"And may the lucky arrow find it's target."

Rating: 7/10 (11 May 2014)

I'm reading a handful of the reviews for this movie and it seems that a fair number of criticisms of the film have to do with Merida being essentially a spoiled brat for standing up against her mother Elinor. This leaves me scratching my head a bit because the last time I looked, it's the twenty-first century, and arranged marriages would be another one of those volleys in the so called war on women. If I were Merida, I wouldn't have wanted anything to do with either of the three clan rivals that might have ended up as her husband. Fortunately, the mother-daughter dynamic is set right again when a witch's spell casts Elinor into a bear, and in the second half of the film, Merida does all she can to restore her mother back to human form. Not to mention her mischievous brothers. Which by the way, when my five year old granddaughter saw them eat the magic cake, she immediately knew they would turn into bear cubs. Not too bad a job of drawing conclusions for a five year old.
I'm not too big into animated feature films but generally enjoy them once I tune in. This was no exception, as the story did a competent job of demonstrating how our fate lives within us and it's up to us to choose our own destiny. Merida is a role model with a bit more substance than simply being beautiful and waiting for a handsome prince to come along to make life a happily ever after affair.