Brave (2012)
Directed by Mark Andrews
In the mystical Scottish Highlands, Merida is the princess of a kingdom ruled by King Fergus and Queen Elinor. An unruly daughter and an accomplished archer, Merida one day defies a sacred custom of the land and inadvertently brings turmoil to the kingdom. In an attempt to set things right, Merida seeks out an eccentric old Wise Woman and is granted an ill-fated wish.
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What critics say influenced Brave
In the same way Pixar's movies refuse to speak down to the youngest members of their audience, they've also never pandered to gender: Remember, the Toy Story franchise ended with Andy, the benevolent overlord of Buzz Lightyear and Woody the cowboy, bequeathing his boyhood playthings to the little girl next door.
Or, more simply put, when compared with the rich attention to humor, subtext and story featured in Finding Nemo, The Incredibles and Toy Story 3, Brave comes up short.
Although Brave is satisfying and spirited and laced with humor (haggis jokes, kilt jokes), it doesn't quite mark a return to form for Pixar following the digital house's disappointing 12th feature, Cars 2. The company's founder, Toy Story director John Lasseter, has been running his operation as well as parent company Disney's animation division, and Brave feels more like an aesthetic mix of the two camps.
But for the Pixar Animation crew it’s just another number in their unbelievable string of hits: “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), “Cars 2” (2011) . . .
Yet the individual achievements and mistakes made by Merida, to go along with the relationship with her mother will make for inspirational and entertaining viewing for girls whether child, teen or adult, with Brave doing for mother and daughters what Finding Nemo did for fathers and sons.
Or, more simply put, when compared with the rich attention to humor, subtext and story featured in Finding Nemo, The Incredibles and Toy Story 3, Brave comes up short.
Adding a female director to its creative boys' club, the studio has fashioned a resonant tribute to mother-daughter relationships that packs a level of poignancy on par with such beloved male-bonding classics as "Finding Nemo."
“Brave” also signals a changing of the guard within Pixar; while veteran directors Pete Docter (“Up” and “Monsters, Inc.”) and Andrew Stanton ( “WALL-E” and “Finding Nemo” ) serve as executive producers, along with studio head John Lasseter, the directing team of Mark Andrews, Brenda Chapman and Steve Purcell is all new.
In the past, Pixar's best female characters (Dory in Finding Nemo, Helen Parr and Edna Mode in The Incredibles) have been triumphs of vocal performance more than writing, and the same holds true here, with Macdonald's beautiful Lowland lilt breathing life into a character who might otherwise have joined a long line of semi-interchangeable Disney princesses.
"Brave" (presented in nonessential 3D at most locations) is reminiscent of "Brother Bear" (2003), one of Disney's last "traditional" animated features, in which an Inuit boy is turned into a bear.
First off, “Brave” reminded me way too much of “Brother Bear.”
What happens next is reminiscent of a less successful Disney film, “Brother Bear,” in which an Inuit boy is changed into a bear because the spirits were angry with him.
Recycling old tricks, the film ineffectually splices ideas from Disney’s Brother Bear with classic Beauty and the Beast redemption and a focus on parents and kids from Pixar’s Finding Nemo.
Or, more simply put, when compared with the rich attention to humor, subtext and story featured in Finding Nemo, The Incredibles and Toy Story 3, Brave comes up short.
Occasionally a strong female character shares the spotlight with the leading male -- such as Elastigirl in 2004's "The Incredibles" and EVE in "WALL-E" -- but for the most part Pixar has been a toon town brimming with testosterone.
In the past, Pixar's best female characters (Dory in Finding Nemo, Helen Parr and Edna Mode in The Incredibles) have been triumphs of vocal performance more than writing, and the same holds true here, with Macdonald's beautiful Lowland lilt breathing life into a character who might otherwise have joined a long line of semi-interchangeable Disney princesses.
But for the Pixar Animation crew it’s just another number in their unbelievable string of hits: “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), “Cars 2” (2011) . . .
The " Toy Story " films essentially put computer animated family features on the map while " Toy Story 3 " went on to gross over $1 billion, " Finding Nemo " is getting a 3D re-release September 14, people are still clamoring for a sequel to " The Incredibles ," and " WALL-E " and " Up " featured some of the most effective animation that shot straight for your emotions with little to no dialogue.
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Two of the writers (Mark Andrews, Steve Purcell) were responsible for "Cars," one of the weaker entries in the Pixar canon, and another (Brenda Chapman) was behind Dreamworks' tepid "The Prince of Egypt."
Releasing just one picture per year, they have seen fit to go the lazy sequel route, first with 2010's amiable but arguably lesser " Toy Story 3 " and then with 2011's appalling " Cars 2 ," a desperate, charmless affair that spit on everything that made 2006's " Cars " so special.
"Brave," the company's fifth feature-length release since being purchased by Disney in 2006, shows a more evolved strain of corporate influence hinted by last year's DOA "Cars" sequel.
But for the Pixar Animation crew it’s just another number in their unbelievable string of hits: “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), “Cars 2” (2011) . . .
P.S. Brave is preceded by “La Luna,” a typically Pixar-y exercise in short-form wordless whimsy and wonder that echoes some of the main feature’s themes and ends with what could be read as a sly inversion of a DreamWorks hallmark.
"Brave" has been paired with one of Pixar's lesser shorts, 2011 Oscar nominee "La Luna," with which it shares a simple story of traditions passed through generations.
As an added treat, "Brave" is preceded by Enrico Casarosa's Oscar-nominated short, "La luna," adding seven minutes to the running time of Pixar's shortest feature since "Monsters, Inc."
The short film that accompanies the feature, Enrico Casarosa’s beguiling La Luna, suggests that Pixar’s talent pool hasn’t run dry.
The animated short before " Brave ," " La Luna ," tapped into that better than " Brave " did and it was only seven minutes long.
The story — of a rebellious princess who battles an imperious queen and is beset by magic spells — is a twist for Pixar but as familiar to its parent company Disney as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Beauty and the Beast and The Princess and the Frog.
For more than half a century and starting back in 1938 with "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," Disney quickly became known as and then maintained its reputation for being the studio most associated with quality, family friendly animated films, and later solely resurrected the movie musical genre, albeit in animated form.
Animated films, like many fairy tales, rarely do much with birth mothers other than kill them off (for more on this, see Finding Nemo or Bambi or Cinderella or Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs — the list is endless).
But for the Pixar Animation crew it’s just another number in their unbelievable string of hits: “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), “Cars 2” (2011) . . .
Though it features some of the most exquisite animation ever put to film, it falls short of the benchmark set by the peerless triptych of Ratatouille, WALL-E, and Up released at the end of the last decade .
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For there is, alas, no denying that the movie takes an awfully long time finding a tone that it wants to stick with, and so we have broad physical comedy matched with winsome, sugary sentiment and vigorous swashbuckling, with all of it playing against the backdrop of fantastic mythic adventure, and the marriage of all these different modes is nowhere remotely near as effortless as the comic/tragic slurry of Toy Story 3 or the adventure/domestic drama of Up , for example.
As good as WALL-E (2008) and Up (2009) are, no one would argue that their endings are as good as their beginnings.
But for the Pixar Animation crew it’s just another number in their unbelievable string of hits: “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), “Cars 2” (2011) . . .
The " Toy Story " films essentially put computer animated family features on the map while " Toy Story 3 " went on to gross over $1 billion, " Finding Nemo " is getting a 3D re-release September 14, people are still clamoring for a sequel to " The Incredibles ," and " WALL-E " and " Up " featured some of the most effective animation that shot straight for your emotions with little to no dialogue.
For there is, alas, no denying that the movie takes an awfully long time finding a tone that it wants to stick with, and so we have broad physical comedy matched with winsome, sugary sentiment and vigorous swashbuckling, with all of it playing against the backdrop of fantastic mythic adventure, and the marriage of all these different modes is nowhere remotely near as effortless as the comic/tragic slurry of Toy Story 3 or the adventure/domestic drama of Up , for example.
Releasing just one picture per year, they have seen fit to go the lazy sequel route, first with 2010's amiable but arguably lesser " Toy Story 3 " and then with 2011's appalling " Cars 2 ," a desperate, charmless affair that spit on everything that made 2006's " Cars " so special.
But for the Pixar Animation crew it’s just another number in their unbelievable string of hits: “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), “Cars 2” (2011) . . .
The " Toy Story " films essentially put computer animated family features on the map while " Toy Story 3 " went on to gross over $1 billion, " Finding Nemo " is getting a 3D re-release September 14, people are still clamoring for a sequel to " The Incredibles ," and " WALL-E " and " Up " featured some of the most effective animation that shot straight for your emotions with little to no dialogue.
There’s little of the adult feeling that drove “ Up ” or “ Toy Story 3 ,” either.