Film Review: Brave

Brave, is a film written by Mark Andrews, Steve Purcell, Brenda Chapman, and Irene Mecchi, and directed by Mark Andrews and Brenda Chapman. It is produced by Pixar Animation Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures. It is Pixar's 13th movie to date, since Toy Story was shown in theaters in 1995. 

The film, set in 10th-century Scotland, tells the story of a young, ambitious, and skilled archer-princess named Merida (voiced by Kelly Macdonald) who defies an age-old custom by refusing to be betrothed to one of the first-born sons of their family's allies from far-away lands. Her mother Elinor (Emma Thompson) points out that Merida's marriage to one of the first-born sons of the leaders of their allied clans would ensure the stability of the Kingdom. Merida's refusal and her mother's insistence leads to a falling-out between the two, causing her to flee to the woods where she encounters a witch (Julie Walters), initially disguised as a wood carver. Merida negotiates with the witch to create a spell that would help change her mother so that she could let Merida do things her own way. This encounter with the witch, however, turns out to be a big mistake for Merida. As a consequence of the spell, Merida's family is cursed, and she is forced to turn things around or else her family could be ruined forever. 

Visuals-wise, Brave is probably one of Pixar's best films to date. The animators have done an excellent job of giving the viewers a glimpse of medieval Scotland. Everything from the forests, mountains, rivers, and castles are surprisingly detailed and realistic, though the human characters are still of the usual cartoonish sort, to make them less scary (unlike Warner Brothers' The Polar Express and A Christmas Carol by Disney from 2009, which, by the way, continues to creep me out to this day). Compare this film to animated films released a decade ago and you'll definitely see the difference. 

The film offers a lot of good laughs--who knew that Princess Merida's seemingly-uptight mother could actually draw laughs from the audience? Just go watch the film and you'll see why. The biggest comics of the film, however, would have to be Merida's younger triplet brothers (who actually do not have any speaking lines but deliver the humor through their antics and mischievous ways), her father King Fergus (voiced by Billy Connolly) and the leaders of the three allied clans. There's also a mix of slapstick humor which kids would find amusing, and a bit of humor for the adults as well.

The film's story, however, seems rather plain and unoriginal. It has the parent vs. rebellious child scenario that we've already seen in The Little Mermaid or Aladdin, as well as the curse-brought-about-by-a-witch thing as we have seen in Snow White from the 1930s. Quite interestingly enough, though, the witch in Brave isn't really the film's main antagonist. 

If you're thinking that boys may not find this film very appealing since the protagonist is a young princess, then think again. The film has a good mix of action scenes and humor that boys would want, as well as mother-daughter moments between Merida and Queen Elinor that moms and their daughters in the audience would relate to. This film, however, strays from the usual "Disney Princess" movies (if Merida were to be actually considered an official Disney Princess which I think she isn't), as Merida does not sing in the movie nor does she have a love interest, which girls would surely love. Sorry, girls, no lovey-dovey cheesy, mushy, romantic scenes here.

If Merida were to be considered a Disney Princess, she'd be placed among the modern-day strong and independent ones like Mulan or Rapunzel from 2010's Tangled. There is certainly a lot of "girl power" in this film--Princess Merida and Queen Elinor are both portrayed as highly intelligent and somewhat domineering (the ever-so used husband-gives-up-and-lets-his-wife-get-her-way line of "Yes, dear" is used in this film), while the men are somewhat idiotic. Gone are the days when Disney Princesses were of the usual damsel-in-distress variety (think Snow White or Aurora) who need to be rescued by Prince Charming. Princess Merida is the clever, arrow-shooting girl who "don't need no man" in her life, or at least not yet.

While this film isn't exactly one of Disney-Pixar's strongest (the storyline or plot could be a bit more original), the film's humor and amazing visuals certainly make up for it. While Pixar's previous film Cars 2 was a bit of a disaster, I wouldn't really say that Brave could be close to being considered one. This film is still worth watching, and you wouldn't want to miss a single moment of it.

Overall score: 8/10