The creator of My Neighbor Totoro and Spirited Away has been a champion of children’s stories with strong female characters, and here is Pixar’s first female-focused film. The influence of the Japanese filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki on Pixar’s storytellers has never been more obvious. Merida and her horse, Angus, venture into a woods haunted by will-o’-the-wisps and a dangerous witch in Brave. This is more like a hearty stew served in bread bowl. But this is Pixar telling a different kind of story, from a different tradition. Perhaps we get less of them than we did in Up or Ratatouille or Toy Story 3. We’ve come to expect excitement, mystery, adventure, laughs, and suspense from Pixar - and we get all of those things. And wait until you see the forest! You’ll swear that you can smell the grass, the mosses, the mist. Princess Merida’s red hair is a magnificent mess, but Merida’s mother is the animators’ finest achievement - she becomes a fantastically expressive and endearing character. Having seen WALL-E and Toy Story 3, we’ve come to expect vivid, elaborately detailed animation from Pixar. Instead of spoiling surprises, let’s focus on the film’s strengths (which are considerable) and its weaknesses (which are hard to ignore). That’s more than enough plot summary, don’t you think? Why say more? The pleasure is in seeing how it all plays out. Will she be brave enough to do the difficult thing, humble herself, and strive to repair the damage she’s done? Or will she insist on appeasing her own stubborn will? In her rage of disobedience, she sets in motion events that threaten to destroy her family and jeopardize the peace of the kingdom. She’d rather ride into the forest on Angus, her magnificent horse, than practice courtly manners while her triplet brothers run wild without consequences.īut when Merida disrespects her parents in front of the visitors, things go from bad to worse. Reckless as her explosion of red hair, she’s more interested in showing off with her bow - a gift from her doting father - than forcing herself into the stifling corsets prescribed by her mother. In her finer moments, she’s impudent and grumpy in her worst, she brashly disobeys. They want to find the best possible suitor for their daughter, in order to make a marriage that will sustain this fragile union of tribes.īut the spirited Princess Merida (voiced by Kelly Macdonald) wants nothing to do with any arranged marriage.Īnd it shows. Somewhere in the enchanted Scottish Highlands of medieval times, King Fergus (with the fantastic voice of Billy Connolly) and Queen Elinor (voiced by Emma Thompson) have invited the leaders of three clans - the McIntoshes, the MacGuffins, and the Dingwalls - to their home. Here’s a brief sketch of the setup, pretty much spoiler-free: They’re setting us up for that rare delight of being surprised at the movies. It looks like an epic fantasy about a rebel with a cause.īut as per usual, Pixar’s marketing is a work of misdirection. Pixar has marketed Brave as a story about a spirited young princess who talks back to society, charts her own course, takes on the boys at their own games, and shoots arrows with the precision of Robin Hood.
Perhaps the marketing led them to expect something different.
#Mother and merida brave movie
Perhaps they didn’t get the movie they were anticipating. Even the great Roger Ebert spells out most of the movie’s plot twists. But many who have reviewed Pixar’s new movie have revealed the film’s biggest and best surprises.
That sounds like strange advice from a critic, I know.
Please avoid reading reviews of Brave before you see it for yourself. Web Feature Posted JA Brave New Fairy Tale By Jeffrey Overstreet ( mother/daughter movie: Merida and her mother, Queen Elinor, clash in Brave.
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