Far From Pixar's Best

Rating: 6/10 (17 December 2012)

To clarify, Disney/Pixar's Brave is not the worst time at a movie theater you will ever have, it just falls drastically short of the usual Pixar pedigree. When a feisty princess in a fantasy realm -- oddly reminiscent of Dreamworks' How to Train Your Dragon -- asks a witch for a spell, she accidentally turns her overbearing mother into a giant bear (no pun intended) and must help turn her back into a human. Brave is charming and innocent in the way that most Pixar movies are, with none of the little winks and nudges included for the adult crowd that most other animation studios offer, but it's the fact that the story just feels so uninspired that really gets me. Pixar has a knack for being original and telling stories that have never been told before, and this story just feels like a run of the mill Disney fairy tale, without any of the charm that comes when based on a pre-existing story that you already know and love. The characters are fairly standard for such a film, and the plot is sluggish to reach its finale. Overall, the animation is beautiful and it should entertain, but don't expect another Pixar masterpiece.
I give Brave a 6 out of 10!