It's nice to see such a strong positive female protagonist in a Pixar film!

Rating: 7/10 (4 July 2012)

'BRAVE': Three and a Half Stars (Out of Five)
'BRAVE' marks many firsts for Pixar; it's the studio's first fairy tale as well as it's first film featuring a female protagonist. Pixar also completely rewrote their animation system in order to give the audience the most state-of-the-art visuals possible and the feature is the first film to use Dolby Atmos sound as well. The movie is a little darker than other Pixar films and tells the tale of a rebellious Scottish princess who accidentally brings a curse upon her family that puts her love for her mother to the ultimate test. The story is a bit like classic fairy tales from yesteryear and not nearly as dumbed down as something like Disney's 'TANGLED'. It doesn't live up to the very best of Pixar or Disney's animated films but it is better than average in my opinion. It's nice to see a slightly more mature and dark fairy tale film from the studios as well.
Kelly Macdonald stars as the voice of Princess Merida, daughter of King Fergus (Billy Connolly) and Queen Elinor (Emma Thompson). At a young age Merida was given a bow by her father and has since trained to be an expert archer; to the joy of her father and the distaste of her mother. Her tomboy ways displease the Queen who would very much like her daughter to be a more ladylike Princess and this has caused conflict between the two for many years. When Elinor informs Merida that she's to be betrothed to the firstborn of one of her dad's allied clans Merida runs away and finds a witch (Julie Walters) to grant her one wish. This brings a curse to her family that will truly test the strength and willpower of Merida as well as her love for her mother.
The film was written by Mark Andrews, Brenda Chapman, Steve Purcell and Irene Mecchi and directed by Andrews, Chapman and Purcell. It's a little slow in places but for the most part is a well made and entertaining animated film. It looks fantastic and although it wasn't quite as thrilling as it possibly could have been I appreciated that it wasn't packed with simplified childish humor. For the most part I enjoyed the story and by film's end was somewhat touched by the mother/daughter story. It was nice to see such a strong positive female protagonist in a Pixar film for a change and the message was one definitely worth teaching kids. It might be a little too dark and scary (at times) for really young children but for the most part it's a good kids film and another impressive inclusion in Pixar's resume.
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