Nerds That Geek Movie Review: 'Frozen (2013)'

Written by Shae Rufe

Disney has done it again! Another, new, exciting adventure awaits in the world of Frozen. I have to say, before I saw the movie, I didn't know a lot about what was going on. I hadn't seen many trailers and was not entirely sure what the plot was about. I kinda liked that. I had no idea what to expect when seeing this movie, and boy, was I blown away.

We start with a royal family in a magical land. Two princess sisters, Elsa (Idina Menzel) and Anna (Kristen Bell), are seen playing. As it turns out, Elsa has magical ice/snow powers and can create ice and snow out of nowhere. In an accident, she grazed Anna's head, with a blast of her ice magic, knocking the girl unconscious and causing a blonde stripe of hair against the brown. The parents rush the children off to see magical Trolls. With the magic of the elder, he heals Anna and gives a prophecy that Elsa's powers will only grow stronger. She can control them, but if she embraces fear, they'll run wild. Before Anna wakes, the Troll removes her memories of Elsa's powers. The parents decide this is for the best and keep Elsa away from Anna. As they grow, Elsa and Anna hardly ever see each other. Elsa's powers grow worse; unable to even touch things without frosting them over. She starts wearing gloves. 

The parents die on a trip overseas. On the day of Elsa's coronation as Queen, Anna meets Prince Hans. The two have a lovely duet and are 'in love'. Anna asks Elsa for her blessing and the Queen says no. In a fury of emotions, Anna rips of her glove and fights her sister; during the fight Elsa's overcome with emotion and her powers make themselves known. Accused of witchcraft, terrified, and heart broken, Elsa flees to the mountains. However, her magic casts a harsh winter over the land. Anna leaves to find her. Here she meets the ice tracker Kristoff (Jonathan Groff) and his reindeer Sven, who agrees (begrudgingly) to take her up the mountain. Along the way they meet a live, talking, snowman named Olaf (Josh Gad) from Anna's childhood. They find Elsa, who wants to be left alone. A burst of emotion sends her ice magic out and a bit of it hits Anna in the chest.

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Soon after, we learn that Anna's heart is frozen, soon she'll turn to ice, frozen forever; only an act of true love will break the curse. Kristoff rushes her back to Hans, her fiancé. Hans, however, is not all he seems. With Anna's sickness getting worse, he reveals that he never loved her, was planning to kill her, and was only going to marry her for the throne. He leaves Anna to die, while he and a few men go after Elsa, to capture her and kill her as well. Anna, however, isn't so easily taken out. Olaf shows up and helps her get warm. Hans does capture Elsa, by tricking her into thinking she killed Anna. ​

Elsa, though, breaks free of her bonds and flees the castle. Anna, escapes too. The storm outside worsens. Anna is getting sicker, barely able to walk, and Kristoff is on his way to save her, with a kiss of true love. It's here I thought that Disney was going to be all, well, Disney about everything, but they weren't. Anna sees Elsa nearby, Hans behind her, ready to strike with his sword, and Kristoff is getting closer. Anna makes a choice. She lunges in front of Hans, turning to ice just before he can kill Elsa. The blast of magic sends the lying prince flying back, and Anna is left standing; a frozen statue. Elsa breaks down even more, clinging to her sister.

The selfless act of sacrifice, a true act of love in saving her sister, breaks the curse and Anna returns to normal. Hans is sent back to his kingdom in chains; Kristoff is made the official ice trader to the palace; Olaf gets a permanent snow cloud over head, and Elsa remains Queen. Her powers free, and known, and shared with her kingdom. A happy ending, without a complete love story. Nobody gets married, just a nice ending. I had the honor of seeing this with my family. I got to sit next to my awesome sister, Jadyn. So, for me, this was a nice, heartwarming, family story about the bond of sisters. I really enjoyed the film and thought Disney did an excellent job. They've broken out of the classic mold and told a new type of love story. The bond of family is a love that never dies.

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