We all love Pixar. If anyone were ever to come to me and say "But Joe, I really don't love Pixar" well I would have a little chortle pat you on the back and say "Golly you are a funny one, come on now and we will watch Finding Nemo". Why is Pixar so wonderful? Cause they're wonderful. End of. Sure Cars is smeh and Cars 2 is triple shmeh but that's it. I'd say two duds out of twelve ain't bad. But wait, Brave is the thirteenth feature film out of Pixar and you know, some people find the number thirteen a bit fishy. So will Brave succumb to the unlucky numbers all consuming power or is it just crazy awesome?
The first thing that every review of this film should say is, that freakin' hair. Jesus, it is beautiful. The most spectacular head of hair seen in any film, ever. If you can think of any hair, real or animated that is better that that most splendid web of red, please share with the group. But really, just look at it. I literally can't stop. I am typing right now on pure faith alone as I stare at that wonderful picture. A film no matter how poor it is deserves at least some commendation for letting me stare at that hair for an hour and a half. But it's not just the hair (seriously, that hair) everything in this film looks spectacularly beautiful. I don't want to say it's the best looking Pixar film ever because I love staring into space more than roaming the glens but it is at the very least (by that logic) a close second. It's not just the scenery that looks quite magical and surprisingly photo realistic at times, and it's not just the luxuriously bountiful hair but also the gosh damn terrifying bears. I suppose if there is a bad guy in this film, it's the epicly imposing black bear Mordu. It's reminiscent of that terrifying scene in Fox & the Hound but ten times worse. In one scene Merida falls into the ruins of a castle and... well I'll just say I really don't scare easily and that bit kinda creeped me out. Also shout out to generic and yet pleasant Scottish music.
So if this film is to me essentially hair-porn then rating it on that front this is a 10/10, but for you normal none creepy people you probably want to know story and entertainment wise if it is equal that hairy lust...
Merida (hair) is a feisty young princess who is being prepared by her overbearing Mother to be married of to one of the eldest sons of one of the three clans that her Father (voiced charmingly by Billy Connolly) governs. Merida being the adventurous lass she is has no ambitions to be tied down to a man she has never met, if a man at all, and would much rather run off on her utterly massive horse and shoot arrows at trees. Of course this boisterous attitude comes at a high price and it's not long before she makes some bad life choices and regrets all of her hot-headedness, swiftly learning some life lessons before the film is over. Somewhat like Up I really had only the smallest idea of what this films story was about until I sat through it however unlike Up this isn't due to charming originality and more advertising that focuses on Scotland looking awesome. Fair enough really. The story is perfectly workable and well put together but you could say it lacks the polish Pixar usually give to it's predictable arcs. Sure the story of rejection in Toy Story is a familiar one but there is a little extra zing to make it special. Here the zing doesn't come from a place of warmth and honesty but a more Shrek-like anachronistic home which may work perfectly for that brand of humor, but it's always been a style I've found lazy, cheap and ultimately tacky as all hell. There are only a few examples but enough to sour what is otherwise a moderately period appropriate film. Usually when Pixar come to make a film on a subject matter they have a little something to add, here it feels more like that special addition was torn out leaving a rather generic family film.
That aside it still doesn't try and pick up the slack in the emotional department Coming out of Brave I realized that (and this is excluding Cars 2 which I didn't go to with a Pixar mind anyhow) it has been a long time since I came out of a Pixar film without a tear in my eye, or more likely, reams of tears streaming down my face. It's a really dull thing to be said but really this film is good but it's not Pixar good. It's simple and quite lovely at times but it feels closer to Tangled than anything else. Not that that is a bad thing by any means, I did enjoy Tangled and actually Disney has been picking up their game as of late but there is no real heart to it. Like the new Disney films it seems to be trying too hard where films like Up and Monsters Inc felt almost effortless. They flowed.
I'm not really sure if I can really put across why this film just isn't quite up to scratch. I think the best way for me to say it is that a week ago when I was stuck in an incredibly hard bed, in an unbearably hot room finding it impossible to find a restful moment, I watched Toy Story 3 on my iPhone twice, consecutively. Then the next day I was looking at what was on TV and the last forty-five minutes of Toy Story 3 was on....so I watched it again. Brave it yet to hit DVD or iPhone or even TV but I can tell you now, I have no desire to sit and watch Brave over and over to ease a horrible night. I won't think of it and stop if only to hold back tears. It hasn't effected a chapter of my life like Monsters Inc or Toy Story and I find my nonchalance about it somewhat more distressing than the pure crap of Cars 2. Still... Brave is good....
JO
Merida (hair) is a feisty young princess who is being prepared by her overbearing Mother to be married of to one of the eldest sons of one of the three clans that her Father (voiced charmingly by Billy Connolly) governs. Merida being the adventurous lass she is has no ambitions to be tied down to a man she has never met, if a man at all, and would much rather run off on her utterly massive horse and shoot arrows at trees. Of course this boisterous attitude comes at a high price and it's not long before she makes some bad life choices and regrets all of her hot-headedness, swiftly learning some life lessons before the film is over. Somewhat like Up I really had only the smallest idea of what this films story was about until I sat through it however unlike Up this isn't due to charming originality and more advertising that focuses on Scotland looking awesome. Fair enough really. The story is perfectly workable and well put together but you could say it lacks the polish Pixar usually give to it's predictable arcs. Sure the story of rejection in Toy Story is a familiar one but there is a little extra zing to make it special. Here the zing doesn't come from a place of warmth and honesty but a more Shrek-like anachronistic home which may work perfectly for that brand of humor, but it's always been a style I've found lazy, cheap and ultimately tacky as all hell. There are only a few examples but enough to sour what is otherwise a moderately period appropriate film. Usually when Pixar come to make a film on a subject matter they have a little something to add, here it feels more like that special addition was torn out leaving a rather generic family film.
That aside it still doesn't try and pick up the slack in the emotional department Coming out of Brave I realized that (and this is excluding Cars 2 which I didn't go to with a Pixar mind anyhow) it has been a long time since I came out of a Pixar film without a tear in my eye, or more likely, reams of tears streaming down my face. It's a really dull thing to be said but really this film is good but it's not Pixar good. It's simple and quite lovely at times but it feels closer to Tangled than anything else. Not that that is a bad thing by any means, I did enjoy Tangled and actually Disney has been picking up their game as of late but there is no real heart to it. Like the new Disney films it seems to be trying too hard where films like Up and Monsters Inc felt almost effortless. They flowed.
I'm not really sure if I can really put across why this film just isn't quite up to scratch. I think the best way for me to say it is that a week ago when I was stuck in an incredibly hard bed, in an unbearably hot room finding it impossible to find a restful moment, I watched Toy Story 3 on my iPhone twice, consecutively. Then the next day I was looking at what was on TV and the last forty-five minutes of Toy Story 3 was on....so I watched it again. Brave it yet to hit DVD or iPhone or even TV but I can tell you now, I have no desire to sit and watch Brave over and over to ease a horrible night. I won't think of it and stop if only to hold back tears. It hasn't effected a chapter of my life like Monsters Inc or Toy Story and I find my nonchalance about it somewhat more distressing than the pure crap of Cars 2. Still... Brave is good....
JO
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