I’ll be honest, I was getting a little tired of watching the trailer to Brave on every other movie I saw. Sure, it looked good, it was funny (the first few times), and looked as though it would make a pretty good Pixar movie. But the repetition with which I was forced to endure it made me feel like Brave could probably be in the very narrow category of Pixar movies that elicited a shrug and a “It was okay,” instead of the love I have for the rest of their films.
After seeing Brave, I can safely say that it fits into the category of non-Cars Pixar movies.
Brave is a beautifully told tale of a Scottish princess and her desire to live her own life instead of marrying a son of one of three rival clan leaders. She’s more adept at the manly arts of combat than any of them and greatly enjoys her freedom.
Her mother is loving, but very old-fashioned and proper, and so it is her mind that needs to be changed so that her daughter can live life on her own terms.
The young princess, Merida, played by Kelly Macdonald, seeks out a way to change her mother’s mind and finds a witch that will do it with a spell. Thus the stage is set for a thrilling race to set things right, filled with action, adventure, suspense, and comedy.
It does an excellent job of exploring the different perspectives of a mother and a daughter on the same issue in a way I think will be insightful to young and old alike.
There really wasn’t anything about this movie I didn’t like. I found the script to be extremely tight, the voice acting to be top notch, the animation was stunning, and the movie was just fun. I had lots of fun watching it.
The scene-stealers, though, are easily Merida’s little brothers. Their presence brightens every scene they’re in, adding an extra element of hilarity.
I saw the film with my kids, and it’s important to note that they were howling with laughter through the entire picture, then appropriately wound up and ready to cry at the right moments as well. My son is 10 and on the edge of perhaps being too jaded to enjoy a movie like this, but he was invested the whole way through.
Comparisons could be made to other Disney films, sure, it certainly has lots of DNA from other Disney films in it, but the setting and the characters set it apart as its own.
If you’ve written it off because of the ubiquity of the trailer, you should give it a shot. I really liked it, and am certainly planning on going again.
ALSO: The opening short is very charming and well photographed, but don’t expected the breathless whimsy and comedy of some of the other shorts attached to Disney or Pixar films.