Movies: Brave

Score:  **** out of *****


Long Story Short:  Pixar gets itself into the game of strong film heroines with its first non-sequel in several years.  Everything is the done with the high quality you expect from Pixar - animation, pacing, humor, etc.  The only area where I felt a bit of a letdown was in the ideas department, where Brave sticks closer to convention than most Pixar films.




For the next installment in my review of summer films, I'm pleased to go to yet another genre, this time animation.  It has been awhile since I've seen an animated film in theaters, since I passed on last year's Cars 2 which did not appeal to me and (by Pixar's standards) was critically panned.  This year Pixar decided to come up with a new idea rather than another sequel to one of their successful franchises, so I was happy to come back to support them.  Brave was directed by Brenda Chapman (first) and Mark Andrews (took over later), and features voice work from Kelly Macdonald, Emma Thompson, and Billy Connolly.


The first few minutes of Brave set the scene for the film's main characters, the ruling family in medieval Scotland.  Merida (MacDonald), the king (Connolly) and queen's (Thompson) daughter, is seen as rambunctious from an early age and even as she nears the age of betrothal she resists her mother's attempts to make her into a lady and instead enjoys adventures in the forest and practicing archery.  When the lords of Scotland bring their heirs to seek Merida's hand in marriage, she instead humiliates them all in an archery contest.  The queen is horrified by her daughter's rebelliousness, and Merida, frustrated by her mother's control of her life, storms off into the woods.


There, Merida follows a trail of luminous will-o'-the-wisps to an area circled by giant pillars.  The next thing she knows she is standing in front of a witch's hut, and she eventually convinces the witch to give her a spell to take back her fate from her mother.  The spell, however, soon wreaks havoc on the royal family.  Merida is forced to push aside her personal goals in order to prevent her family from being torn apart forever.


Obviously, in an animated film there isn't any acting per se, but I'll review the characters.  Merida is the main character, the first female lead in a Pixar film, and another in a growing roster in Hollywood recently (rather similar to The Hunger Games' Katniss, in fact).  Merida, like Katniss, is not only physically capable but also emotionally independent yet fiercely loyal to those close to her.  The queen is a standard strict yet loving mother (who also commands respect from Scotland's lords).  The king is a bit of a goofball, a former warrior who is now content to wrestle with Merida and his three energetic, mischievous young sons.  In the supporting cast is an appropriately eccentric witch, as well as three very proud lords and their not-quite-ready heirs.  (Note:  despite the Scottish accents, the voice work throughout is both beautiful and easily understandable)


Digital animation has become so good these days that it is hard to impress audiences, but Brave manages to push the boundaries even further.  Merida's long, unruly red hair is the top example of this, displaying an organic, realistic feel that surpasses all other previous efforts.  Beyond the technical wizardry, Pixar continues its great work at the subtle movements of characters and objects that creates a unique liveliness.  Brave is not quite as humorous as many of its predecessors, but there are still some good moments, generally involving the lords and their heirs, and Merida's young triplet brothers.  The soundtrack really stands out in this film, with not only beautiful orchestral music but also some very nice singing pieces as well.


***


Pixar is back at it again, making films of consistently higher quality than other studio in Hollywood right now.  Just about everything in Brave is perfectly done, from the aforementioned animation to great pacing to strong focus to emotional investment.  The only thing that keeps me from rating Brave a little higher is, to me, a lack of "wow" in films like Up! and WALL-E and a not particularly inventive structure.  Yes, Brave executes that structure better than 99% of its peers... yet, I feel like I've seen it before.  Brave does a great job of focusing on the mother-daughter relationship and there are some really nice moments between the two; but there was also little about it that struck me as new.  So it doesn't quite measure up to the best of Pixar (IMO:  Toy Story, Up! and WALL-E); the quality is on par, just not the ideas.  I still highly recommend it, and it's a great choice for any audience.