Brave (2012)

Plot
Merida, a young princess and talented archer, is determined to change her fate. She doesn't want to obey the traditions of the kingdom and marry young. She wants her freedom and make her own path.  So when she finds a witch in the forest, she gets the witch to give her a spell to change her fate. But the outcome leaves Merida's family cursed. She must now break the curse and restore peace in the kingdom before it's too late.

Review
I had high expectations when I heard about this movie. It's Pixar and almost all of their films (except for Cars 2) were up to pare and brilliantly animated films to entertain adults and their kids. And Brave is no exception.

I really liked the film's story. This is Pixar's first fairy tale and to me the film had a darker and more mature tone compared to their other films like Finding Nemo, Ratatouille, The Incredibles or WALL-E. I actually really liked this change. The reason is because original fairy tales were much darker and were violent.

Brave is set in the 10th century Scotland and what I especially liked about the film's setting is that it seems fitting with the fairy tale element and old folk legends. If the movie was set in modern time, I'd have difficulty accepting the fairy tale aspect of the film. But because it's set in the Middle Ages of Scotland, I think it fits well.

Some may say that they were disappointed that Merida was unable to change her fate with magic. But I'm actually happy she didn't change her faith magically. The reason is because it shows us that only we are able to change our fates. No one else can do it for us except ourselves and those who want to help us better our lives and live happily.

Merida is the first female protagonist in a Pixar film. I don't understand why it took them so long, but in the end it was worth the wait. Merida is a fascinating character. She's an anti version of the typical princess. She knows what she wants out of her life: she wants to make her own path and not have it be made for her. She makes this clear. She doesn't shy away from letting her opinion of things be known. So I appreciate the fact that Pixar decided to avoid their first female protagonist being the typical princess.

In many ways, the relationship between Merida and her mother (which is a pivotal part of the film's plot) reminded me of Finding Nemo. Finding Nemo was about the relationship between father and son. A relationship that was strained and how the relationship eventually mends when they're separated. In Brave, it's about the relationship between Merida and her mother, a relationship that is strained but is mended when they're separated. In this case, it's separated when the mother is transformed into a bear by the curse.

I liked the film's humour. But that being said, I think the humour ended up being more orientated towards the kids. The triplets and their pranks are gonna be entertaining for the kids and maybe even the parents. But for the most part, I think that although parents will enjoy it, they won't find it as funny than the previous Pixar films. My theory is that the filmmakers aimed the humour specifically more towards the children because of the film's darker story so it would lighten the movie up for them.

The animation is flawless. The setting of Scotland is beautiful. I'm not a fan of 3D but they made it work. I think they could've included more 3D sequences, but besides that, it's still well done.

Brave is a highly entertaining and fun film that will be a pleasure for the entire family.

Rating: 4.5/5