Review of Brave (2012) by Matt W — 12 Jul 2013

Brave. The new Pixar movie. it is better than Cars 1 and 2, and then I don't know where to place it really, and that is a good thing, as it seems to be at the same ranks of some of the other Pixar movies, although I do think it was lacking in certain areas, I was very surprised by the movie, after hearing some mixed opinions on it. What I found successful was firstly the way it moved, as the pacing was brilliant in this movie, and it kept me interested the whole time- also the ,central character, Merida's, father voiced by Billy Connolly was very amusing in this movie, and also Merida and Mother worked just down to the true relationships shown in this movie. Everything had such energy to it, and there was always a buzz to the movie. The landscapes are gorgeous, including the animation, and some of the designs are so interesting, and the music is beautiful. There are a few problems that I had, where I can't talk about them in detail as it will spoil it, but as the story progresses, a particular event occurs, and the relationship that happens here should have been more developed between these two characters, as after that the resolution didn't feel as strong as it could have been- also the villain in this movie, although not completely necessary to the plot in the way that it wasn't the main reason for the story, could have been used in the movie a little more, I believe, as it's design was so interesting.

The voice work in this movie is really great, and the energy put into the voices are brilliant. At first, when watching trailers, I thought the central character sounded a little fake in her voice over, with the almost forced Scottish accent, but I was wrong as it worked really well. The main thing about this movie is the heart that is served with it, and there is love in all the voice work here, and they really emphasize the family relationships in this movie. It is beautiful to watch, as the characters slowly develop through the movie. There isn't much more to say about the voice work apart from Connolly delivering every line with such energy, and it reflected the character so well, also Emma Thompson was brilliant as you slowly so the breakdown as she just wanted to do what was best for her daughter.

Something I truly respected was the fact that there are some scenes in this movie that go to some dark places, and the villain in this movie was actually quite scary, as the first reveal of the villain is actually quite brutal and full of terror, and for the first time the audience, full to the brim with kids, went silent, and there were many parents covering the children's eyes, and I really respected the fact that they had taken the risk to make a much darker villain, a much more aggressive and brutal villain. It was the Bane of Scotland, as I see him- without the brains. Also the finale is quite dark, it just had this magical feel to it, but mixed it with this darkness.

This is why a lot of people have problems with this film as they don't seem to like the way the film changes in tone, as something happens which changes the movie completely from where it was going, as it suddenly turns form dark to light, and then dark to light, and it tone changes, but I actually found that it changed extremely smoothly, and I really liked the twist that we have in this movie, as the way they handled it with such love and affection, just made me remember how it can be, and that Cars 2 was much more of a generic action animation- even though I was one of the few who actually enjoyed it more than the first Cars. The twist wasn't what I had a problem with, it was actually the fact that I think another 15 minutes could have made this movie something special, to give the villain a little more back story, as it is hard to give the villain much else to do, and also the central characters a few more scenes, to see a growing relationship. Now I will say that the main point of the movie is to show the ideas of relationships etc, and the villain isn't as important in this movie, compared to something like The Lion King or Toy Story 3, but this is more like the first Toy Story, where it is more based a round the relationships, and there is just a villain there.

This movie is truly beautiful, and I believe that it has got some unnecessary bad press, simply down to the fact that they hyped themselves up. Another hyping problem. It is like Prometheus all over again- which I also like. This is a moving, heartwarming and funny film that will sit comfortably in the Pixar frame, but probably won't be the highest, but definitely won't be the lowest, but the lowest Pixar movies aren't exactly bad.