Directed by: Mark Andrews, Brenda Chapman, Steve Purcell
Starring: Kelly Macdonald, Billy Connolly, Emma Thompson
Rated: PG
100 minutes
The Scottish princess Merida (Kelly Macdonald) in a scene from “Brave.” (Courtesy photo)
I’m not sure what to think of “Brave.” On the one hand, Pixar has bounced back from “Cars 2,” the company’s first miss. The animation here is impeccable, the story is fun, and as always, Pixar teaches us life lessons in an original way. And yet, something about “Brave” feels generic, even–dare I say it–ordinary. And if Pixar’s history has taught us anything, it’s that the company is capable of extraordinary movies. So what happened?
“Brave” follows Merida (Kelly Macdonald, “Trainspotting”), a Scottish princess in a distant and mythical past. Her father, Fergus (Billy Connolly, “The Boondock Saints”), is the king of the four major clans of the region, a man larger than life and full of stories of his past battles, namely the one against a bear that cost him his leg. Meanwhile, Queen Elinor (Emma Thompson, “Sense and Sensibility”), Merida’s mother, tries to keep everything in order around the castle.
Merida is of an age where it’s time to start preparing to marry and eventually become the Queen herself, so Elinor spends her time teaching Merida how to be proper. But the girl longs to be free, to be off riding her horse in the forest beyond the castle walls and practicing her archery. She relishes her few moments to herself. She wonders, naturally, whether her fate will be to have her own adventures or if she will be locked forever into the stuffy regal lifestyle.
When Elinor invites the three other clans to the castle to offer suitors, Merida throws a fit. This isn’t what she wants, of course, and she’s not going to sit back and let her life slip out of her grasp. So she goes to a witch to ask for a spell that will change her mother’s mind about the marriage. But the spell has some undesired effects, and suddenly Merida finds herself racing against the clock to reverse the magic and heal the fractured bond between her and her mother.
Written by the directors, all of which are new to having such a large role in a Pixar production, “Brave” is surprisingly unadventurous. The trailers and premise suggest that this is a story about a quest, but it isn’t, at least not literally. For instance, it’s not clear how Merida’s archery skills help her in any way after the first third of the movie. Also, when Merida goes anywhere beyond the castle’s walls, there is a cheaply convenient line of little blue will-o’-the-wisps that leads her around (er, leads her to her fate).
The real disappointment of “Brave,” though, lies in the way it spoon-feeds us a message about choosing our own destinies. This theme is clear within the first minute of the movie, and by the end, we’ve heard the spiel so much it sounds like an SAT essay. And somehow all the characters shift to see things Merida’s way, but not gradually or with any subtlety. Oh, and let’s not forget the title–because the best titles are just character descriptions, right? (Come to think of it, “Brave” could have been the title of any Pixar movie so far.)
All writing issues aside, the production value is top-notch, as we’ve come to expect from Pixar. Animated gags and curly hair have never looked so good. The voice actors are energetic and kooky and, thankfully, their Scottish accents are understandable to American ears. In addition to the top-billed actors, we get lively vocal performances from Julie Walters, Craig Ferguson, Robbie Coltrane, Kevin McKidd, and Pixar staple John Ratzenberger.
The best characters, though, might be the silent triplets, Merida’s brothers, who exist purely to pull pranks and steal cookies. That being said, when the best part of a movie is the visual gags—gags that have nothing to do with the story but are just fun to watch—then there are some fundamental problems with the script.
Of course, I’ve been comparing “Brave” to previous Pixar movies, which is a little unfair. “Brave” was good, to be sure. I liked it, as did the swarms of children in the theater where I saw it. But the Pixar comparison is inevitable, because there is such a heavy precedent. And unfortunately, when a movie comes from a company with a history as full of instant classics as Pixar’s, just plain “good” can be disappointing.
Danny Eisenberg is a 2010 graduate of the Bromfield School and is currently a student at the University of Pennsylvania.
