Brave(2012)- User Reviews

Pixar Animation Studios have made some of the best animated features to date. These include the groundbreaking “Toy Story” films, the charming “Finding Nemo”, and the creative “Monsters, Inc.” All of these movies center on male-driven characters that people can relate to. Now, Pixar is giving audiences a female lead in their latest offering “Brave”. How does it work having a female lead take the stand? Somewhat. There are some minor issues involve the story, but everything else is good. “Brave” is not one of Pixar's greatest movies of all time, yet it does have a uniqueness to its style.

The story involves Princess Merida of Scotland (Kelly Macdonald) doing everything against her mother's wishes. For you see, Merida's mother wants her to be a traditional princess by having Merida follow all the rules. So, Merida decides she wants to change her fate and be who she wants to be. Merida goes to see a witch who gives her a treat that can change her mother; it does in an unexpected way. Now, Merida must have faith in herself and believing in her mother's ways.

Let's get one thing straight: “Brave” is a good movie for families and Pixar lovers. The cast does a pretty good job in their respected roles. This is the filmmakers got actual Scottish actors, like Billy Connolly and Craig Ferguson, to voice Scottish warriors. The music is great as it provides the listener good Scottish music as there are plenty of bagpipes. But let's be honest, the most impressive aspect about any Pixar movie is the animation, and this film is no exception. The character designs are probably the best out of any Pixar film and the landscapes are absolutely beautiful. You can definitely tell that the animators who designed this world really put their time and effort into making this movie come to life.

But what really makes the movie that may come off to some people is the fact that the story could have been handled so much better. This means that we could have had a story that showed Merida's fate actually changing. But instead what we got was mother and daughter story. The only good thing that might come of this is that the female audience might enjoy this type of story; not so much for men.

Also, the pacing went a little too quick and the movie had a good ending, but it could have gone a bit longer. Had the film shown some more scenes with Merida and her mother, then it would have been perfect.

Is “Brave” one of Pixar's weaker movies? No. Could it have been improved with its story? Yes. While not on par with its other films, “Brave” is the result of Pixar going in the right direction by having a female lead, they just need a better story to support it.