Brave (movie review)

Brave (2012) (animated fantasy) (1 hr 33 mins)

This latest film from the Pixar stable is an entertaining fairy tale set in tenth century Scotland. It tells the story of feisty teenage princess Merida, who is a brilliant archer and not at all suited to the demure life her mother has trained her for. When the Queen prepares her for the ritual arranged marriage with a prince from one of the local tribes, Merida rebels and runs away.

She comes upon a witch and asks her to cast a spell upon her mother to make her back down. But the spell misfires and turns the Queen into a bear. After a good many fights, chases and a dose of heart-searching, the Queen is restored and harmony breaks out between mother and daughter.

The story is rather slight but the action is carried out with the usual panache and humour we have come to expect from Pixar. The Scottish setting gives the film a rustic feel and the cast, which includes Kelly Macdonald, Emma Thompson, Billy Connolly, Julie Walters and Robbie Coltrane, throw themselves into proceedings with gusto.

The central relationship in the film is between mother and daughter so I would expect the film to appeal especially to pre-teen girls, though the cinema I watched it in had a very mixed audience including younger children, teenagers and quite a few adults. I saw it with my 15-year old daughter and she enjoyed it. We saw it in its 3D version, which probably made it more interesting to watch.

I think adults might find the story a tad twee and the characters rather one-dimensional. The action moves along at a fair pace under the direction of Mark Andrews and Brenda Chapman (The Prince of Egypt) but doesn’t have much of a message. Apparently Pixar rewrote their animation programs for the first time in 25 years for this film but I can’t say I noticed any difference in the animation.

Before the film there is an amusing animated short called La Luna by first-time director Enrico Casarosa, which has received an Academy Award nomination.

Rating: 6/10