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Brave2012 | 93 min | PG | 2.39:1
With “Brave,” the wizards at Pixar attempt to subvert the animated princess genre in a significant manner, constructing a story of self-reliance to shoo away all those outdated fairy tale inclinations towards the sweet relief of a princely entrance. It’s a wonderful idea, sharply executed through a few exemplary vocal performances and, of course, miraculous CG-animation. However, the core message of vibrant singularity is buried under folds of fur, as “Brave” is more of a bear story with magical overtones than a precise inspection of a restless princess spirit. It’s a fine picture but seldom remarkable, expelling far too much energy on fantasy when a firm human touch was all that required to bring the theme to life. 
In a faraway Scottish kingdom, King Fergus (Billy Connolly) and Queen Elinor (Emma Thompson) are preparing to marry off their daughter, Merida (Kelly Macdonald). A strong-willed young woman with a warrior heart, Merida wants nothing to do with marriage, preferring to spend time perfecting her archery skills and avoiding her three younger brothers and their insatiable appetite for sweets. When time comes for nearby suitors to compete for Merida’s hand, the princess escapes her destiny, led into the deep forest by the Will O’ the Wisps, ghostly blue lights that lead the curious to their fate. Encountering a witch (Julie Walters), Merida requests a spell that will make her authoritarian mother relent, permitting the princess to live her life the way she sees fit. Instead of triggering compassion, Merida’s magic accidentally turns Elinor into a bear, and with a kingdom prepared for such a hunt, it’ll take all the courage and ingenuity she has to keep her mother alive long enough to reverse the spell. With the studios locked in competition, it seems Dreamworks has won this round, having already mined huffy Scottish culture and fables with their 2010 masterpiece, “How to Train Your Dragon” (in fact, “Dragon” star Craig Ferguson pops up here as a rival lord, proving there are only five Scottish actors working in Hollywood today). Fortunately, “Brave” elects a different route of magical happenings, though the first act of the feature promises something far more personal and soulful to come for Merida and her war to develop and preserve her identity. 
Aside from introductory moments that set up climatic conflicts, “Brave” inspects Merida’s interests as a burgeoning woman in the opening act, facing a future in marital subservience to a king, bridling her enthusiasm for adventure and silencing her skills with a bow. While Elinor works to prepare her daughter for royalty, Merida searches for escape, secretly using an impromptu archery tournament to secure her liberty, much to the delight of Fergus and the horror of Elinor. It’s here where “Brave” shines the brightest, finding inspiration in a rare statement of autonomy from a storybook heroine, creating hope that Pixar has found a way to shatter the myth of the romantic rescue in a tale that develops Merida’s quest to preserve her interests. However, the story quickly takes a sharp turn into the fantastical, dropping the pursuit of Merida’s well-being to become, in a way, “Brother Bear 3.” The bear transformation subplot is a tuneless venture for the production, which seeks a way to address mother-daughter issues brewing between Merida and Elinor while maintaining a cartoon perspective, topped off with a rascally witch and her wacky crow sidekick. It’s an unexpected turn of events, forcing “Brave” to pay attention to light comedy and animal behaviors (an extended scene displays Elinor’s failed attempts to pull fish out of a river) when it was doing just fine with its distressed human characters, aiming toward a feature of impressive vulnerability. Instead, the bear development blunts the emotional impact of the movie, keeping “Brave” expository and strained, especially when conjuring up a tepid, exhausted conclusion that brings the characters together for a final showdown, misted with a little magic that’s not explained to satisfaction. 
Intense bear shenanigans aside, “Brave” is gorgeously animated, with spectacular Scottish locales and pleasingly exaggerated character designs, capture most directly in male personalities of varying haggis-stained bluster. The jewel of the picture is Merida, a fidgety creation with the heart of a lion, displaying sublime expressions and movement while rocking an unconquerable mess of blazing red curls. Oh, the ginger mane is simply amazing, perhaps Pixar’s greatest achievement as an animation factory, bringing such vivid color and fluid hair movement to a detail most productions wouldn’t think twice about. “Brave” resembles a film that was drastically retooled on numerous occasions, with the final product looking a tad disorganized. It still entertains and there’s enough animated detail here to stay invested in the screen antics, but it’s far from the sorely needed fairy tale reimagining the opening promises. Instead of gifting a feeling of individuality to impressionable young females in the audience, “Brave” is a bear story, and not a particularly interesting one at that. Starring: Kelly MacDonald, Julie Walters, Billy Connolly, Emma Thompson, Kevin McKidd, Craig Ferguson Directors: Mark Andrews, Brenda Chapman, Steve Purcell (II) » See full cast & crew |
 
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