How I felt about Frozen

So we went to finally see Frozen and I was all pumped up for how awesome and wonderful and musically fresh it was claimed to be with its sweet neoDisney stance of sisterhood and lady-power and "you don't need a man" (yet Anna did some, didn't she, she needed Christoff to help her get up the mountain; wouldn't it have been fresher if it had been a lady ice peddler who helped the two princesses and the possibility of romantic love was taken out of the rescue equation?).  Speaking of love, I just wasn't sold; the amount of true love between Christoff and Anna that I was supposed to believe by the end but I didn't feel/get it.  And even between Anna and Elsa; yes they are sisters who have spent years not speaking to each other.  And why on earth are we telling Anna's story?  I read this question in a few places; I am not really interested in how it's hard to be the sister no one will play with.  I want to know more about the emotional baggage that Elsa deals with having uncontrollable powers that keep her isolated from those she loves and cares for in fear she will kill them.  We just don't get that deep with any of them.  It was just supposed to be emotionally magical and it fell very flat and shallow for me. 

Graphically it was pretty in moments and blurry in others, almost like rushed in a sci-fy movie, don't see how we didn't clean this up quite right kind of way.  This is not my area of movie watching expertise and yes, Sven the reindeer looked so fuzzy and "real" (um, we've been before too here with Sully's fur in Monsters, Inc), but it all seemed just not enough.

Which brings me to the music.  I held off listening to any of this until I could see it in context.  I was enlightened of its fabulousness and excited that others had rated it music better than Tangled which I highly enjoy.  With the double sisters duets, however, the movie had the musical feel of Wicked Light, or wannabe Wicked without being convincing.  Do You Want to Build a Snowman was cute and sweet.  Most of the songs I have walked away from not really remembering; the duet between Hans and Anna, Anna and Elsa's open the door song, the weird tribal song that bookended the movie (seriously, was that a throwaway track from The Lion King?), Olaf's second act opener, the troll song (worst!).  I give the women credit, they are fabulous singers!  You could give Idina Menzel "Mary had a little lamb" and she is going to make it sound as epic as a Florence and the Machine number.  "Let It Go" is basic pop fluffiness with a kick ass lady singer.  I have to say, I listened to it while running twice today.  It has a nice slow tinkly beginning, and soaring lady vocals that make me want to fly when I move my legs.  The instrumental music was fine, non memorable honestly.  Maybe this music will grow over time, but it didn't hit me in a sweet spot and while "Let It Go" is perfectly pretty and driving, it falls quite short of my top animated movie song favorites (I am compiling a list, when I have the energy to battle putting many videos into blogger, I will get them up).