Brave (2012)
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Brave Movie Review
Brave is a 2012 animated fantasy adventure film directed by Mark Andrews and Brenda Chapman. It is one of Pixar’s most atypical and most underrated films.
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“There are those who say fate is something beyond our command.
That destiny is not our own, but I know better.
Our fate lives within us, you only have to be brave enough to see it“
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It is about a Scottish princess who defies to the idea of marriage. She goes out of her way to stop her mother from betrothing her by turning her into a bear. The two have to mend their bond in order to return things to the way they were. Yes, this is very much a Disney film in its heart and overall approach. And that is the main reason why so many Pixar fans oppose to the film, but I am a huge Disney fan so obviously this flick appealed to me a lot and I just loved seeing Pixar make a princess/period piece for once.
The film is a wonderful adventure story with great fantastical elements serving as a terrific original, new fairytale. It features a great feminist message very well executed because the film portrays Merida as flawed and selfish too and she, along with her mother, has to change. That was great to witness. Yes, the film has its ‘Brother Bear’ influences as well as a definite modern Disney princess film vibe, but it still manages to be its own thing.
Merida is a terrific Disney princess. She’s actually very well developed, complex and quite well voiced too with great emotion. She is admirably tough, but still caring and also pleasantly adventurous. Queen Elinor is another great character as this overly strict, yet still caring mother and the two have such a stupendous relationship, so well written. They perfectly portrayed the inability to talk properly to your mother or daughter and how that can ruin a relationship.
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King Fergus is such a goofy, fun man and the most amusing character in the film. The Witch is very memorable and also very amusing, but she got little screen time and served more as a plot device. All of the lords are fine, but definitely too comedic, goofy and childish which was a problem to me, but more on that later. The voice acting is absolutely fantastic though and just the fact that this happens in Scotland and they got actors from that country is amazing as they all sound very authentic leading to a very different than usual animated film.
Brave is gorgeously animated, there is no denying that. Some of the backgrounds can be flawed at times and will not age well, but for the most part the film looks splendid with particularly the character design being top-notch. Pixar has always made humans look more realistic and here that is even more so the case as Merida in particular is not a pretty woman but is more grounded and flawed in her looks. I just loved that authenticity to the humans’ looks. The bears look great too, the forest is wonderful, the darker and brighter colors are both well utilized and the highlights are green, blue and orange.
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As I have already said above, Brave has its comedic problem. Not only the lords, but also the king and the brothers all are immensely comedic and all act as sidekick characters and that was just too much. I did like some scenes quite a bit, especially with Maudie who’s quite amusing and the camera’s over-reliance on her boobs is honestly odd but quite funny. I also liked the king and the brothers who are humorously mischievous, but the lords are too goofy and sometimes the humor was too immature and thus not in the line with the rest of the film which is more darker and dramatic in quality.
My favorite scenes include the arrow competition scene, the bonding scenes in the forest and of course the final conflict and the bear realization. That was so well done and quite dark. Mor’du is such a powerful villain as this creepy looking, almost mythical, majestic bear. Yes, the trailers made it seem that this was going to be more adventurous and darker, but even though I wanted more of that, I still liked a lot its familial drama elements.
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The dialogue in Brave is also very strong as is the emotional investment. The humor is problematic as is the tone as the shifts are not well handled, but the action is very well executed undoubtedly. I also found the pacing and score to be pretty solid, but I could see that it had two directors instead of one as the film does not feel cohesive enough. But overall, it’s a very good, underappreciated Pixar flick.
Brave does have its tonal problems and the humor is overly present and sometimes it doesn’t work, but other than that, the film is actually very good. The voice acting is terrific, the Scottish setting and time period are so well established and the characters are all very well developed with the highlights being Merida and Queen Elinor who share a wonderful, complex mother-daughter relationship. I also loved its animation and its fantastical elements. It truly is a highly underrated Pixar film.
