'Tangled' (3D) review

Tangled (3D) Regal Gallery Place (Sony Digital Projection + 7.1 surround sound)

For Walt Disney's studio's 50th animated film - they chose to do a retelling of the Rapunzel story but with some flourishes that only Disney writers can accomplish - give or take what they dish.  Originally, the trailer didn't wow me, but as I watched the actual film, it's charm become more and more apparent. 

The voice talent from Mandy Moore and  Zachary Levi - as the two leads Rapunzel and Flynn Rider isn't as annoying as more recent Disney films. 

It's also great that the two 'lead' animals, Rapunzel's chameleon and Maximus the horse don't speak at all - non-talking animals in a Disney animated film??... a major positive in my book - thumbs up!  The facial expressions of the two are hysterical.  

Since this film went back to computer generated artistry, their last film 'The Princess and the Frog' was a noble attempt to return to the traditional 2D cel animation style that Disney is famous for - mind you for that film, the story and it's villain were it's only flaws.  Here though, the 'altered' story is vastly superior and better rounded, the CGI animation is also tremendous as the colors at times seems to be very tactile - the 3D effects are well integrated - the floating lights float so close to the viewer that it makes you want to reach into the screen.

The songs are also surprisingly good, although it becomes very apparent if Howard Ashman were still alive the songs could and possibly would have been a tad better.  Mandy Moore singing songs that are more 'theatrical' than 'pop' is a godsend and obviously less cringe inducing.

On another technical note, having heard the film in both standard 5.1 surround sound and 7.1 discrete surround sound, the latter is vastly superior.  The addition of two additional surround sound speakers produces a much more fuller sound field - the mix in effect is more prevalent, aggressive and omnipresent - at times maybe a bit too much. 

All in all though, the film super ceded what I was expecting, it had the right amount of humour, the songs were engaging as were the voice talents. The animation style was unique and down right beautiful at times, and the story worthwhile of my time and attention.