Pixar's Official Apology for Cars 2.

Rating: 8/10 (25 June 2012)

I've been a big Pixar fan since the beginning. Sure, not all of their films were great. But, even at their lowest, their was always something good found in any Pixar movie. And then that fateful day came. June 24, 2011 saw the release of "Cars 2", a sequel that no one wanted to see. The first "Cars" was fine, but I think that it's universally accepted that it's definitely not a Pixar gem. That said, the sequel was awful. Sure, it continued the streak of opening #1 at the box office, but critics and audiences really ripped this sequel a new one.
The people at Pixar needed a movie to get audiences back in the theater seats and loving them again. And "Brave" is the first Pixar movie to indulge in what their corporate partner, Disney, has been doing in the majority of their animated films: a fairy tale.
So, is "Brave" good? There's some good things in it. Firstly, the animation is stellar, but I think that's the case with every Pixar movie. The backgrounds are so detailed and the colors are mesmerizing.
The characters are actually pretty good, too. Merida is the first female lead in a Pixar movie, played by Kelly Macdonald. At times she's a bit too whiny, but I have to admit that I have a soft spot for any defiant character in a movie. The mom and dad, played by Emma Thompson and Billy Connolly, are very likable and have a strong, some-what damaged relationship with their daughter. There's also a pair of triplets that almost make the movie. Their expressions are priceless and they provide the biggest laughs in the movie.
The rest of the supporting cast kind of falls flat. In the other Pixar movies, the supporting characters are given just as much personality and jokes as the main protagonists. A prime example is "Toy Story"; I remember Ham, Rex, and Mr. Potato Head just as much as I do Woody and Buzz. Here, we never get enough screen time with our supporting cast to really be invested in them.
A part of me really likes the fact that Pixar is doing their own take on a fairy tale. I guess I'm just kind of let down by the fact that they didn't bring anything new to the table. I admit that it's difficult to do new things to a formula that's been done to death, but I think Pixar could have done something really spectacular here. They were probably just playing it safe after the disaster that was "Cars 2".
Final verdict: Though definitely not Pixar's strongest film, "Brave" is still a delightful treat. The fact that's it's this good fills me with hope that Pixar will return to it's high form of storytelling and animation. It's a good idea to rush to your local cinema and give it a watch.