Highland Fling For Young Girls

Rating: 7/10 (20 June 2012)

"Brave" is basically a mother-daughter tale set in the Scottish Highlands and spiced with mirth, myth and magic. It is suitably action-packed and centred around a young red-haired heroine that most of today's young girls can relate with. However, its magical elements tend to run away with the story and leave older viewers dissatisfied.
The heroine is Merida (Kelly MacDonald), a skilled archer and impetuous daughter of King Fergus (Billy Connolly) and Queen Elinor (Emma Thompson). Determined to carve her own path in life, Merida defies an age-old suitor custom sacred to the uproarious lords of the land: the massive Lord MacGuffin (Kevin McKidd), surly Lord Macintosh (Craig Ferguson) and cantankerous Lord Dingwall (Robbie Coltrane). Merida's actions inadvertently unleash chaos and fury in the kingdom, and when she turns to an eccentric old Witch (Julie Walters) for help, she is granted an ill-fated wish. The ensuing peril forces Merida to discover the meaning of true bravery in order to undo a beastly curse before it's too late.
The first half of "Brave" is suitably absorbing, fleshing out the characters and personalities, especially of Merida and her mother who are the strongest individuals in conflict against each other. The others in the cast, especially the males, are mostly presented as caricatures, with all of them behaving like buffoons. The free-spirited Merida will not take her pick of them as her suitor - despite Queen Elinor's attempts to bend her daughter's will to the dictates of custom and tradition.
The story gets a bit weirder in the second half when it takes on a body-switch twist. From this point on, the battle of wills between mother and daughter is all but put aside as our attention turns to Merida's new crisis. Some reviewers have attributed the movie's lack of plot coherence to the fact that story creator Brenda Chapman left the project midway, leaving Mark Andrews to maintain the directorial reins. I wish to stay neutral on this debate.
However, I get the feeling that the plot is missing something when we consider that Merida, in pursuing her right to be 'liberated' rejects all suitors, but leaves her future and that of her 'kingdom' unresolved. Verdict: Not as memorable as "Finding Nemo" and "Up", but entertaining for the kids, nonetheless. (Full review at limchangmoh.blogspot.com)