Review: Brave

Release Date: June 21, 2012
Rating: PG
Genre: Animation, comedy, family & kids
Directed by: Brenda Chapman, Mark Andrews
Starring: Kelly Macdonald, Emma Thompson, Billy Connolly
What I rate It: B

Review:
Brave tells the story of a young princess named Merida, who wishes to change her fate, rather than follow in the path that has been created for her and marry a prince. Brave is the first Pixar film ever with a female main character. Merida is a wonderful main character, and young girls would definitely be able to relate to her. She's a wonderful role-model. One thing I did like, is that Merida is very unlike her princess predecessors in movies. She is a very real teenager -- she's adventurous, talented, independent, but she's also very rebellious and sometimes irresponsible. Overall, she's just a layered and realistic character with faults and quirks, which is a very good thing, and I'm glad Disney Pixar decided to portray her like that.

All the characters are voiced well, especially Billy Connolly as Merida's dad. The plot is incredibly fast paced, seeing as the movie is only about 90 minutes long. It's able to hold your interest with all its different subplots all throughout the movie, as well. The visuals in this movie, are without a doubt, absolutely stunning. Maybe the best in a Pixar film to date, and that's saying something. You can tell they definitely paid attention to detail, especially with Merida's bright red hair. Although I was expecting the film to go in a different, more mature direction than it did, I really loved the main plot with Merida and her mother. It was very realistic and heartwarming. Lovely.

My only gripe would be that at first, it has a really great -- even mature and a little dark -- vibe to it. You think this whole 'changing fate' thing is going to be really great, but when she actually does go to a witch and change her fate, the result is very kiddish, and the movie quickly changes its tone entirely. It switches from a great, even mature Pixar film, to a kid movie. Although, with that said, I still loved this movie and though it was adorable, even though I expected something else. But there are scenes in this movie that would scare children under the age of ten. I myself, was a little shocked with some things they showed, and I'm surprised none of the little kids in the theatre I was in started crying.


In short: Overall, despite its flaws, Brave is one of the best Pixar films yet. With stunning visuals, great characters and surprising depth, Brave is able to hold your interest and is well worth a trip to the movies!