It's ironic for the first Pixar movie with actual magic involved has absolutely no movie magic of its own.

Rating: 4/10 (26 June 2013)

After Cars 2 showed a potential creative blip following Pixar's peak with Toy Story 3, Brave has come to confirm the stall. Perhaps the geniuses after the last run of charming films are basking in the success of their films and now the interns are having a go just to keep the Pixar factory line churning. The question is though, is it really worth it? Financially, sure, Brave was an obvious hit, but it's ironic for the first Pixar movie with actual magic involved has absolutely no movie magic of its own. Sure, the detail in the animation is impressive, but the story is just dire. It exclaims its themes (they say "fate" in the annoying Scottish accent far too many times), its content comes from nowhere, the characters are irritating and none of the sight gags are funny. There's a complete disregard for the adults in the audience as it's all spoonfed yet none of it is relatable or means anything. Worst of all, the protagonist isn't brave at all, just precocious. The direction is so unimaginative with very boring choice of shots and edits to display the action. To its credit, the original songs are pretty good but it just highlights how it's a by-the-numbers film. Even though my expectations were low, Brave is very disappointing, especially for Pixar. Lets hope they never sink this low again.
4/10