Ancient Scotland has been the setting for many past adventures in movies…
And now it becomes Pixar‘s location for that studio’s 13th production.
Thirteenth? Will it be cursed?
No way, unless you count what the witch does to the Queen in this movie.
The story of BRAVE is a simple one with a red-headed and strong willed Princess Merida (voiced by Kelly McDonald) doing her own thing in the kingdom where her archery skills don’t exactly endear her to the male community.
Her mom, the Queen (voiced by Emma Thompson) isn’t thrilled either.
The final straw comes when Merida refuses to go along with an arranged marriage.
To escape her planned-out future, she escapes into the woods where she falls under a wicked witch’s—a funky witch’s spell – voiced by Julie Waters.
Well, hold on to your ticket stubs!
The spell turns mom into a giant black bear—with emotions— but unable to speak and leading to chaos and fury throughout the kingdom.
Will the Queen’s spell be reversed before time runs out? Will the Princess make up with mom and make pop, King Fergus (voiced by Billy Connelly) proud?
What do YOU think?
Hey, it’s Disney, right? Well actually Pixar which Disney bought a few years back.
As to the production itself, it’s dedicated to Steve Jobs who gave a new lease on life to Pixar back in 1986.
And as for the look of the film, Jobs would be proud.
It’s a charming production with emphasis on female empowerment presented with incredible attention to detail and sweeping lifelike settings—not to mention doses of lighthearted fun throughout.
But be forewarned that BRAVE is not rated G!
It’s a PG-rated computer animated feature for good reason with dark, brutal bear fighting and other battle sequences that could be deemed too scary for the very young.
Pixar breaks here with its usual, easygoing tradition by delivering an almost adult fairytale.
And no, it’s not a sequel.
"Legends are legends—they ring with truths" That line in the film pretty well sums things up.
I thereby bequeath 4 out of 5 fingers to Disney/Pixar’s BRAVE.
My 11 year-old gandson Gage’s take on BRAVE:
"The movie is very good but not for kids under the age of six. It had more action and better animation than most Pixar movies of the past. The best part of BRAVE is the bear fighting sequence. Both boys and girls will like the movie and the 3-D effects were great and worth the extra price of a ticket.
I give it 4 out of 5 fingers.
JACK GOES TO THE MOVIES Friday mornings at 6:40 a.m. on KMBZ Fm & Am / Also anytime on Time Warner Cable’s K.C. ON DEMAND, Channel 411 / And throughout Nebraska on NEBRASKA ON DEMAND, Channel 411.
I’m More Excited
About the new Monsters University teaser trailer. Actually, Pixar’s amazing string may have already ended with last summer’s Cars II. Commercially successful but kind of feel flat critically speaking and in fact the first Pixar film that didn’t garner and Best Animated Film Oscar nod. Not sure what to think about this one, while glad to see Pixar expanding their horizons somewhat, this particular story doesn’t seem to resonate much with me so I’m not sure I’ll even make a point of seeing it in the theatre. A different take on a fairy tale…Red Riding Hood, the two Snow White movies, the Once Upon A Time tv series…Pixar will probably handle it better than most but it seems to me that this concept has already been done to death over the last year or so. I’ll take your review into consideration, Jack but as it stands now, I’m just not very fired up for this flick.
I’m hooked on the 3D stuff.
Just saw Prometheus, loved it.
This looks cool too.
I’m gonna grow up after Christmas.
Hi Chuck…..
…I’ll be truthful and tell you that I had absolutely no desire to see “Brave.” But my grandson was interested so we went to the screening together. And I enjoyed it! Matter of fact I was really impressed with the scope of the CGI production…and hey, I think you’ll enjoy it as well! Pixar’s still got the touch.
If Gage likes it, it’s gotta be great!
🙂