Strike 2.

Rating: Null/10 (13 July 2012)

After the panned "Cars 2", Pixar hoped to get back on base with the 6- year-in-the-making "Brave" - unfortunately it will have to wait for the next pitch. Certainly, not a bad film but one that relies less on the visual fireworks "Wall-E" or crackling inside jokes ("Monsters, Inc) of previous Pixar films and more on sheer plot. Unfortunately, the plot they choose centers around feminist empowerment that would have felt dated had the premiere been in 1983. In fact, the writer Brenda Chapman wholesale lifted the plot from Marlo Thomas' 1972 record album "Free to be You and Me" padding it with some magical elements later on in the film. Unfortunately, the characters don't step in and save the plot. The royal family including Merida are types more than characters, the triplets are more background than characters, and the bad guys are all menace and hair. And what's with the love/hate relationship movie-goers have with bears anyway? For every Yogi, there's a "The Edge" - if the film doesn't teach us tolerance for girls, at least it might help out acceptance of bears. In short, re-rent "Wall-E" the height of what might just turn out to be Pixar's bygone glory days.