Brave - Review

The newest Disney/Pixar film Brave follows Princess Merida on her quest for independence but she runs into a bump in the road while trying to change her fate after her parents attempt to arrange her marriage.


I went into Brave excited but, like many others, I was a bit confused on exactly what the story was about. I gathered from the trailers that Merida wanted to change her fate because she was set to be betrothed and was not happy about it but that was about it. Everything else I was a bit in the dark about. However, I think that was the best way to go into it. I really enjoyed this one and I think it definitely was Pixar's redemption from Cars 2. The voices were great, the basic plot was good, and the animation was fantastic. I seriously think visually it was Pixar's best film to date. Merida's hair alone was extremely impressive. I also think Pixar has come a long way with their animation of humans. The facial expressions on those animated characters was great. I was really blown away.

My main problem, and I have heard others say the same thing, is it felt a bit rushed. The film is about 90-100 minutes long and I think they just tried to fit too much in that time span. Certain parts of the film had the potential to be great but they felt a little cut short due to time restraint.

I will now discuss some spoilers to reveal my other issue with the film, so click the jump to see what it is.





My other main issue was the lack of a true villain. Sure, we have the witch who turns Merida's mom and brothers into bears and the ancient prince who was the other bear, but they don't really become true antagonists at any point. The witch basically just sucked at her job and tried to scare Merida away but failed. The ancient prince just happened to have gone to the same witch years ago and was trying to attack everyone because he became a real bear. At the end when Merida and her mother kill the bear the prince's spirit is freed and Merida's family returns to normal because the spell was broken. I feel like it was too easy and too quick. I expected an evil witch who curses the family. I didn't expect a witch who quits being one just because she sucks at magic.


Neither of those are enough to make me say I didn't like Brave, though. I really enjoyed it. My theater was full of kids and they all seemed to have enjoyed it. My boyfriend and I loved it. The only disadvantage we had was getting there a little late and having to sit in the front row and try to watch a 3D movie. I'll have to see it again for that reason but it was good. The Pixar short, La Luna, was fantastic as well. I really loved that one. It was a lot better than that short that was before Up.