Brave

Brave is the latest movie from Pixar and while it will not go down as one of my favorite Pixar movies, it was definitely the type of movie I expect from Pixar when I go to the theater. Brave is the first movie from Pixar that has a princess that fits into the Disney princess line, as well as being the first Pixar movie to being a period piece. Brave while in the end it did not have the best story that has been put out by Pixar, in the end the attention to detail that was used for the visuals and the animation was some of the best I have ever seen. This was the first time Pixar has journeyed to a period piece and I really enjoyed the use of the Scottish Highlands. While I would have liked to have seen a more prominent villain, I felt Brave to be a great visual animated movie put out by Pixar.

The voice acting is exactly what I have come to expect from a Pixar animated movie. Kelly Macdonald in the role of Princess Merida worked well. With her being Scottish born it made it work a lot easier because she did not have to implement an accent. Originally, Reese Witherspoon was slated for Princess Merida, but due to conflicts she had to withdraw. I am glad the role went to Macdonald because I believe that she truly embodied the character. Her character was truly vital because she was the strong lead character who was in almost all of the movie, so if the audience did not take to her then the movie would have suffered greatly. Emma Thompson in the role of Elinor, Merida's mother gives a strong performance as well. her relationship with Merida is the big part of the story for Brave and so her role plays an important part and plays the stubborn mother well that matches the stubbornness of Merida perfectly. Because of that it makes us truly believe the two of them to be an actual mother and daughter. The supporting cast all fit there roles perfectly and help to support the relationship between Merida and her mother Elinor.

The story for Brave was simple and while the plot centered around the relationship between Merida and Elinor; then after Merida goes about trying to change her fate and how from that she is trying to mend the relationship between her and her mother, unfortunately the story was not as strong as I would have liked and what I have come to expect from a story from a Pixar movie. As well as I felt that the whole bear aspect made me think of the movie Brother Bear more then anything else. With the story I think the pacing was the slowest of any of the Pixar movies and with that I think the attention span for the younger kids will be definitely be put to their limits.  With the story I felt that there not being a prominent villain for the audience to root against made it a lot more difficult for the audience to be fully invested in the story. When the investment is not there it makes the pacing seem even slower and with that it makes anyone not focus on the story.

Where Brave truly excelled was that of the animation. I though visually Brave was the most stunning and awe inspiring scenes that have been done in a Pixar movie. Not too mention that Pixar actually developed new software in order for the hair to be so realistic like actually hair which has never been used in an animated movie. This software allowed for Merida's hair curls to move together with her movements. The hair has such a real movement to it that it is just so surprising that it was from animation . The flow and movement in Princess Merida's curly hair alone is unreal, and it was amazing that they had 1500 curl strands individually rendered. To go along with the stunning technology, the visuals of the landscapes were breathtaking in that it looked just like the Scottish Highlands.

Brave while not the best Pixar movie ever released it was still a fairly enjoyable movie. The voice actors used fit the roles perfectly and I was really glad that Princess Merida was played by a Scottish born actress. While I felt the story was lacking, the visuals are really what carried this movie. I am giving Brave three and a quarter buckets of popcorn out of five. This was a movie that was enjoyable and if you have kids that have the short attention spans, this may be a movie to wait for them to see after it is out on DVD.

-The Movie Man