BRAVE Wasn't What I'd Hoped

In light of last Sunday's Academy Awards, and the fact that Pixar's Brave won Best Animated Film, I thought I'd share my original review of the movie, which I first posted on my Facebook page last June.

"It pains me to say I was disappointed. Maybe my expectations were just too high; maybe the fact that I love all things Scotland and have been anxiously awaiting this movie for two years just set me up to be let down. Don't get me wrong - it wasn't a BAD movie at all. It just wasn't up to Pixar standards. 

Brave had no heart. Every Pixar movie has heart. Well, I don't really count Cars 2; that movie was awful. But aside from that one, all Pixar movies have heart; they move you and make you feel. Second, Brave has very little character development. I didn't even like Merida, and I so wanted to! By the time the big conflict occurred, I found myself not really rooting for the "good guys." I didn't really care about the characters because they didn't really have any depth to them, and in the end, I found I wouldn't really mind it so much if things didn't get resolved and there was no happy ending for Merida. The plot was formulaic and there were no big surprises, no twists. And there were very few funny moments. Truly, the best laughs are the ones you've already seen in the trailers. There was nothing particularly Scottish about it either, other than the fact that all the men wear kilts. Eh. So what? It could have taken place anywhere; they didn't do anything to make it truly Scottish and that disappointed me. Even the music was a let-down. 

The biggest negative for me was the family dynamics. I take issue with movies and TV shows that make the father out to be a bumbling idiot who can't do anything properly and needs his overly dominating wife to do everything for him. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for strong women! But you can have a strong woman without sacrificing the masculinity of the male counterpart. In so many Disney movies there is only one parent to begin with. Why do they have to emasculate the man when there's finally a two-parent family unit in place? I loved that the father could be funny and playful at times, but they took it too far and made him out to be nothing without his queen wife.

But...the animation is fantastic. I was mesmerized by Merida's hair. I have no idea how they animated it so perfectly life-like. I didn't like Merida too much, and wasn't convinced her story mattered, but I was in love with her hair!

I was glad we had not taken our kids with us to see it. At ages seven and nearly-two, I think it would have scared the living daylights out of them both.

Unfortunately I think the competition may have finally figured out the master formula to a great movie, the secret only Pixar held for the longest time. How To Train Your Dragon and Despicable Me moved me more than Brave did. I didn't even cry. And I ALWAYS cry at Pixar movies! Well, not during Cars 2. But like I said, that one doesn't count.

So there you have it. My opinion. I hope it doesn't keep you from seeing the movie yourself because, like I said, it wasn't BAD. It just wasn't great."

I still stand by my review, and probably won't change my mind. But I haven't given the movie a second chance yet. I plan to rent it from Redbox soon and watch it a second time to see if anything has changed for me.