Admirable film.

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

I enjoyed this movie very much. The characters are compelling, especially the troll and the weasel, and it holds true to Hans Christian Andersen's original story. I think that it is underrated. I suspect that because Disney had begun working on Frozen (which is also a very good movie), it may have been swept under the rug. There were couple of parts I could have lived without, such as the silly king and his family. I felt like they threw that in there just to overemphasize the importance of family and Gerda's goodness.But the overall story was well told. I especially enjoyed the final fight scenes and learning about the snow queen's background. If you like animated movies and enjoy a good fairy tale, then this one is worth taking a look at. It's on Netflix if you have a subscription.

This movie held me in keen anticipation ever since the start. It's a brilliant movie which is simply so intriguing and adventurous. Quite frankly I'm surprised this movie isn't more popular than Frozen, the most overrated movie of 2013.The animation was fantastic. The drawings were superb and realistic (except for the fact that the troll looks more like an anteater). The only flaw-if you could call it that, was the English dub (since the original movie's in Russian). It was done rather poorly, and the lip movements didn't match the words at all. It may seem like a big deal, but after ten minutes into the movie, it won't matter, trust me, you'll be took caught up in the story.I didn't understand one thing in the beginning though. If Gerda's dad was such a great wizard, why didn't he fly away on some arctic bird (or a magical carpet or whatever), instead of using a wagon and get his family and himself to safety, even if he wasn't powerful enough to face the Snow Queen on his own?Also, didn't the Snow Queen kill off all the wizards? (except for Gerda and her brother Kai) So how did the flower lady give life to a plant, the ivy?Another thing was that Gerda was very, very lucky to have met so many people on the way who ultimately helped her reach the snow queen. Talk about luck. It seems like the only reason those people were in the movie as sub-plots were to help her. The first people gave her a sledge, next she got a reindeer and after that she even got a boat that took her directly to the Snow Queen's castle. Of course, Gerda's a nice polite girl, but my, she's sure got a lot of karma on her side.I may just be nitpicking though. This movie's amazing, and you should definitely watch it!

Okay I will be blunt in this review. Like many Americans who saw the trailer for this film I judged it too quickly solely by its appearance in animation. Living in America I'm engulfed mainly by CGI animation. Any time I want to see an animated film it's nothing but CGI. I'm not saying that I don't like CGI, I just hate knowing that everyone's jumping the band wagon. The only time I see non-CGI animation is when I usually watch a foreign animated film. I don't know what's with foreign countries in making CGI animated films. They usually turn out creepy, abysmal, or just plain weird. Granted making CGI is costly, but like every animated film ever, it's the amount of effort you put into that counts. Usually if a 100% percent effort of work is put into animated film, then the film's budget won't be too expensive. Enough talk, here's my review. The animation- Like i said before, I live in America and if there is one flaw to our CGI animated films is that they usually cost more than they should. While most of what we make in CGI is beautiful and amazing in both an artistic point and a technical one, certain films shouldn't cost so much. Some examples are The Nut job, Chicken Little, Mr. Peabody & Sherman, and many others. This film had a budget $7 million.I was shocked to learn that such good animation came from $7 million! The animation isn't perfect 10 praise worthy, but pretty it's impressive on an economic stand point. The character designs aren't equal enough, and there many moments of slowed down scenes that aren't required, or help the animation look better. However it's the art direction that made me fall in love with it. It's a mixture of fairy tale drawn designs, and a certain amount of CGI texture that makes the characters look painted. Unfortunately not all of the characters could receive the same amount of treatment. Some of them look like the laziest things in all of animation, but at least they kept the backgrounds equally impressive. I should note that the cinematography in this film is masterful! Up there with some of the best from studio Ghibli and Disney's Tangled. I'll be brutally here if this was done in 2D animation then this film would have looked beyond gorgeous! But for a CGI animated foreign film it's really impressive! Score 7.9/10 The story- The story is based off the fairy tale with the same name. The film does justice to the source material, and adds parts of its own that make it even better. The origin story for the films villain the ice queen is something I didn't expect and is a welcomed addition. Gerda and Kai being siblings instead of friends helps the story because people won't think that they're in love with each other like most animated fairy tales films do. But even with all of these improvements the film fails hardcore in storytelling because of the god awful pacing! No joke, no exaggeration this film has some of the worst pacing in all of animation. The film barely ever likes to take brakes. Every story element in the film is rushed, never allowing the audience to take in what happened. This especially apparent in the films jokes. The movies jokes are pretty good if you can catch them in time. The characters are never allowed to show why we should root for them, or be interested to watch them on the screen, all except for a troll named Orm. He's the only character the movie allows to show development. It made wonder why he isn't the protagonist. I can't even get into the interesting mythology that the movie has created, it doesn't give me the time I need. Score 2/10 Verdict- Honestly if it wasn't for the good looking visuals I would have quit watching the film 22 minutes in. This film could have been perfect 10 material, but it ended up being mediocre. Score 5.5/10 Now I don't regret watching this film, in fact it has altered my perception on CGI animation forever. It showed me the quality still reigns over quantity, even in an era in America where CGI has taken over animation. I actually recommend you watch this film if your an American. Normally I never would tell people to watch a film that I gave a score below a 6, but if you truly want to understand what I'm talking about take the dare and watch the film for yourself.

an old story. new technical tools. and a nice film who has only basic sin to be in shadow of too many and admirable versions. the Andersen work has, in many parts, the classic ingredients. but it has not soul. no real emotions, no touching moments, only a troll and a weasel. the travel of Gerda is only a sketch, the end - not real convincing and the promise of new part seems all only a commercial show. and that is problem - the need of Wisard studio to impress, the huge ambitions to be accepted on West market and the sacrifice of profoundity of story for a impressive but superficial show. a nice film, off course. but it is not enough. its great virtue - to remember the lovely version from 1957 by Lev Atamanov.