Pixar or no Pixar; Brave does have a few strengths, but a lot of flaws

Rating: 6/10 (25 June 2012)

First I want to start this review by saying that I'm not a Pixar fan. Frankly, I think Pixar is one of the most overrated companies ever. While they have churned out a few great films now and then (the first Toy Story, Finding Nemo, Up and yes, both Cars films), I've found most of their films to be quite adequate and unremarkable. Therefore I wasn't going into "Brave" expecting a so-called Pixar masterpiece. But rather a masterpiece on its own. While I had my doubts, I still hoped to be blown away. And while some parts lived up to my expectations, other parts did disappoint me.
Despite that I'm lukewarm about most Pixar features, I shall admit that Pixar had really never made a bad movie (even Cars 2, which everyone seemed to despise, was quite enjoyable, despite its flaws). Brave doesn't fall into that category, but it's still without doubt one of Pixar's most flawed movies.
To start with the positive aspects of this film; The animation is a definite top-notch. Lush, detailed and absolutely gorgeous. The cute and satisfying prologue is reminiscent of Disney's Dinosaur and Jurassic Park The Lost World. The score of Patrick Doyle is absolutely wonderful and the few songs are enjoyable as well. The Scottish accents give the film authenticity and the voices are perfect for the casts, especially Billy Connolly as Merida's goofy and fun-loving father, Fergus, which is the strongest character on the film.
So where does the film fall flat? One word (an aspect which several reviewers and especially an early review of Ain't it Cool-News were pointing out); the narrative. The film lacks a consistent storyline. After a fairly satisfying thirty minutes, the film turns another direction and becomes another "Brother Bear", which is one of Disney's most flawed and insipid features, in my opinion. While Brave never becomes an identical copy of the bear movie, the similarities are obvious enough to make the non-fans cringe. For there on, the movie loses some of its spark, becomes less engaging and introduces the viewers to some plot points which are even more insipid and laughable.
So how could I depict Brave as a whole? Its not a awful film, but it's indeed a frustrating one. How could a movie like this lack such a coherent narrative? While I don't find it as mediocre as Brother Bear, it's still less satisfying than what it could have been. But despite all these problems, I'm still giving Brave a few points for the positive aspects.