After quite the wait, I finally saw it. I finally saw Brave!
I think it goes without saying when it comes to this, but Pixar practically owns our souls. Why do I say this? Well, let's face it; Pixar has held our attention as a movie-going public since 1995 with Toy Story. That same year, Disney's Pocahontas was also released in theatres. However, it wasn't nearly as good as Toy Story was.
Ever since the decline of the Disney Renaissance, Pixar has basically been doing the main studio's bitch-work so they could have time to recover and gain some footing to see what worked (like Tarzan) and what... um... (Brother Bear *cough*)... didn't.
Of course, Pixar hasn't had a perfect track record, either. Most of their weaker films were back in the early days, but ever since then, their films were passable. Hell, they were better than passable! As we have seen, their peek was definitely at the end of the last decade with films like Wall-e, Up, and Toy Story 3. All of these films managed to earn Academy Awards for Best Animated Film, and the later two were even nominated for Best Picture, something an animated film hasn't done since Beauty and the Beast.
And then, Cars 2 happened!!!
( Dun dun DUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUH!!!!!!!)
I still have no idea what to make of this movie. The first Cars movie, I could get. Sure, the plot and characters had been done to death, but I could understand what they were going for. Cars 2, on the other hand, felt more like a theme park ride. I mean,... I just don't get it! Did we really need a sequel to this movie?! REALLY?!?! Really! I just can't believe, for the life of me, Disney AND Pixar would green-light this! It's just.... STUPID!!!
Okay, okay, okay... I feel better now. I took my happy pills and, now, I have calmed down. So, yeah. Cars 2 was more-or-less a disaster that led many people to speculate the "end of an era" for Pixar. Of course, before Pixar, Disney had gone through this a few times, but this was an indicator that has led people to believe that Pixar has begun its descent into mediocrity (much like after Pocahontas with th main studio).
I'm not certain if Pixar will follow the same path as Disney did in the late 90's -bad movie, good movie, credibility-crushing-of-an-entire-studio movie- but it may seem that way; especially after seeing the trailer for a prequel to Monsters Inc., Monster University.
I did not make a single word of that up!
(Pixar, what the hell are you doing? Don't you know sequels don't work unless it's to Toy Story?!)
Now, I only say what I did about Pixar following in Disney's footsteps because Brave, while an excellent movie, and one hell of a way to redeem yourself as a company, I can't help but shake this feeling that Pixar will soon be slain by Dreamworks - although their films haven't been so great recently, either (Madagascar 3, anyone!?)
Now, if you are still reading this article after dealing out all this rambling bullshit, congrats! You win absolutely nothing! Well, actually, you win a chance to read my opinion on Brave! Everyone's happy!!!
Now, as for Brave, as before, it is excellent! Now, before going into this film, I honestly had no idea what it was about. All I knew was that it takes place in Scotland, and there was a bear, and a red-headed bonnie lass who reminds me of Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games, and... that's it.
Basically, I had no idea what the plot of this movie would be about. So, going in, I kept an open-mind to the whole thing and let my imagination take me to, wherever. And, you know what? It worked relatively well.
The plot involves the bonnie lass,Princess Merida, who is anything but that. Her mother, Elinor, tries her best to make her all prim and proper, but it never works. Things get especially heated during the betrothal ceremony where all the capable grooms test to see who will marry her. All the eldest children have to compete. Of course, Merida, being the eldest of her clan, finds a loophole and competes for her own hand. She, of course wins, and her mother is in fumes over all of this. After an arguement between the two, Merida flees into the forest and stumbles across a witch who gives her a spell to change her mother. Merida takes it and her mother does change... into a BEAR!!!! (Dun dun DUUUUUUUU- oh, screw it. I already made that joke!) Of course, being a bear, and her father losing his leg to a bear named Mor' du, they have to flee into the woods. They find the witch's cabin only to find it abandoned. However, the witch is nice enough to leave them a message on hot to reverse the spell before it's too late.
That's is basically a summation of the main storyline of the movie. The film also manages to have other subplots intermixed, like between the rival clans, a legend about an ancient kingdom, Merida's three younger brothers (who are mischevious triplets), and so on and so forth. I really don't have time to explain it all, so, see the movie for yourself.
I think it's standard for all Pixar movies to have very likeable characters. Even the ones that aren't very good still manage to have characters that you really like. This film is no exception. Merida is a strong, independent female lead who is being forced down by her mother who doesn't understand what she wants and tries to find a way to fix that. It's very reminiscent of Mulan, another Disney epic, except they don't focus too much on the strong female aspect. That isn't the focus. The focus is on the relationship between her and her mother.
Speaking of which, Elinor is also a very likeable character. While she isn't the straight-up villain, she appears to be that in Merida's eyes. All Elinor wants is for her to be respectful and act maturely and responsibly; even though no one else in the family seems to act that way. Regardless, we understand her position with wanting to maintain order among utter chaos, even if it means having to suppress her own children, and even her husband, whom she has to take charge over sometimes.
As for King Fergus, he's much like the other Scotsmen, in that he is a fighter and will do anything for entertainment purposes. He also appears to have more of an understanding of Merida, seeing as how she takes after him, being an expert archer and all.
Everyone else, is also really good. The triplets (who I like to call, "The Trouble-making Trio") are excellent and don't even need to say a word of dialogue, the leaders of the other clans, who are all competing for their son and Merida's hand in marriage, and even minor characters, like the witch, are all very funny and well done.
The visuals, like with any Pixar film, are breath-taking to behold. It's especially amazing to see sweeping shots of the Scottish Highlands - at least, I think they're the Highlands. There's also such a grand size to the world that makes you feel like you're there as it happens. Even the characters are alot of fun to look at. Some of them are a little wierd, though, like King Fergus. He has a huge, bulky body, and a tiny-ass head. It's kinda comical, and it's still fun to look at. Even the visual effects used for things like lighting and shading, are all absolutely gorgeous. At least Pixar's visual quality has not gone down at all!
The story, to be honest, is kind of a "been there, done that" sort of thing. I've seen this type of story before, where there are two people who don't get along very well, but by the end, they're inseperabe. Think of all those "buddy-cop movies" tht came out in the late 80's to early 90's like Lethal Weapon (You: WHAT!?)
However, I can at least forgive this plot if it does something different, which it does. In Brother Bear, our main character is transformed into a bear so he can learn a lesson and, ultimately, respect the animal in which he represents, which is a bear. In this movie, however, our main character turns her mother into a bear on accident. All she wanted to do was change her views, not herself entirely, and through the time they spend together, they both learn a lesson, not just the main character.
That's really the only flaw I can find in this movie (aside from Pixar voice icon, John Ratzenberger not having a larger role, but, that's just me).
I guess I should also mention the short that customarily comes before every Pixar film, called LaLuna. It's about a young boy, his Italian father, and his Italian grandfather, who take him out to help them with shifting the moon's phases. Both the elders coach the boy as to what he should do and argue with each other about it. By the end, the boy eventually manages to contribute by doing his own thing and the elders coming to terms with it. It is really sweet and it actually does give a perfect backdrop to one of the main themes of Brave. Hmm, now that I think about it, so did the Toy Story 3 short before Cars 2 (just a marketing ploy).
If I were to score this movie, I'd give it about...
4 stars of 5.
I definitely recommend this movie for any die-hard Pixar fans or just fans of animated movies in general. Although, I'd still be on the fence about Pixar's next film. I think all stick with Disney's newest 3D animated movie coming in November which I also saw a trailer for, Wreck-It Ralph, a movie about a video-game villain wanting to be good.
Again, I'm serious! (Actually, it does sound pretty awesome, though.)
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