Pixar's good movie

Rating: 7/10 (8 July 2012)

One movie company I've had faith in these past few years to pull out the great films: Pixar. Wall-E, Up, Toy Story, Monsters, Inc., they've just kept them coming and some of these films are extremely ground breaking. Not just for animation but the story and love that they put behind it. This year they bring us Brave, a tale of a princess who wants to change her fate and follow her own path. Yeah, the Disney story that has been done to death, but this is Pixar, they're bound to do something different with it. So after watching the trailers, I wasn't sure what to make of the film but like I said, it's Pixar, I couldn't skip out on it. One thing I have to warn you is that if you've seen the trailer, this is complete opposite of what you would expect.
Princess Merida, a free-spirited and adventurous teenager is informed by her mother that she is to be betrothed to one of her father's allied clans: Dingwall, Macintosh, or MacGuffin. Despite her mother's attempts to explain the necessity of the marriage her by telling her a legend of a power-hungry prince who broke off from his duty and caused the ruin of a kingdom, Merida is dissatisfied with the arranged marriage. The clans arrive with their first-born sons to compete in the Highland Games for Merida's hand, and the princess chooses archery as the main event. Entering the competition, Merida says that as the first-born of Clan DunBroch she is eligible to compete for her own hand, and later has a falling-out with Elinor. When Merida destroys a tapestry depicting her family and Elinor burns her bow, Merida flees to the forest. While there, the "Will O' The Wisps" lead her to the hut of an elderly witch who insists she is a wood carver. After some bargaining, the witch agrees to give Merida a spell, in the form of a cake, to change her mother.
I won't give away what is the big fate changer, but it is something not incredibly original. Though give where credit is due, as usual the animation is very lovely and they captured the beautiful land of Scotland very well. The characters were just a little too typical, the only one that I really enjoyed was Fergus played by Billy Connolly and I really wished to see more of him in the film, he was funny, charming and seemed like a real father that a lot of kids have. Even Elinor played by Emma Thompson, the mother who is almost dubbed the bad guy for making her daughter go through all the customs of being a princess, but those were the times and how ladies were "supposed to act". I wanted to find out more of her character and I think they could've added more sympathy if they explained that she had to go through something similar growing up. The three little brothers are the typical comedic relief and do the job well. As for our main character, Merida, there's nothing too special about her honestly. She seems to be a brat most of the time not giving anything a chance or taking responsibility for anything, a typical teenager. How are we supposed to look up to her if she behaves this way? There are some plot points that are never explained well, like how to reverse the spell that Merida places on her mother. At first the witch says to recite these lines, but Merida never does that and it seems like she doesn't care about her mother's fate. Then there's apparently another way they could reverse the spell all with the power of love. Also the ending seemed to be kind of a cop out and too predictable. However, I would say that the kids for sure are going to enjoy this movie. For the adults, it's nothing special, worth the watch, but just don't expect Pixar greatness.
7/10