Brave Discussion

[kayumanggi]

MATT'S

Pixar return to their tear jerking, narrative absorbing best with Brave, a rousing tale about the blessings and consequences of breaking with tradition, and the love between mothers and daughters.

Last year Pixar found themselves in an unusual situation when Cars 2 failed to set the world on fire. Does the highly acclaimed animation studio have something to prove with Brave? Yes and no. While they are the team that dominated the animation field with classic such as Toy Story and The Incredibles, all dynasties must face obstacles to prove their greatness and in Brave Pixar has clamoured back to their position as top dog of the animation world.

It has not been an easy task. Brave has been in development for 8 years when it was first known as The Bear and Bow, and things got interesting when director Brenda Chapman (credited here as co-director) was replaced with Mark Andrews, a first time director who has been with Pixar for 12 years as a story consultant and technician. Impressively Brave does not feel the brunt of such a massive mid production change with story, animation, voice performances and pacing all in top form and is sure to be the animated film to beat comes those end of year awards.

There is no need to get into a vital plot development (not featured in the trailers) that will surprise many, but what can be said is that Brave is a film sure to make a unique impression of an often overlooked demographic: young girls.

Don’t fear young lads, there is plenty of top quality action adventure and storytelling resonance to make quite the impact. Yet the individual achievements and mistakes made by Merida, to go along with the relationship with her mother will make for inspirational and entertaining viewing for girls whether child, teen or adult, with Brave doing for mother and daughters what Finding Nemo did for fathers and sons.

Everyone else will also take to the central relationship as well as many other elements such as the technical magnificence of the animation design, where Merida’s bouncing red curls to the landscape of the Scottish highlands shine. Great to is the rowdy shenanigans of King Ferguss (excellently voiced by Billy Connolly), the varied lords and their clansmen who entertain with their macho swagger and love of a good punch up.

While some moments are sure to scare young tots, Brave achieves its goal of being an accessible and entertaining film that Pixar excels in making. Most importantly it gives Pixar’s competitors a bar to raise their standards to. 2012 was an especially weak year for animation. Hopefully Brave has set the tone for a vast improvement.

[Gopher]

Ehh. I'm glad it's supposedly a good movie, but darn it, I was really hoping for 'another Pixar masterpiece' here. These reviews don't indicate that. And with Pixar in cash grab mode again next year, the studio has been letting down its diehards lately.

[kayumanggi]

I mean early on in the reviews when it only had one or two rotten it had an 8.8 average. I just hope Brave doesn't disappoint and end up in the 70's or something.

Pixar has raised the bar so high, we think 70% is a disappointment. Sad.

[jamie1234hall]

I was just watching the trailer for this. Did not impress me unfortunately

[MovieMan89]

Pixar has raised the bar so high, we think 70% is a disappointment. Sad.

It most certainly is for them. All their movies are comfortably in the 90's on RT, aside from the Cars detours of course. Besides 70's is never a particularly great score for anything.

[Sims]

I agree that 70s would be a disappointment. I will be upset with anything less than 85. Happy with over 90.

[AniNate]

Ehh. I'm glad it's supposedly a good movie, but darn it, I was really hoping for 'another Pixar masterpiece' here. These reviews don't indicate that. And with Pixar in cash grab mode again next year, the studio has been letting down its diehards lately.

Yeah, I was too. I mean, the reason I was so willing to forgive Cars 2 was because I expected them to give it their all on this movie.

Maybe I do end up really loving this film anyway, but I'd rather not have to defend it.

[kayumanggi]

PARENTING GEEKLY

The mother/daughter relationship was so well written and some of the aforementioned tears were the result of being reminded of my own teenage interactions with my mother. Teenagers can be cruel, parents can be angry and unyielding.

At times it was laugh out loud funny, other times it was scary, and I spent about 25 of the 90 minute running time sobbing. It had adventure, suspense, and sentimentality. It was Pixar's doing its best at everything Pixar does best.

[kayumanggi]

It most certainly is for them. All their movies are comfortably in the 90's on RT, aside from the Cars detours of course. Besides 70's is never a particularly great score for anything.

I would not give a 5/5 some of their early entries. People are TOO CRITICAL now.

[lab276]

I wouldn't give 5/5 to Up. I don't know why that film's reviews were so good.

Edited June 11, 2012 by lab276

[MovieMan89]

Ehh. I'm glad it's supposedly a good movie, but darn it, I was really hoping for 'another Pixar masterpiece' here. These reviews don't indicate that. And with Pixar in cash grab mode again next year, the studio has been letting down its diehards lately.

I'm actually pretty optimistic about Monsters U. Stanton is behind the script and it's said to be really funny by Crystal. Plus I loved the "animation chemistry" so to speak between Goodman and Crystal in the first. Honestly I don't think they'd be doing another Monsters movie if they didn't have a good idea for it. Unlike Cars 2 I don't think it's really a cash grab because really how popular and lucrative is Monsters Inc these days?

[AniNate]

I'm actually pretty optimistic about Monsters U. Stanton is behind the script and it's said to be really funny by Crystal. Plus I loved the "animation chemistry" so to speak between Goodman and Crystal in the first. Honestly I don't think they'd be doing another Monsters movie if they didn't have a good idea for it. Unlike Cars 2 I don't think it's really a cash grab because really how popular and lucrative is Monsters Inc these days?

Monsters U should be okay, but it would've been easier to look forward to if we were just coming off another original masterpiece. I didn't want it to be the highlight of Pixar's 2011-2013 stretch.

And honestly, with what Lasseter's recently leaked about The Good Dinosaur, it doesn't sound all that novel either. We may have to wait another three years for some real ambition.

Edited June 11, 2012 by tribefan695

[MovieMan89]

Monsters U should be okay, but it would've been easier to look forward to if we were just coming off another original masterpiece. I didn't want it to be the highlight of Pixar's 2011-2013 stretch.

And honestly, with what Lasseter's recently leaked about The Good Dinosaur, it doesn't sound all that novel either. We may have to wait another three years for some real ambition.

Yes, the mind one sounds the most promising of what's on their slate by far.

[Biggestgeekever]

I need to see early screenings more often; it's a lot fun to see people react to reviews and not being among them.

[Olive]

I love UP, personally I give it 4.5/5.

[AniNate]

I need to see early screenings more often; it's a lot fun to see people react to reviews and not being among them.

I'm sure it is. I want to stay excited for this movie, but it's hard to when everyone else is giving in.

[kayumanggi]

I'll give up 4/5.

[kayumanggi]

IGN

Brave excels most on a technical level. If you thought Disney did a stellar job of animating Rapunzel's hair in Tangled then wait until you see what Pixar does with Merida's wild scarlet locks. The movement of and detail in her unruly curls is amazingly life-like. Pixar just keeps getting better and better at rendering textures and elemental effects. Brave is a visually sumptuous experience, and its 3D fully immerses you in its mythic version of old Scotland and its misty Highlands. Patrick Doyle’s score and Julie Fowlis’ Gaelic songs are likewise lush and atmospheric.

Much of Brave’s humor is derived from the brawling, boorish behavior of Merida's Scottish clanfolk, particularly her ogre-sized, doting dad King Fergus (Billy Connolly) and her triplet little brothers, cute mischief-makers with hair as fiery red as hers. Imagine Tangled’s Rapunzel being raised by the Vikings from How to Train Your Dragon and you get the idea. Brave wisely forsakes the well-worn wicked stepmother/stepdaughter, father/daughter and princess/prince relationships in favor of the more complicated, yet loving bond between a headstrong mother and her equally stubborn daughter. And yet despite that smart choice, Brave still never manages to become more than a traditional Disney princess tale. The narrative is surprisingly rote for a studio whose mantra is that story is everything, and it’s chock full of the usual “girl power” tropes and comeuppance moments one would expect. There’s simply not a lot of new ground covered here, and the film isn’t funny or charming enough to absolve these narrative shortcomings.

While a technical marvel, Brave is ultimately a lesser effort from a studio known for breaking new ground with such modern classics as Up, Toy Story, WALL-E and Finding Nemo. One wonders whether Pixar has moved into a new era where they will (gasp!) make decent, but not great movies, not unlike the Disney animation output of the 1960s-‘80s. That Brave will be a success is a foregone conclusion; one trip to any Disney store will illustrate just how many kids already know who Merida is and can’t wait to see Brave. However, there was a time not so long ago when people of all ages were amped for Pixar movies. Grownups will appreciate the artistry that went into making Brave, but they’ll likely leave yearning for the transcendent Pixar they fell in love with.

[Sims]

ugh

[Noctis]

Up is so easily the weakest of the Pixar films.

Tangled is so easily the best of the Disney Princess films (Beauty #2).