A Second Opinion: Brave falls short of former Pixar favorites

I am happy to introduce a guest blogger for this review, Shannon.  Shannon is a good friend of Victoria's and mine and is a contributing writer for our college's newspaper.  We are both very happy to have her write her opinion on Brave, and I hope you all do as well.

-Katelyn

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Note: This review contains spoilers.

Brave, Disney/Pixar’s newest film, is a courageous attempt to live up to the renowned names of Pixar classics like Toy Story and Finding Nemo, but this attempt falls sadly short of the aforementioned childhood classics.

Merida, the young protagonist, is a Scottish princess who doesn’t meet the princess standards of her mother, Elinor. One thing her mother truly can’t stand is a princess shooting archery. In Hollywood female characters shooting bow and arrow are gaining popularity—Queen Susan and Katniss Everdeen, anyone?—and tragically, Disney joins the bandwagon.

This movie contains several tense moments. After Merida gives her mother a cake holding a spell, her mother begins experiencing internal bodily issues. She stumbles, becomes queasy, and frantically questions her daughter on the sweet’s contents. Following a minute of uneasiness, Merida is horrified to discover she has turned her mother into a bear.

To right her wrongs, Merida is given a riddle to solve, and she comes to the conclusion she must fix a physical tear she made out of anger. What she doesn’t realize is she really needs to mend the broken relationship with Elinor.

Her mother, as a pathetic bear, never makes any obvious realization she is partly at fault and never directly apologizes to Merida. No apparent attempts are made on Elinor’s behalf to mend the relationship. The creators barely mention the riddle’s second half, leading one to wonder if this was accidentally looked-over. Merida keeps repeating she must mend the tear, but doesn’t seem to remember it was “torn by pride.” Both mother and daughter made grave errors because of their pride but neither confesses nor apologizes. It is only when Merida thinks she is too late to save her mother that she gives a sobbing apology—but not for her prideful actions. Even when Elinor transforms back into a human, she doesn’t apologize to Merida, suggesting either the filmmakers didn’t notice the omission of the riddle’s second half, or they thought the ending was satisfactory without the lesson of pride’s dangers.

On the positive side, the Celtic sounds are haunting and the scenery is beautiful beyond belief. For an animated film, the forests and mountains of Scotland look real and breathtaking—even without 3D—and make the audience look to see the sights in person. Another great work of art is Merida’s steed. The broad black stallion is lifelike and majestic. Every characteristic, including his rolling white eyes and pawing hooves, is reminiscent of the real creature.

Brave does have some moments of laughter and jolliness, but for the most part, the film had a depressing feel to it, complete with some tears. Most of the laughs come from Merida’s younger brothers, thanks to the prankster threesome’s crazy antics. Even as bear cubs, the trio stirs up audience laughter by terrorizing castle occupants.

Overall, I felt this movie is not up to par with former Disney/Pixar makes. The creators tried nobly, but their attempts just can’t measure up to the standard that Pixar set when they made Toy Story. Brave is not a terrible movie, but I don’t think it’s really a child’s film due to some of the tense and sad scenes. It seems to better for older children and adults, if only it would have been more consistent on the issue of pride. Regardless of my personal pet peeves, Brave deserves a B-.

-Shannon

Brave

Brave (PG)

Brave's princess Meirda is not your average Disney Princess.  Both of her parents are alive and well.  She  does not break into songs at random moments or carry on conversations with woodland creatures.  Most shocking of all, she does not have a prince.  The suitors serve mainly as comic relief.  Meirda is refreshingly strong and independent, and prefers archery and riding with her hair free over pretty dresses and princes, much to the chagrin of her mother.  She may be Pixar's first female lead character, but she is an excellent start.


Brave is the latest release by the Disney and Pixar partnership.  The film features the breath-taking animation that viewers have come to expect from a Pixar film and the heart-warming (and tear-jerking) tale that viewer expect from both of them.  This film breaks the Pixar mold in several ways.  It is the first period piece they have undertaken.  The wonderful musical styling of Pixar's usual composer, Randy Newman, were noticeably absent from this film.  Instead, the delightful score was written by Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire composer Patrick Doyle (of whom, until now, Victoria did not at ALL approve).  This was also the first Pixar film to have two directors.

No matter what the trailer says about having the courage to change your fate, at its heart, Brave is a mother-daughter story.  Get your tissues ready; I cried more in this movie than I did in Toy Story 3.  However, I think Meirda's character had more potential than the plot allowed. Her peak moment came early in the film at the archery competition.  Then, there was a bit of a muddle in the middle that could have had a stronger plot and followed the sense of an angsty teenager.  In my opinion, writers relied too heavily on the (incorrect) use will o' wisps to make the plot move forward.  It didn't bother me much because screenwriters clearly defined what they meant for the film early on, I just happen to be a stickler for correct mythology.  Will o' wisps = doom in a boggy grave NOT fate.  That's all I'm going to say.  The middle of the film did offer some cute mother/daughter moments that caused a few laughs and kept it interesting and lively.  I am a firm believer that a bit of fluff never hurt anyone, especially in a kid's film, and it never lost the trademark Disney/Pixar whimsy (and moralizing attitude).  The story redeemed itself with an emotional and action-packed climax.  As a warning, small children may be frightened by some of the more intense sequences.  Several wee ones started to cry at some points, but others got through just fine.  Judge the mettle of your children for yourself.


While we are on parental warnings, perhaps I should throw in the nudity/sexual content warnings.  I never thought I would have to do that for a Disney movie!  There are two different scenes where we see male bottoms.  There is a moment where one of the boys go after a key hidden in the shirt of an extremely buxom serving woman.  The king either slaps or pinches the queen on the bottom, but it is easy to miss.  Though the queen remains covered at all times, she does make reference to being naked beneath a tapestry.  All of these are to humorous effect and are not too graphic.


Now to discuss the animation!  Stunning, like any Pixar film!  The setting of the Scottish Highlands made a beautiful back drop with rich greens, streams, and rolling hills.  I think the best piece of animation was Meirda's hair, and not just because I am partial to red hair.  Her wild curls had natural movement and definition.  When she pulled her bow on to her shoulder, the hair fell around the bow and the string like real hair would.  Close ups allow viewers to appreciate high and low lights.  On closer inspection, that fiery red hair is actually a natural blend of reds, browns, and blonds with well defined shadows at the neck and around the curls.  I cannot imagine how long someone-or a team of someones-worked on that hair!  It is so refreshing to see a princess whose hair is not perfectly coiffed and frozen in place for 99 percent of the movie!  I did not like the animation on the will o' the wisps.  They seemed out of place with the rest of the animation and reminded me of the Heartless in the Kingdom Hearts video game.

Despite my small quibbles, Victoria and I really enjoyed this movie!  It was one of those movies where you just sit in the dark theater and watch the credits roll by.  By the way, if you do wait for the end, you will be rewarded by a short, funny mini-scene.  I watched it again a couple of days ago, and it still did not lose its charm.  It is not the best Pixar film made, but it was still very enjoyable.  I recommend this film to families and kids at heart!

I give this film a B.  Victoria gives it a C+.

Katelyn

Hugo

The animation of Hugo was easily the best I have ever seen.  I am so in awe of the awesomeness of Hugo that I can not even decide what to say.  I will begin by saying that there were times Victoria and I forgot it was not a live action film because the animation looked so real and the characters were animated to look like their voice actors.  If for no other reason, watch this movie to glory in the artistic value of the images.

The story was sweet, and while the movie is geared towards children, it still had the power to engage adults.  It was not particularly exciting, but it was comfortable, for lack of a better word.  Victoria also recommends the book, The Invention of Hugo Cabret, which is a lovely combination of storytelling and pictures.  She says the film was decently faithful to the book, and only sacrificed what would not translate to film well.

The score did not necessarily stand out, but it was a good score.  It complemented the film well.  It was there when it needed to be and backed off when it did not.

As a bonus, the film shows re-made scenes from the early film A Trip to the Moon and a look at how some of the scenes were made.  It is worth mentioning that Georges Melies, the character, is different than Georges Melies, the man.  This early film was a pioneer in the movie industry, but very few people come in contact with it.  Seeing it in this film was a real treat.

Do not let the brevity of this review fool you.  This was one of our favorites so far.  It was so good, in fact, that we are a bit lost for words.  What the film lacked in story lines, it made up for in stunning animation.  It truly deserved its Oscars.  We give this film an A+.