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Review Summary: The eternal winter of stagnation Frozen was one of the better movies of 2013. Sure, it was cookie-cutter Disney fare, but the characters were charming, the ice-covered mountains were jaw-droppingly pristine, and as escapist fare it succeeded resoundingly. What’s more, the original soundtrack was a nicely light and fluffy accompaniment, a platform for Disney’s big-budget sound engineering team to enhance the immersive experience of the well-scripted plot. However, on its own, the soundtrack to the movie falls flat. And, yes, it’s probably unfair to separate music and story - the songs complement the gorgeous visuals well, especially in the first extended cut “Do You Want to Build a Snowman” and its tear-pleading climax and conclusion. But it also helps that it’s one of the few vocal tracks far removed from the crushing vapidity of the other material. “For the First Time in Forever,” with its lyrical clunkers like “Don't know if I'm elated or gassy / But I'm somewhere in that zone” and poor performance decisions like the ham-fisted pause before Elsa “opens the gates” and Anna’s meaningless harmonization shortly thereafter, represents the downhill slide and subsequent face-first mud landing of the soundtrack over the course of its runtime.
Maybe I’m just an uncultured neophyte when it comes to Broadway-ready musical theatre, but many of the vocal-driven songs in Frozen radiate the same degree of authenticity and visceral emotion as the latest boy-band fad trying to tug at the heartstrings of teenage girls (a la One Direction’s abysmal “Story of My Life”). Nowhere is this more apparent than lead single and theatre-nerd favorite “Let It Go” (although “Love Is an Open Door” and its painfully sappy strings-meet-guitar base and gee-whiz duets containing lines like “We finish each other’s-” “Sandwiches!” “That’s what I was gonna say!” comes very close). For starters, the song’s rah-rah high school pep squad message of empowerment falls flat because it sends virtually the same message Broadway divas have nearly unanimously been belting for the past few decades. And, sure, good for Disney in their all-powerful control over movie musicals to announce that any heroine, no matter how painfully shallow, can take control of her own life’s trajectory (Elsa’s otherwise utter lack of self-confidence and the fact that she “deals with her issues by speed-skating away from them” (Medium.com) notwithstanding), but it feels far too much like yet another “Defying Gravity” rip-off to stand on its own as worthwhile.
Along those lines, the music itself is smirkingly and obstinately derivative, another uplifting piano-plus-strings ballad made to sell copies. And I guess that’s my main issue with the soundtrack: it’s almost unavoidably prone to the synonyms of any well-produced cash grab. Unoriginality, banality, and gag-worthy mushiness all abound to the point of the thing being nigh-unlistenable. Of course, that kind of melodrama isn’t always a bad thing, as the charmingly heavy-handed “In Summer” (featuring, incidentally, one of the few characters whose shallowness is endearing rather than abrasive) demonstrates. It’s one of the few pieces which doesn’t take itself seriously, and as a result it’s by far the best song on the soundtrack. The buzzing, nimble lyrics succeed as well, and the admittedly simple premise stays fresh throughout alongside whimsical string plucks and offbeat acoustic guitar.
Unfortunately, the success of songs like “In Summer” and “Do You Want to Build a Snowman” can’t carry the soundtrack. The focus is squarely on attractively packaged gobs of cheese, and the stereotypical, unimpressive symphonic half (barring the wonderful Cantus-led “Vuelie” and its reprise, the exultant “The Great Thaw”) doesn’t add much credibility. As Elsa puts it in “For the First Time in Forever (Reprise),” “I'm such a fool, I can't be free!” As long as Broadway-esque music can sell uncreative, fat-laden records, their current standards will continue to enslave them. It’s potentially destructive, sure, but quick cash-grabs are so profitable that large-scale change is unlikely.
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Album Rating: 2.1
Barricading my doors in anticipation of angry fanboys/fangirls inevitably coming for me with pitchforks and torches
also in the interest of full disclosure thanks to TheMoonchild for pointing out the similarity between "Let it Go" and "Defying Gravity"
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Great review.
Don't know why this soundtrack in particular is getting so much acclaim, hell, I didn't even Like "Let It Go" for crying out loud.
| | | Album Rating: 2.1
Because theater geeks and Broadway geeks for the most part
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SANDWITCHES!
idk what this is but this let it go song goes and this review almost made me want to see movie good work br
| | | Album Rating: 2.1
thanks man
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"...it was cookie-cutter Disney fare..."? Really? The general opinion is that Frozen took most of the typical Disney cliches and did exactly the opposite (e.g. you can't fall in love with someone you just met, true love between siblings saves the day instead of romantic).
Love me some Disney.
| | | Album Rating: 2.1
^^^
As in, characters were incredibly flat, story was kitschy and sweet, final kiss scene, clearly defined villain, male-dominated, pretty stuck-in-the-mud plotwise
| | | Album Rating: 3.0
God I hate tumblr
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great review. i agree with a lot of what you said
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i think separately reviewing a soundtrack to ANY film is unfair to both
while i agree that this movie is good but hugely overhyped (and the same goes for its soundtrack), did you really expect anything short of cheese from a disney soundtrack?
"As long as Broadway-esque music can sell uncreative, fat-laden records, their current standards will continue to enslave them."
As long as movies can continue to be popular, people will sell the soundtrack separately, and I don't think that's a problem. People like the movie, they'll buy the soundtrack, I won't, good for both of us.
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"As in, characters were incredibly flat, story was kitschy and sweet, final kiss scene, clearly defined villain, male-dominated, pretty stuck-in-the-mud plotwise"
you must be lots of fun at parties
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he is
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pixar wounded my trust when they released Brave
but disney's been on a hot streak lately, this was ok, and Wreck-It Ralph was surprisingly excellent
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it's musical music. it's catchy and fun. think a 2.1 is harsh, it's not "below average" given it's just a fun little score.
| | | Album Rating: 3.0
I'm torn, I like this review, but I also like the soundtrack
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Def can't like both!
Also, totally assumed this to be an Irving review
| | | Album Rating: 3.0
both, both is good
| | | Album Rating: 5.0 | Sound Off
i just want to be clear here. you're calling disney out for selling the actual music from the movie in album format? it's odd that, despite the music "fitting" as you put it in the first paragraph, you proceed to rip it to shreds when standing on it's own. it's literally the music from the movie put on a disc. you even acknowledge that it's not fair to take them separately beforehand. and then when you look at the music evaluation itself all i'm reading from it is that theatrical music isn't your cup of tea.
well written and all but i'm not sure you quite understand what a soundtrack is.
| | | Album Rating: 5.0 | Sound Off
and yes i understand my 5 rating is screaming 'please take me seriously'. oh dear.
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Took my little brother to see this movie, pretty cringey even for a kids flick. Soundtrack was ok though I guess.
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