Tangled - Blu-ray Review

'parents are warned that annoying pop ditties might be sung around houses for weeks afterwards'

Disney's fiftieth animated feature, Tangled on Blu-ray shows once again that the Mouse House is amongst the best studios for high definition productions. Like all of their releases to date the transfer of Tangled is sumptuous, the sound divine, the picture the very definition of clarity.

If only the rest of the film was up to snuff. Tangled is, unfortunately, a rather mixed bag of all the good and bad elements that make Disney films, Disney films. There's humour by the bucketload but the moments of laughter are often punctuated by a soundtrack which feels like it was either included to accommodate star Mandy Moore or by Disney executive request based on the fact that they couldn't have a fiftieth feature which didn't include songs of some sort. As such, the sort of songs we get here are the sort of uninspired drivel where characters sing about what they're doing and not much else. Perhaps worse than that, the pop-aesthetic never quite fits with ye olde feel of the narrative and the lyrics never get out of first gear. Of course, if you're a four-year-old you'll lap it up and parents are warned that annoying pop ditties might be sung around houses for weeks afterwards.

The motivation for Moore's Rapunzel might inhabit the same twee universe as her character's songs but come the ending you will believe that flying lanterns are worth travelling across the world for. Depending on your level of cynicism, you might be able to spot that the final scenes are arguably manipulated by directing pair Nathan Greno and Byron Howard to give the film a '3D event' tag. Regardless of this being true or not though, the lavishing of the CG budget on the final scenes is both crucial to the understanding of the character and visually outstanding in equal measure. It ranks up there as one of the most beautiful Disney moments of all time, as does the shock value of the method of dispatch involved in villain Mother Gothel's (Donna Murphy) eventual demise.

Despite the rough edges and non-developed musical elements, Tangled has the requisite level of charm to make it an enjoyable experience, if not amongst Disney's best. The studio famous for talking animals has a pair of non-talking beauties here in Pascal (chameleon) and Maximus (horse) who provide much of the comic-relief, whilst leaving the emotional heart wisely to central pair Moore and Zachary Levi. The ending packs real Disney heavyweight punch and by the final scenes there will be a few people needing to disguise teary eyes, the film's delights eventually outweighing its more syrupy moments.

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'Directors Nathan Greno and Byron Howard created for us a magical world where everything begins with the words "Guys, I wanna castle!" and finishes with "- And we were living happily ever after"' - Cinema Life