REVIEW: BRAVE

When it comes to Pixar, so many people are defensive about the studio geniuses.  My generation (born in the late 90's) was practically raised on Pixar, for many of us "Toy Story" was our first movie.  Then there's "A Bug's Life," "Monsters, Inc.," "The Incredibles" when we got older.  But that isn't the only reason why people will go to war over Pixar; it's because they treat us so good.  When you go into a Pixar film, you're treated to a great short film beforehand, the knowledge of knowing the movie ahead is going to be great from all the reviews you've read, and the silence of all the children because Pixar's stories are good enough where kids actually listen. Well, the last thing listed isn't always guaranteed, but you get where I'm going.  (Nearly) all the Pixar movies are instant classics, but I wouldn't go branding "Brave" that title just yet.


Earlier this year in my early predictions for Best Picture, I cited that "Brave" could be nominated, but now I'm not so sure.  Best Animated Film? Absolutely, in fact I'm predicting that right now.  That is curious though, how some movies (like "Brave") are great animated films, and some movies (like "Finding Nemo" for instance) are great films in general.  With "Nemo," "Incredibles," and even the original "Cars," the problems were all human, and I think all of us could relate to trying to reconnect with someone ("Nemo), or trying to balance things in your life ("Incredibles"), or trying to find out where you fit in ("Cars").


With "Brave," it just feels as if we've seen it all before, which we have, of course.  This is Pixar's first fairy tale and female lead.  While "Disney" is slapped right before Pixar in promotional trailers and the like, Pixar movies never felt Disney.  They felt at home, real with us.  Not to say Disney's bad, I grew up on it.  But Disney told tales of princes and princesses, lions who wanted to be kings and a mermaid who just wanted to see what dry land was like.  Pixar's always hit home.  This time around, "Brave" feels very much like a Disney film, and, without saying too much, reminded me of another Disney flick: "Brother Bear."


"Brave" opens up with gorgeous, sweeping images of Scotland.  That's another thing to add to what you can expect from Pixar, the inconceivably well-made scenery.  Call "Cars 2" what you want (and I've called it a lot of things) but don't say the background is gorgeous, the cars all wonderfully colorful.  A particular delight is Merida's (the princess) hair, you just feel like if you could touch the screen, you could wave your hands through the bright, crimson curls.  Her admittedly adorable and troublesome triplet brothers are a good balance to offset her...well, teenage disposition.  I can't be sure if this is what Pixar was going for, but Merida just isn't likable until the last few frames of the film.  In this case, she's very human, perhaps too human for my liking.  I understand Pixar wanted to introduce a courageous heroine to young viewers, but maybe one with less sass in her step would've been more enjoyable.


The movie's pace goes on fine, Merida's mom (the reliably good Emma Thompson) wants her to get married, and her choice is a bunch of Scottish idiots, so obviously she refuses.  Afterwards, Merida storms out and...well I don't want to ruin anything else for anyone, except that it involves bears, a talking crow and some tapestry.  The twist happens so early in the movie, and after it, it dives into kiddie territory, which was a bit of a let-down.  If you have really small children (4 and below) I wouldn't take them to it, some scenes definitely had the kids shrieking, and not the cute, filled with joy kind of shrieking.


While I have said some negative things, I only pick out these parts because they're "Brave's" only flaws.  I watched a video of one the producers promoting the movie and she said something very interesting of the studio: "A Pixar movie is never really finished, it's just released."  If it were up to the animators, she said, then  they'd keep working on it until it was perfect.  I really admire that work ethic, and have nothing but respect for the people who commit to these 4-5 year long projects.  "Brave" is a fierce, funny and gracious step forward for Pixar, even if it is, at its core, a fairy tale.  I suppose I don't give movies like "Brave" 4 star reviews because, on its own, it's a great animated movie.  It's just with it being associated with Pixar that you get a little spoiled, and expect perfection, or at the least, a great movie in general.


Rating: 3/4 stars