A delightful family film

Rating: 9/10 (23 February 2013)

Pixar is known for being one of the best studios around and certainly the best animation studio, making many films that are critical and commercial hits. But Pixar's stellar record took a big blow with the release of Cars 2, Pixar's first critical flop and commercially one of Pixar's weakest films. They needed strong follow-up and whilst its rating is not as strong as high as other Pixar Brave is still a very delightful family film.
In a medieval Scottish kingdom Merida (Kelly Macdonald) is a rebellious teenage princess who is skilled at archery and wants to decide her own fate. But her mother, the regal and diplomatic Queen Elinor (Emma Thompson) who wants her to act as a princess and teaches her everyday how to act. When she humiliates her mother during a ceremony Merida runs off into the woods and meets a witch (Julie Walters) who promises she can change Merida's destiny with a spell. But of course when there are witches and magic around things go array and Merida ends up with more then she bargained for.
The animation is stunning to look at. The designs of the people, scenery and buildings were fantastic, being very colourful and detailed: it is so noticeable when you look at Merida's ginger hair. The directors are able to get to sink the audience into a wonderful medieval world and there are great camera movements that make the action flow wonderfully.
Brave had a troubled production: it was originally going to be the first Pixar film to be directed by a woman, Brenda Chapman before being replaced by Mark Andrews. The film was originally intended to be a Brother Grimm's style fairy that was called The Bear and the Bow and was set to star Reese Witherspoon. What we got was a typical Disney Princess story of a young girl who wants to defy the conventions of her society and gets mixed up in a magical plot. There are certainly elements of films like The Little Mermaid and Aladdin as well as homages to Pinocchio and Robin, but the production was able to twist these elements. There is no wicked stepmother character trying to seize the throne or be evil and the witch is more misguided then evil. The basic themes of the mother-daughter, the misunderstanding between the two as Queen Elinor wants to do the best for her daughter and her kingdom. The other theme is the characters that have to uphold they role of duty and ceremony whilst wanting freedom to control their lives. It is a balancing act the characters have to learn to understand other and how they roles in society.
A great voice cast was assembled for the film, Macdonald, Thompson, Billy Connery being the main three and many excellent actors like Kevin McKidd and Robbie Coltrane in minor roles. For an actress in her 30s was brilliant as teenage character, giving a real performance as she showed the range of emotions and actions the character goes through. Macdonald was a better casting choice then Witherspoon because she would have been too big of a name for the film.
Brave does supply on the comedy stakes, giving us plenty of physical comedy and verbal jokes. It is really funny seeing a bear trying to be regal. It is funny film but Pixar's strength is also delivering a heart story with subtle, real emotion and some fine action sequences. The film does follow the Hero with a Thousand Face formula as both Merida and Elinor learn from their journey.
The first 30 minutes and the final act are excellent pieces of cinema, with great drama and comedy, plenty of action and focused on its themes of family relationships and female empowerment. But the middle was when there was a little dip in quality. The second act is still good and better then most films, but it felt like a different film: particular the crooky witch. The witch even leaves an answering message that felt like it belonged more to a Shrek film then a Pixar or Disney film. The humour from the witch did not seem to match the rest of the film.
Brave is a great family film. Pixar has made better film in the past but it is still an excellent watch shows that Pixar do put a lot of effort in their films. Boys, girls and adults will enjoy the film. It is easily the best Scottish set medieval film. Please note I really hate Braveheart!