Tangled

Director: Nathan Greno, Byron Howard
Starring: Mandy Moore, Zachary Levi, Donna Murphy
Time Out rating:

The title hints at where this 3D Disney adaptation of the Rapunzel story is heading. Referring not just to our heroine’s hairdo but to her complex personal life, it nods at the breezy, flippant, tween-friendly tone the film adopts. Erstwhile popstrel Mandy Moore voices Rapunzel, whose lonely existence imprisoned in a tall tower with only a cheeky chameleon for company is enlivened when she meets brash outlaw Flynn Rider (Zachary Levi), and sets out to discover her true identity. Taking its cue from the likes of Shrek and Enchanted, Tangled tries to keep kids entertained while tipping ironic winks to their parents, meaning it veers wildly between being charmingly off-kilter and annoyingly glib. With two such bland heroes, it’s good that plenty of attention is paid to the supporting characters, notably old-school witchy villain Mother Gothel and a bad tempered but loveable horse. The result is brisk, witty and entertaining, but far from classic Disney.

Tangled opens across Japan on March 12