A handsome rogue gets rehabilitated. A trapped princess regains her freedom and her throne. Swashes get buckled. Derrying gets done. A wicked enchantress reverts back to her ugly roots. Yes, Disney’s latest reworked fairy tale is upon us, but despite all of the typical trappings Tangled might keep our cynicism at bay.
Rapunzel (voiced by Mandy Moore — where has she been?) stands on the eve of her 18th birthday, locked away in a high tower with a (thankfully) silent animal sidekick to keep her company as she cooks and cleans and paints and reads her life away, in-between visits from her “adopted” mother (Donna Murphy), the evil witch intent on keeping her due to Rapunzel’s innate magical abilities (her uncut locks can heal injuries and prolong life, which makes me wonder how the child ever aged at all, but that’s just me over-thinking things a little too much). It’s only a matter of time before the dashing Flynn Ryder (Zachary Levi) interrupts her cloistered space and drags her kicking and screaming into the world where she will discover the true extent of her powers to heal and hurt and ultimately love.
The wild and crazy bantering, the show tunes and the cartoonish bouts of violence recall everything from Moonlighting and Remington Steele to La Cage Au Folles and the first Shrek. But Tangled hangs and swings with zippy old-fashioned nods to early movie serials and a sense of a world where magic is real but emotions and humanity matter even more. Grade: B-plus
Opens Nov. 26. Check out theaters and show times, see the trailer and get theater details here.
