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With "Brave", Pixar finally made their entrance into a period and fairy tale setting. After the critical and financial failure of "Cars 2" (which is a film that I personally enjoyed and didn't deserve the massive hate), "Brave" was seen as Pixar's chance of redemption. However, some Pixar fans screamed foul and thought "Brave" was a result of the Disneyfication of Pixar. However, although "Brave" wasn't seen as the definite Pixar comeback, it still was better critically and commercially received as "Cars 2".
The feminist aspects were also surrounding "Brave". It was their first film with a female lead after more than a decade of films with male leads. "Brave" got also some buzz of the directorial change. It was Brenda Chapman's lovechild, but she got replaced because of creative differences. Although Chapman herself has stated that her original visions of the tale was fulfilled, the replacements are barely mentioned in the special features. She still got credited as the secondary director, although one can't help to wonder if there was a bigger conflict about this story or if this conflict was enhanced by the media.
Either way, although I've always been not so fond of Pixar, they can deliver a masterpiece now and then ("Toy Story", "Finding Nemo", "Up"). "Brave" does come across a one of Pixar's strongest works, but is also hampered by some flaws. And some quite obvious flaws too. Moviegoers has grown to expect more from Pixar and many of them found the film to be conventional. The marketing device also misguided the film, depicting it as a grand adventure, when it really is an intimate, character-driven story in the second half.
Where "Brave" really excel is with the animation and the music. The animation is stunningly gorgeous, as is the music, setting a haunting atmosphere and giving the movie a special quality. The wonderful score is by Patrick Doyle, the songs written by Alex Mandel and they work well.
"Brave" is a departure from Pixar's previous works, not only because of it's setting, but it's scope. It definitively feels more Disney than Pixar at times, but that's doesn't necessarily hurts the film. I see nothing wrong about Pixar trying to go in Disney's territory and make a Princes movie long you do it with class and subtlety (damn me as much as you want to, Pixar fanboys). However, I still wished that Pixar would make more realistic-looking characters for once and expand their horizons in term of character designs.
Where "Brave" falls flat, it's in terms of it's story. It's quite conventional, as the matter of fact too conventional. The story is trite, cliched and really not particularly well structured. The film seems more of two separate stories incorporated into one. However, despite the story problems, "Brave" shall have praise for having a mother-daughter-related story in a fairy tale setting and not having a prince charming to save the day.
Another noteworthy component about "Brave" is the choice of having an all Scottish cast into the movie. It's easy to give Pixar some good points about that, although the Medieval Scottish would probably be not understandable for todays audiences. However, most of the voices are fine. Billy Connolly (who previously was in "Pocahontas") brings the warmth and joviality to King Fergus. Emma Thompson (who was in "Treasure Planet") brings dignity and subtlety to Queen Ellinor. Less successful is Kelly McDonald as the protagonist Merida herself, making Merida more grating and whiny than she needs to be. Otherwise, Julie Walters makes a fine witch. Steve Purcell makes a fun crow. Kevin McKidd makes a good Lord MacGuffin/Young MacGuffin. Craig Ferguson delivers some spunk to Lord Macintosh.
BONUS FEATURES
The film is filled with good bonus features. First up is a audio commentary by director Mark Andrews, co-director Steve Purcell, editor Nick Smith and story supervisor Brian Larsen. The four of them delivers an excellent commentary, covering all the topics of the story and the technical aspects, although Andrew's voice can be a little grating at times. But still another excellent commentary from Pixar.
LEGEND OF MOR'DU; A short which enhances the full story about Mor'Du (according to rumors that were around the Internet, the short was supposed to be included in the actual movie). It's a fine short, giving more purpose and weight to the story of Mor'Du and it's nice to see that it's mainly hand-drawn.
LA LUNA: A short and sweet Pixar film.
BRAVE OLD WORLD: A featurette that talks about the crew's visit to Scotland and the Scottish influences on the film. Although is mostly praise about the land and culture, it's still interesting.
MERIDA & ELINOR: A featurette that covers the characters and personalities of Merida and Elinor and their relationship. Chapman herself dominates most of the featurette. A quite engaging topic.
BEARS: A short featurette that covers the designs and animation aspects of Mor'Du and Queen Elinor as a bear. Short, but still quite interesting.
WONDER MOSS: A topic about how they created the moss in the movie. It's a little too technical, but still interesting.
MAGIC: Magic tells us about the magical aspects of the film, like the wisps and the witch and the fairy tale aspect. Quite enjoyable
CLAN PIXAR: A featurette that covers the folks at Pixar. A little more jovial and happy talk than what it needs to be.
ONCE UPON A SCENE: A featurette that delivers the many deleted scenes (and also indicates "Brave's" troubled production). It's interesting that Pixar decided to have many of the deleted scenes in one featurette, instead of having the deleted scenes themselves. However, it's still interesting to watch.
Disc two is also filled with many featurettes. First up is an alternative opening (a few shots that made into one of the trailers). While it's not fully animated, it's still an engaging shot.
FALLING WARRIORS: A featurette about the fighting scenes in the movie and how they got choreographed. Short, but interesting.
DIRTY HAIRY PEOPLE: A featurette which talks about the hair in the movie. Also short, but interesting
IT'S ENGLISH... SORT OF: This featurette talks about the use of the Scottish actors, the Scottish words and phrases used in the movie. Quite fun
ANGUS: About Merida's black horse, Angus and how to create the character.
THE TAPESTRY: About the tapestry that Queen Elinor makes in the film and how the creative team managed to create it.
Overall, "Brave" is hampered by some flaws and might be to conventional at times, but still makes a good movie to watch. It's easily one of the best animated movies yet on this decade.
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Customer reviews
If you enjoy Pixar movies, like How To Train Your Dragon. Then you’ll love this. It’s obviously been out for awhile but for people who haven’t seen it, it’s a must. Culture, love, family and adventure.For younger kids there might be some "scary moments" but nothing to worry about.
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Brave is Another Classic Disney Film
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on January 2, 2013
A. Chell
Well made but no classic
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on February 12, 2013Kindler
3D Wow beautifully filmed.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on December 7, 2012Me again
Bought for my 5 year old red head daughter
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on March 29, 2013
