Pixar is possibly the most original movie studio in Hollywood. Let me give you a quick reminder of their animated masterpieces: Toy Story (1995), A Bug’s Life (1998), Toy Story 2 (1999), Monsters, Inc. (2001), Finding Nemo (2003), The Incredibles (2004), Cars (2006), Ratatouille (2007), WALL-E (2008), Up (2009), Toy Story 3 (2010), and Cars 2 (2011).
You may not love every film in the Pixar canon (I’m not fond of Cars and really didn’t like Cars 2), but you have to admit they’ve been consistently original and successful. Even their “worst” films (not that any of them are truly bad) are better than most other cartoons that come out; in fact, better than most other films that come out, period.
You may not love every film in the Pixar canon (I’m not fond of Cars and really didn’t like Cars 2), but you have to admit they’ve been consistently original and successful. Even their “worst” films (not that any of them are truly bad) are better than most other cartoons that come out; in fact, better than most other films that come out, period.
Brave, Pixar’s 13th film, will also deliver their 13th straight number 1 opening weekend film. Not bad.
Of course, what this all means is that Pixar has established a pretty high standard of expectations for its films. Perhaps this is why I, and those who I saw Brave with this weekend, left the theater feeling rather underwhelmed. It was nice, we thought, but not the epic of originality that we’ve come to anticipate from Pixar.
In Brave, Pixar presents its unique take on the princess story. Merida is the daughter of a Scottish lord, expected to soon pick a husband from a number of suitors, but instead wants to forge her own path. Opposed to her unladylike behavior is her mother, who wants her to act like proper royalty. Merida runs away into the woods where she encounters a witch, who gives her a spell to change her mother. The rest of the film deals with Merida dealing with the spell’s consequences.
Of course, what this all means is that Pixar has established a pretty high standard of expectations for its films. Perhaps this is why I, and those who I saw Brave with this weekend, left the theater feeling rather underwhelmed. It was nice, we thought, but not the epic of originality that we’ve come to anticipate from Pixar.
In Brave, Pixar presents its unique take on the princess story. Merida is the daughter of a Scottish lord, expected to soon pick a husband from a number of suitors, but instead wants to forge her own path. Opposed to her unladylike behavior is her mother, who wants her to act like proper royalty. Merida runs away into the woods where she encounters a witch, who gives her a spell to change her mother. The rest of the film deals with Merida dealing with the spell’s consequences.
* Spoilers may follow, but I try to be vague.
Brave is a pretty stereotypical fairytale story and while Pixar delivers on both drama and laughter, the film’s biggest crime is its lack of originality. Brave feels as though much of it has been borrowed from other films. It is essentially Beauty and the Beast combined with Brother Bear, as dramatic transformations force headstrong characters to learn life lessons, but this time between a mother and daughter. The influences from Brother Bear are most apparent and some scenes (like characters catching fish) were so alike I’m surprised none of Pixar’s coworkers from Disney pointed out such clear similarity (I won’t go as far as to say plagiarism).
The difference that Brave does make from those films is that instead of Merida being punished for being too hardheaded, it is her mother who suffers from the witch’s spell. Pixar had a fantastic opportunity to look at mother-daughter relationships here, but handling the material in such a way, in my mind, delivered the wrong message. It seems to say that the teenage girl is right and it is her mother who has lessons to learn. Really both characters need to learn humility and empathy.
Pixar does use the transformation of the mother to bring them together, but it felt much too forced. The movies from which Brave draws inspiration took their time building relationships through the transformation and the timing paid off in the end. The relationship development in Brave just felt rushed, preventing the film from really having the heart that other Pixar films do. It’s has sweet moments, but it is not as emotionally powerful as some of Pixar’s previous work (Up, in particular, comes to mind as an emotional heavyweight).
More than that, Brave was also predictable. It took a surprising turn in the middle that the commercials kept hidden, but once it happened, we pretty much knew exactly how the rest of the film would unfold.
All that being said, Brave looks great and sounds great, showing off the beautiful landscape and traditional music of Scotland. The detail given to Merida’s flaming red hair is pretty cool too. And it really does have some hilarious moments, mostly from Merida’s three little brothers.
Kelly MacDonald (Boardwalk Empire) is great as the voice of Merida and the rest of the cast is populated with other big name stars like Billy Connolly, Emma Thompson, Julie Walters, Robbie Coltrane, Kevin McKidd, and Craig Ferguson. (MacDonald, Thompson, Walters, and Coltrane have all been in at least one Harry Potter movie.) And listen for the traditional John Ratzenberger cameo that’s in every Pixar film – I missed it in Brave, but IMDb says he’s there!
Overall, I know it sounds like I’m being overly harsh on Brave, a kid’s movie. And I probably am. But when your kid makes all As, you get upset when they bring home a B. And that’s what Brave is. Above average, but certainly not Pixar’s valedictorian.
The Final Word: Wait to rent it (although I wouldn’t necessarily say buying a ticket is a mistake).
Brave is a pretty stereotypical fairytale story and while Pixar delivers on both drama and laughter, the film’s biggest crime is its lack of originality. Brave feels as though much of it has been borrowed from other films. It is essentially Beauty and the Beast combined with Brother Bear, as dramatic transformations force headstrong characters to learn life lessons, but this time between a mother and daughter. The influences from Brother Bear are most apparent and some scenes (like characters catching fish) were so alike I’m surprised none of Pixar’s coworkers from Disney pointed out such clear similarity (I won’t go as far as to say plagiarism).
The difference that Brave does make from those films is that instead of Merida being punished for being too hardheaded, it is her mother who suffers from the witch’s spell. Pixar had a fantastic opportunity to look at mother-daughter relationships here, but handling the material in such a way, in my mind, delivered the wrong message. It seems to say that the teenage girl is right and it is her mother who has lessons to learn. Really both characters need to learn humility and empathy.
Pixar does use the transformation of the mother to bring them together, but it felt much too forced. The movies from which Brave draws inspiration took their time building relationships through the transformation and the timing paid off in the end. The relationship development in Brave just felt rushed, preventing the film from really having the heart that other Pixar films do. It’s has sweet moments, but it is not as emotionally powerful as some of Pixar’s previous work (Up, in particular, comes to mind as an emotional heavyweight).
More than that, Brave was also predictable. It took a surprising turn in the middle that the commercials kept hidden, but once it happened, we pretty much knew exactly how the rest of the film would unfold.
All that being said, Brave looks great and sounds great, showing off the beautiful landscape and traditional music of Scotland. The detail given to Merida’s flaming red hair is pretty cool too. And it really does have some hilarious moments, mostly from Merida’s three little brothers.
Kelly MacDonald (Boardwalk Empire) is great as the voice of Merida and the rest of the cast is populated with other big name stars like Billy Connolly, Emma Thompson, Julie Walters, Robbie Coltrane, Kevin McKidd, and Craig Ferguson. (MacDonald, Thompson, Walters, and Coltrane have all been in at least one Harry Potter movie.) And listen for the traditional John Ratzenberger cameo that’s in every Pixar film – I missed it in Brave, but IMDb says he’s there!
Overall, I know it sounds like I’m being overly harsh on Brave, a kid’s movie. And I probably am. But when your kid makes all As, you get upset when they bring home a B. And that’s what Brave is. Above average, but certainly not Pixar’s valedictorian.
The Final Word: Wait to rent it (although I wouldn’t necessarily say buying a ticket is a mistake).
The first 30 minutes or so had me pumped up like no other but once that big twist in the story happens, it all goes downhill from there. However, kids will love the heck out of this film and you can’t go wrong with them. Nice review Ethan.
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