If the words “Walt Disney Pictures” were the only ones to flash on the screen at the beginning of “Brave,” I would feel a lot differently about it. But “Pixar Animation Studios” soon follows, completely changing the expectations for the film.
“Brave” doesn’t live up to them. It’s a relentlessly conventional fairy tale, of the type in which Disney specializes. It has nothing of the whimsy and wonder of most Pixar pictures — or the surprisingly stimulating ideas that have made the studio’s films favorites of both children and their sometimes-cynical parents.
Even the marketing suggests “Brave” falls squarely into the Disney canon. Princess Merida is the first Pixar heroine to be a part of the Disney Princess collection. In fact, Merida is the first Pixar heroine, period: The studio’s never made a movie centered on a female before.
“Brave” doesn’t feature talking toys or futuristic robots. It takes place in medieval Scotland, though you wouldn’t know it from the heroine’s Hispanic name. Merida (voiced by Kelly Macdonald) is as unruly as her curly red locks. “A princess does not chortle” is one of the many admonishments she received from her mother, Queen Elinor (Emma Thompson), who’s thanklessly trying to groom her daughter to marry a nobleman from one of the other three clans.
| On screen |
| ‘Brave’ |
| 2 out of 4 stars |
| Stars: Kelly Macdonald, Emma Thompson, Billy Connolly |
| Directors: Mark Andrews, Brenda Chapman |
| Rated: PG for some scary action and rude humor |
| Running time: 100 minutes |
The three suitors, when they show up, prove exceedingly mediocre. Merida herself bests them at the archery match meant to decide who gets her hand. Elinor is outraged. King Fergus (Billy Connolly) is more amused. But the clansman are not and threaten an end to the alliance if the free-spirited princess doesn’t settle down and marry one of them.
Merida is offered a way out by a witch (Julie Walters). But spells in the movies are usually too good to be true. Instead of changing Elinor’s mind, Merida changes Elinor’s very being. The rebellious teenager must find a way to make her mother human again. It turns out, of course, that to do this, Merida must finally see her mother as a being as human, and fragile, as herself.
The animators enjoyed recreating a sort of Scotland. Celtic symbols are everywhere, and important scenes take place at a clearing that looks something like the Ring of Brodgar.
Really, the lack of creativity from the most imaginative of animation studios is astonishing here. Young girls might enjoy this message movie. But “Brave” is likely to reach another milestone: the first Pixar film that bored its audience.
