at a train station. Mystique infiltrates Cerebro and sabotages the machine.

At the train station, Wolverine convinces Rogue to stay with Xavier, but a fight ensues when Magneto, Toad and Sabretooth arrive and kidnap Rogue. Kelly arrives at Xavier's school, shortly before dying due to the instability of his artificial mutation. The X-Men learn that Magneto was severely weakened in the test of the machine on Kelly, and realize that he intends to use Rogue's power-transferring ability so that she can power the machine in his place, putting her life at risk. Xavier attempts to use Cerebro to locate Rogue, but Mystique's sabotage causes him to fall into a coma. Fellow telepath Jean Grey fixes and uses Cerebro, learning that Magneto plans to place his mutation-inducing machine on Liberty Island and use it to mutate the world leaders meeting for a summit on nearby Ellis Island.

The X-Men scale the Statue of Liberty, defeating Toad and incapacitating Mystique, before Magneto and Sabretooth incapacitate the group and continue with their plans. Magneto transfers his powers to Rogue, forcing her to use them to start the machine. Wolverine escapes and defeats Sabretooth. Storm uses her weather-controlling powers and Jean her telekinesis to lift Wolverine to the top of Magneto's machine. Wolverine saves Rogue when Cyclops knocks out Magneto, and destroys the machine. Wolverine touches the dying Rogue's face, and his regenerative abilities are transferred to her, causing her to recover.

Professor Xavier recovers from his coma. The group learns that Mystique is still alive, and impersonating Senator Kelly. Xavier tells Wolverine that near where he was found in Canada is an abandoned military base that might contain information about his past. Xavier visits Magneto in a prison cell constructed entirely of plastic, and the two play chess (Xavier seems to have the upper hand). Magneto warns that he will continue his fight, to which Xavier promises that he and the X-Men will always be there to stop him. As Xavier is being taken away from the prison by a guard, Magneto pushes his king chess piece over.

My Thoughts:

For anyone who loves, or hates superhero films, you should love or hate this film.

Back in 2000 Superhero films was dead.  Prior to the Xmen films you had a handful of Christopher Reeve Superman films from the 80s, the Batman films that Started strongly with Batman (1989) and had degraded to the rubber nipple/codpiece "Badman and Robin" in the late 1990s.  You also had some campy batman film in the 1970s and a Fantastic 4 film that was never released due to it being so bad and it was made solely to maintain rights over the intellectual property.   . 

For those who are too young, or took too many mood enriching chemicals to remember, In 2000 Superhero films did not exist, was no plans for a new Batman Film, and no films starring  Ironman, Thor, Captain America, Watchmen, or Avengers, .   Let Alone the idea that the X-men line would spawn at least Seven movies in the next 15 years.   

So imagine if you are a moviegoer watching Xmen movie.  It starts out with people being herded into a death camp in World War 2,as soon as you think it is a historical film,  then suddenly it shifts to modern day suburbs , with a very teenage looking Anna Paquin and her randy boyfriend upstairs.   You can cut the teenage hormones with a knife as they kiss, and he goes into what appears to be a bad case of epileptic seizure as she sobs.   Then we cut to the Yukon and we see a bare knuckles boxing match in a cage.  

Welcome to Superhero films.  

As a film, this movie has a lot of strong points.   The Xmen films are noted for having amazing casts and many times, excellent directors.   Singer, fresh off his Usual Suspects filming, does a excellent job with this movie, however it is very disjointed at times.  However the star of the film, even in this ensemble cast, is Jackman as Logan/The Wolverine, a man who does not know his past,. but has superhuman healing , and can extend metal claws from his hands that can cut anything.   

Also on the stage is two great actors, Patrick Stewart (Picard!) and Ian McKellen,(Gandalf!) playing two roles in the civil right movement for Mutants.   Stewart, playing Professor Xavier, plays the Martin Luther King peaceful role, while Ian McKellen, playing Magneto, plays the more Militant Malcolm X type role.   Giving him the background as a survivor of german camps gives him more gravity to the role.  

The background is that you have elected officials who wish to register mutants (political aside, and people wonder why registration, be it persons, firearms, or money causes concern, as a note, the only reason why a government will want to register something is for future seizure, end political aside)  as a danger to society, Professor X wants to show society that mutants and humans can co-exist, while Magento wants to end human rule as they are a danger to mutants.   This works as you have great actors taking the role seriously.  

The planned plot of using a machine to induce mutations in world leaders is not a bad one as comic book movies go, but it is mostly a mcgruffen to move the plot along.

However the plot is disjointed, and leads to the general rule that in modern superhero films, the 2nd movie in the series is best, as you do not need to spend a ton of time explaining everything and get to the movie.


The movie is hurt by two things, the low budget tat at times has not aged well, and the disjointed pacing.  I will go over the pacing first.   This ignores the horrifically bad lines given to Halle Berry playing "Storm".   

The pacing is odd in this movie, first off you have the odd start up, as described above. Some parts work wonderfully.   For example, Jackman as Wolverine and Paquin have a ton of chemistry, to the point that you could cast them as  a May-December type relationship. However they instead do the more normal protector/protected setup, and it really works, these actors can really make you buy into this. Less so for the romantic lead for Paquin (though no fault to the actor, as he works very well with Ellen Page in later films.  Instead they have Logan get into a romantic triangle for the love of Jean Grey.  

However as soon as they really start to click, you end up at the Xmen school, a school for Mutants who many graduate to join the X-Men hero team, letting you find such comic book heroes as Cyclops (who shoots lasers from his eyes), Jean Grey (mental powers), and Storm (who can control weather).  Logan is a loner who does not want to join the team, but when Magneto kidnaps Paquin character, he willing to suit up and join the Xmen in a battle around the statue of Liberty.   The force of direction and acting skill makes this work, however the fact that the entire 2nd act of the film is reserved for exposition means that much of the actual plot is flat as a soda left out in the warm summer sun.  

The second issue is that it has not aged well.   The budget was not the largest, and much of it was wisely spent on good writers and actors, however this means that much of it feels small.   Magneto base looks like something out of a Trek Trek episode, and the final battle in the statue of liberty shows all the signs of being shot in the studio with obvious green screen shots when they happen.  

However, no matter it flaws it did quite well, for it showed that comic books could be the source of something more then a campy fun, and that serious actors could talk about serious topics while in a comic book movie.  I have a rule of thumb, if a comic book movie is not as good as the First Xmen, then it not a good comic book movie, as it a good bellwether for a decent movie.  

It may surprise a few that know me, but I am not a comic book fan.  I never grew up with comics (long story) and it is really hard to tell a story that would interest me in the limited page count of comics.   The only exception that comes to mind is "Watchmen" which I agree with Time magazine as a top 100 novel of the 20th century.   However, I am biased towards anything with the criminally underused dutch born Famke Jennsen, who has been in my mind's eye the perfict woman since 1992 when she starred in Star Trek TNG "Perfect Mate".       

And as a note on my usual rating rants, this is actually a classic case of what PG-13 is.   There is action violence, there is no harsh cussing, no blood, and while it has a moment of body horror (as one guy becomes a liquid) their is nothing that I would even think of being concerned about a 13 year old seeing.   Compired to the recent "Xmen Day of Future Past" which also had a PG-13 rating shows how much more the rating system is allowing in movies. 

 

Frozen (2013)

Big Z reviews Frozen - AKA let it go edition.  

Movie: Frozen (2013)
Rating: PG

Starring: The voices of Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel and Firefly alum Alan Tudyk, and top notch animation
Score: 8.8 out of 10 stars
Family Friendly: 5/5 (10 years ago this would be a G rating)
Recommended: my most rare rating - Anyone 

Plot Summery (No Spoilers):

Royal sisters Elsa and Anna in a Nordic country grow up together, but Elsa has a major secret.

Plot Summery (Spoilers): (From Wikipedia)

Elsa, princess of Arendelle, possesses cryokinetic powers, with which she is able to produce ice, frost, and snow at will. One night while playing, she accidentally injures her younger sister, Anna. The king and queen seek help from the troll king, who heals Anna and removes her memories of Elsa's magic. The royal couple isolates the children in their castle until Elsa learns to control her powers. Afraid of hurting Anna again, Elsa spends most of her time alone in her room, causing a rift between the girls as they grow up. When the girls are teenagers, their parents die at sea during a storm.

When Elsa comes of age, the kingdom prepares for her coronation. Among the guests is the Duke of Weselton, who seeks to exploit Arendelle for profit. Excited to be allowed out of the castle again, Anna explores the town and meets Prince Hans of the Southern Isles, and the two immediately develop a mutual attraction. Despite Elsa's fear, her coronation goes off without incident. During the reception, Hans proposes and Anna hastily accepts. However, Elsa refuses to grant her blessing and forbids their sudden marriage. The sisters argue, culminating in the exposure of Elsa's abilities during an emotional outburst.

Panicking, Elsa flees the castle, while inadvertently unleashing an eternal winter on the kingdom. High in the nearby mountains, she casts off restraint, building herself a solitary ice palace, and unknowingly brings her and Anna's childhood snowman, Olaf, to life. Meanwhile, Anna sets out in search of her sister, determined to return her to Arendelle, end the winter, and mend their relationship. When obtaining supplies, she meets an iceman named Kristoff and his reindeer, Sven, and convinces Kristoff to guide her up the North Mountain. On their journey, the group encounter Olaf, who leads them to Elsa's hideaway.

Anna and Elsa reunite, but Elsa still fears hurting her sister. When Anna persists in persuading her sister to return, Elsa becomes agitated and her powers lash out, accidentally striking Anna in the heart. Horrified, Elsa creates a giant snow creature to drive Anna, Kristoff, and Olaf away. As they flee, Kristoff notices Anna's hair turning white, deducing that something is very wrong. He seeks help from the trolls, his adoptive family, who explain that Anna's heart has been frozen. Unless it is thawed by an "act of true love", she will become frozen solid forever. Believing that only Hans can save her, Kristoff races back with her to Arendelle.

Meanwhile, Hans, leading a search for Anna, reaches Elsa's palace. In the ensuing battle against the Duke's men, Elsa is knocked unconscious and imprisoned in Arendelle. There, Hans pleads her to undo the winter, but Elsa confesses that she does not know how. When Anna reunites with Hans and begs him to kiss her to break the curse, Hans refuses and reveals that his true intention in marrying her is to seize control of Arendelle's throne. Leaving Anna to die, he charges Elsa with treason for her younger sister's apparent death.

Elsa escapes and heads out into the blizzard on the fjord. Olaf finds Anna and reveals Kristoff is in love with her; they then escape onto the fjord to find him. Hans confronts Elsa, telling her Anna is dead because of her. In Elsa's despair, the storm suddenly ceases, giving Kristoff and Anna the chance to find each other. However, Anna, seeing that Hans is about to kill Elsa, throws herself between the two just as she freezes solid, blocking Hans' attack.

As Elsa grieves for her sister, Anna begins to thaw, since her decision to sacrifice herself to save her sister constitutes an "act of true love". Realizing love is the key to controlling her powers, Elsa thaws the kingdom and helps Olaf survive in summer. Hans is sent back to the Southern Isles to face punishment for his crimes against the royal family of Arendelle, while Elsa cuts off trade with Weselton. Anna and Kristoff share a kiss, and the two sisters reconcile; Elsa promises never to shut the castle gates again.

My Thoughts

Disney Animation has produced any number of great movies.  Of course, the output over the years had been varied.   As a example for about ten years they wanted to make anything but the traditional European cast as they moved down every minority group to diversity their output.    However in the last few years they have gotten away from that and focused on making good films without consideration if they are adding a new untapped market for the product.    Combined with the advances in animation leaves you with one heck of a animated movie.

The Animation is amazing.  Their is no if, buts, or any other sort of caveat;  This is the technically the best computer rendered animation in a major motion picture. The animators have become experts in drawing the charicters to very lifelike actions, but making enough artistic changes in the face and so  on that the "Uncanny Valley" is not a issue.  (Uncanny Valley is the term used when animation is too life like and people reject it as deeply creepy, "Mars needs Moms" is a very recent example of this.)   While not completely flawless the animation is quite stunning.   The movie would be worth watching just to admire the animation.

Another thing to consider is that while the live action Musical is dead as a movie barring a occasional once every decade major production. (Like "Les Mes" or "Chicago" before it), the musical is alive and well in the animated world.   I guess it is more acceptable for audiences to adult cartoon characters sing and dance around then actors, even if a core of major film stars can sing and dance.  This movie has a number of Catchy songs, 

Here is one of door stopper moments when the movie combines a top quality, very catchy song with top animation to really make a deep impact.   Yes, the lifting of the Ice-castle looks very much like the moment in Watchmen (both comic and movie) in the Mars Sequence, but that does not bother me at all (also, for those who are really nitpicky the clip has the one animation error I found in the movie).  

The movie does have a odd dynamic, but one that I really like, in that the two main characters are female, and the princes (and even the reindeer herder romantic interest) and it breaks free from the the normal in Disney films (without any "Hey look at me, I am breaking the rules" moment) it just accepts that this is a story about two sisters and how they care for each other, even if one is a ice welding maniac that until the end has little control over her powers.  

All in all this is a well crafted movie that I really cannot find a fault in it.   The only reason why I didn't give it a 9/10 or higher is that I am loath to give recent movies this rating till they have been tested by time and you start to see it impact in the TV and movie medium.  If any of the 2013 movies will be going to down as classics, Frozen is most likely the one that will survive this test of time as the story is timeless.   I actually know one person who dislikes this film, and she is invited to make a guest commentary if she wants to on it.   Anyways, the few flaws I am willing to let go and enjoy a movie that is top of its type, and thus, a top movie.

 It of course has the humor that one would expect, but my real question is why in the heck is this rated PG.   This should be a G movie, and I can't find anything objectionable in it.  The Rating system is one of my pet peeves, not that its rating movies (I think it good to give a idea of what is in a film so you can make a informed choice.)  But the fact that Frozen earned a PG rating and not a G rating is just as off putting by movies that are PG-13 that really should be R rated.