Two bears - the transformed Elinor and a bigger, badder monster - go at it in an ursa smackdown that is surprisingly graphic for a family feature. This is partially responsible for the PG (instead of G) rating. It's tempting to give Pixar points for authenticity, although during the time period when this transpires, the language spoken by the people of Scotland would have been unrecognizable to today's audiences, requiring subtitles.īrave features one of the most potentially frightening sequences in any recent animated film. One assumes that if James Doohan was still alive, he would have been offered a part. Emma Thompson trades in her upper class British dialect for something more earthy. So there's Kelly Macdonald, Craig Ferguson, Billy Connolly, Kevin McKidd, and Robbie Coltrane. Not the greatest - it dims an already dark movie and there is blur during scenes where there's a lot of movement.)Ĭhoosing the voice actors appears to have been easy: find everyone in the industry with SAG credentials who can boast either a genuine Scottish accent or a decent facsimile. (Time to insert my obligatory 3-D verdict: don't bother. Brave uses a dark pallet but it appears neither better nor worse than Madagascar 3 or The Lorax. Nearly all animated films - whether from Fox, Pixar, Dreamworks, Warner Brothers, or someone else - boast the same polished appearance. With computer animated films circa 2012, it's almost pointless to talk about the "look." Ten or fifteen years ago, we marveled at the level of subtlety and detail in movie like this. Its final numbers will likely be closer to those of Cars 2 than Up. The "Disney" and "Pixar" names assure an audience but it's hard to imagine Brave generating a lot of enthusiasm. It lacks a strong appeal to kids (too slow, too dark, too long) and adults (too superficial, not well written). Curiously, Brave is neither fish nor fowl. Even Brave's staunchest defenders will grudgingly admit that this is "lesser Pixar." Artistically, despite its catalog of flaws, Brave is superior to Madagascar 3, but kids will prefer the latter for its color, its spectacle, and its cheerfulness. They have fallen back to the pack, and maybe even slipped a little behind. Gone are the days when movie-lovers of all ages could celebrate the release of a new Pixar feature. Gone is the magic they infused in great films like The Incredibles, Finding Nemo, WALL*E, and the Toy Storys. With Brave as a lackluster follow-up to the misfire of Cars 2, they seem to be spinning their wheels. The rest of the movie is spent trying to reverse the spell before Big Game Hunter Fergus inadvertently kills his wife. The spoiled Merida, not liking to be constrained by Mom's rules (especially the one about marrying a prince), finds a witch and obtains magic that, when applied, results in Elinor becoming bear-able. Her mother, Queen Elinor (Emma Thompson), tries to lay down the law but ends up being turned into a bear for her troubles. As the movie progresses, we see that's true of her blustering father, King Fergus (Billy Connolly), who lets her get away with just about anything. Watching Merida, the only thing I could think is that her parents indulged her too much. Okay, there's a fine line but, for the most part, Disney has managed to stay on the right side of it. Another issue is that the lead character, the wild, arrow-shooting, red-headed Princess Merida (voiced by Kelly Macdonald) is more of a brat than a spunky, strong-willed girl. The lack of both a romantic element and a real villain is only part of the problem. The end result is something that feels like it was put together from a jumble of Disney clichés tacked onto the skeleton of Beauty and the Beast. The pacing is slow and at times almost tedious. The tone is uneven and more often morose than joyful. The thinly-written storyline takes us on an adventure, to be sure, but not necessarily one viewers will be interested in taking. Looking deeper, however, there's something missing: narrative momentum. Most of the elements are in place: the plucky heroine, the faithful animal companion, a mysterious wizard, and a character-building journey. At first glance, Brave seems much like an old-fashioned animated Disney princess film done using new-fangled technology.
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