'Tangled'

'Tangled' (PG) (3 stars)

Writer: Dan Fogelman
Directors: Nathan Greno and Byron Howard
Starring the Voices of: Mandy Moore, Zachary Levi, Donna Murphy, Ron Perlman, Jeffrey Tambor, MC Gainey, Brad Garrett, Richard Kiel

"Tangled" is in the long tradition of Disney's Princess series dating back to "Cinderella" and "Sleeping Beauty". My favorites are "The Little Mermaid" and "Beauty and the Beast". I like how the modern Princess movies make out their heroines to be strong and independent. They are fine without a man but in the end they will turn an arrogant fellow into someone they can fall in love with. Or they as is the case with "Beauty and the Beast" they will turn a beast into a life partner. "Tangled" is based on the Rapunzel legend and I always found her story to be one of the more boring ones. There is only so much you can do with the story but "Tangled" does a very good job of expanding it. There are some nice songs, good voice work and some very funny parts. Mandy Moore does a nice job as Rapunzel who runs into a criminal on the run in Flynn Ryder who is nicely voiced by Zachary Levi (TV's Chuck). Flynn breaks into Rapunzel's tower that is ruled with an iron fist by the evil mother Gothel who kidnapped Rapunzel. That voice work is done by Broadway actress Donna Murphy and she has an awesome singing voice and is perfect as the Mother Gothel.

"Tangled" also has some funny and cool supporting characters and the animation is pure, very colorful and the movie does not need to be seen in 3D. I am a little sick and tired of movies that are transferred into 3D just to get more money. The movie actually should be seen in 3D for all the color. I find 3D movie transfers to be dark and blurry. The movie is beautiful to look at and it is very entertaining. I just think that the old fashioned Princess movie should be retired. We are in the year 2010 and I think that the age of seeing female characters waiting for their Prince is a little outdated. I would like to see a Disney animated movie about a young woman who finds a man but won't marry him till he finds a job and acknowledges that she is special, unique and independent. Of course she would be surrounded by singing birds and a wisecracking sidekick.