Disney’s ‘Tangled’ is a great movie for the whole family

Published 12:00 am Thursday, December 2, 2010

Billed as the 50th animated feature from Walt Disney Animation Studios, “Tangled” is a fun film that almost feels like a nostalgic throwback to its predecessors.

Evoking memories of “Beauty and the Beast” and “The Little Mermaid,” this is a simple story spiced with some humor and a couple of nice musical numbers that make it the perfect holiday family film.

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Based on the “Rapunzel” fairy tale, “Tangled” tells the story of princess Rapunzel (voiced by Mandy Moore), who spends her entire life as the unknowing hostage of an evil witch in an isolated tower deep in the forest.

Longing to experience the outside world, Rapunzel gets the chance when a thief named Flynn Rider (voiced by Zachary Levi) winds up in the tower and reluctantly agrees to guide Rapunzel on a journey through the woods.

From its opening musical number to the final “happily ever after” shot, there is a pretty familiar formula at work here – although with positive results.

While there are no showstopper numbers like “Under the Sea” from “The Little Mermaid,” the musical numbers are still catchy and work on their own level.

The film is sprinkled with humor, mostly coming from a horse and chameleon who act more like humans than animals, and Moore and Levi do a really nice job bringing life to their respective characters.

I’ll concede this is probably a film that will appeal more to girls than boys (although Flynn’s character should help balance it out), but I still enjoyed it. It’s not classic Disney, and probably not as fun as “Megamind,” but it is still good enough to appease families looking for a night out at the movies.

DVD dandy of the week

This week’s dandy is “Inception” (A), writer/director Christopher Nolan’s mind-bending follow-up to “The Dark Knight” that cements Nolan’s status as one of this generation’s brightest filmmakers.

“Inception” tells the story of Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio), a skilled thief who is able to enter people’s minds during dreams and extract valuable secrets from deep within the subconscious.

Cobb is approached by wealthy energy chief Saito (Ken Watanabe) to go into the mind of a son of a rival businessman and plant an idea that will ultimately benefit Saito. Cobb agrees, seeing this as a chance for redemption for past transgressions.

Cobb assembles a team (including Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Ellen Page) and sets out to complete the mission – but Cobb’s tragic past with his late wife, Mal (Marion Cotillard), rises to the surface, threatening the safety of everyone involved in the job.

While “Inception” deals with some complex dream-like levels, at its core it is basically a heist film, with some exciting and visually stunning set pieces.

The cast is first rate, with everyone from DiCaprio to Page to Michael Caine. Cillian Murphy as the rival businessman’s son gives a solid performance that helps add credibility to this wildly imaginative material.

But the real star is Nolan, who continues to establish himself as one of the top filmmakers of his generation.

Like “The Dark Knight,” Nolan seems to have drawn inspiration from the Michael Mann thriller “Heat.” But this time he’s morphed that idea with the time-shifting premise behind one of his first films, “Memento,” creating a dream world that is as elegant and imaginative as anything in James Cameron’s “Avatar.”

There are also touches of other films throughout – everything from “The Matrix” to “Singing in the Rain” – but make no mistake, this is one of the most original films in recent memory. From the opening frame to the very last shot, Nolan sucks the audience in and creates one of the great cinematic experiences of 2010.

“Inception” is rated PG-13 for sequences of violence and action throughout and will be available on DVD on Tuesday.

— To get sportswriter/movie reviewer Micheal Compton’s up-to-the minute thoughts on all things movies, visit his blog at mcompton.wordpress.com or his Twitter page at twitter.com/mcompton428. You can also e-mail him at mcompton@bgdailynews.com.