The Hunchback of Notre Dame - 8.6/10
Holy shit, this movie was awesome. God damn, this movie was shit. Why
does it sound like I watched two different movies? Because that's
honestly what it felt like. On the one hand you have a really awesome,
very heavy story of relative morality, acceptance and human emotion. On
the other, a lame cartoon with talking gargoyles that are supposed to be
funny but aren't and a lot of really misplaced and poorly timed comedy.
I don't know which was worse: the comic relief itself or the fact that
it kept trying to ruin what could have otherwise been Disney's strongest
film to date.
I never took much interest in this one as a kid. In fact, I don't know
that I've ever watched it all the way through in one sitting before. I
don't really regret it, because i doubt I could have appreciated it as
much if I had. That's one thing about this movie: it is not geared
towards kids no matter how much it tries to pretend it is. There are so
many adult concepts involved, from the stated theme of what makes a man a
man and what makes a monster, right down to the villain wanting to have
sex with the heroine. It isn't even like Gaston in Beauty and the Beast
where he wants her because he things it will validate him somehow. No,
he pretty much just wants to bone her. It is pure sexual desire and his
resulting self-loathing that drive him. Add on that Esmerelda is
probably the sexiest animated character since Jessica Rabbit (and was
intended to be), it just doesn't feel like a kid movie.
It is this perhaps more than anything that makes the comedy so out of
place. First off, what was up with the gargoyles? Why were they alive? I
accept their function - someone for Quasimodo to interact with during
his solo scenes in the tower - but the same function could have been
performed by nuns, alter boys, or any number of more reasonable things.
Or hell, do the talking gargoyle bit, but make them fit in tone with the
rest of the movie. They were the goofy side characters with all the
lame jokes that would have been at home on a Saturday morning cartoon,
but not in a serious movie like this one. And their musical number was
full of anachronisms and pop-culture gags and basically all the other
stuff that only Robin Williams's Genie can get away with. I hated them.
And I hated them so much more than other lame comic relief characters in
other movies because they kept interrupting such an incredible film
with their bullshit.
What works with this movie? Quite literally everything else. The main
character isn't a paragon of virtue; he struggles with doing the right
thing and at times even turns away from it out of pain or humiliation.
The villain is the most realistic in all Disney's films in that people
like him truly did and do exist. The themes of damnation, sexual desire,
sin and corruption - all of it were exceptionally well done. And though
it was watered down from the source material (obviously), I applaud
Disney for not sugarcoating it too much, especially in their decision
not to let Quasimodo have the girl. They went as faithful as they could
without making it too dark and the result is a film that is not
inappropriate for children yet not really geared toward them, either. In
fact I think the gargoyles' sole function was to keep the kids
entertained between all the stuff they wouldn't understand.
I love this songs in this movie, too. The villain song is astonishingly
powerful and frightening, and the intro song is my favorite of Disney's
by far. Yes, even better than Circle of Life. If you can put up with
annoying, out-of-place comedy, then you should definitely give this film
a go. You won't regret it.
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