A change from the norm for 'princess' animated films but not as 'brave' as the title suggests...

Rating: Null/10 (6 September 2012)

Saw this yesterday and enjoyed it, with its effortless voice acting, compelling characters, good dialogue, realistically rendered backgrounds convincing, character animation blurring the line between animated and human and a fitting score but the title implies something bold, which it doesn't quite deliver on.
The headstrong Merida defying her mum's wishes for betrothal to follow her own path is one element of gutsiness, but as the film progresses, it becomes an amalgamation of various past Disney (or wannabe-Disney) films and somewhat of Dreamworks as well.
Overall: I do like that the mother-daughter relationship is the heart of the conflict, but the way it was executed is pretty trite, if entertaining and invovling, so in a way it makes a titular promise it doesn't exactly follow though like Pixar got scared and reverted to formulaic plotting.
Still an 'original' story (as in not stated to be based on pre-existing material) and an interesting, sometimes funny and well animated one, just not the fresh, daring film advertised. There's a stinger gag after the credits-6.6/10