Disney Pixar’s latest release Brave has a ton of expectation to live up to, and unfortunately the film falls a bit short to such predecessors as Wall-E or Toy Story.
Perhaps this is due to the fact that the bar has been raised so high by projects released by the renowned studio, but Brave doesn’t quite live up to the lofty standards.
This is not to say that it is not a good movie. On the contrary, Brave is a beautifully animated feature and the first from the studio to feature a female character in the lead role.
Brave is a coming of age story of young princess Merida (voiced by an extremely feisty Kelly Macdonald), who prefers archery and horseback riding, to the ‘proper’ behaviour becoming of a lady of station.
Merida seeks the help of a witch in the woods to alter her previously pre-destined fate, and ultimately receives more than she bargains for.
As stated earlier the movie is quite stunning, as are all Pixar films, but the story leaves something to be desired.
The film seems to be little more than the rebellious teen lashing out at her parents set in 10th Century Scotland, rather than an epic coming of age story.
It is nice to see a female lead, and Macdonald does a wonderful job portraying Merida, but the rest of the voice cast could easily be replaced and do not offer much depth or support to the film.
There are some genuinely funny parts to the film, and the characters of the three little princes provide some hilarious hijinx, but it seems that this film was more of a vehicle aimed at providing an over-arching message or moral, and is not just pure entertainment.
The film lacks the heroic fantasy aspect that the previews had provided glimpses of, and in its place is a film that captures the often turbulent and complex relationship between family members.
