A Brave effort

Rating: 6/10 (7 April 2020)

Brave is about Merida, a Scottish princess who doesn't want to get married so badly that she turns to witchcraft to get out of it.
Here's the thing about Brave. It is very much a one-time go sort of movie. If I had no idea what was happening, it would be great. The best part of this movie occurs half way through. And the plot advances at a snails pace to get it there. I don't like using the term boring, as I think interest is subjective. But looking at it as objectively as I can, waiting nearly an hour for something to happen is boring. I was constantly checking the time bar. As soon as we got there, it got going well. It was funny, unpredictable, sad and fast paced.
However, Brave suffers for another reason. Pixar had been criticised for their lack of female protagonists and this is their response. We see this happen in a couple of movies. They try to show that girls have power too. Not that it isn't true, it is. But it overwhelms the movie. The fact of the matter is that in this time period women did have little control over their lives. I don't think this is the direction they needed to go in order to show this message.
Finally, they try to make Merida a quirky and relatable character. And I totally understand why? However something about a girl with a bow and an arrow feels predictable and cliché to me. It has picked up off the Hunger Games buzz and although Brave doesn't suffer because of this, it does make the whole archery scene feel overdone.
Overall, worth watching. It is good. I think it could be better. It is very much harkening back to the Disney princess days and I enjoyed that.