Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Brave (2012)
In
Pixar’s “Brave,” red-haired and wild Merida is a Scottish lass who must
make that terrible choice that seemingly every other Disney Princess has ever
faced: Marrying for duty, not for love. She is no wallflower longing for Prince
Charming, though, but a huntress who climbs tall mountains that lord over her
Highlands home. When iron-willed mother (Emma Thompson) pushes our heroine to
choose a suitor, she bolts. “Brave” is, wonderfully, the first Pixar film to
focus on a female lead, but it’s also, sadly and oddly, the first of its films to bear a heavy, unmistakable thumbprint from new parent company Disney. From
the princess angle to the heavy lessons, the DNA here is as old as “Snow
White.” The plot fully kicks off when runaway Merida encounters a witch who
promises to “change” her mother with a spell. What trouble magic brings I will
not say, but its resolution is so simple and straight forward, I kept waiting for
another shoe, any shoe, to drop. More Hesitant than “Brave.” In true Pixar
fashion, the animation stuns, and the voice cast (Kelly Mcdonald plays Merida) is flawlessly chosen for talent, not name. B
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Unlike Wall-E or Ratatouille (a couple of my Pixar faves), Brave is very static, flat and uncompromisingly safe. Sure that's part of making a film about coming of age, but it's not a true Pixar film.
ReplyDeleteI think B is very generous. "Wreck It Ralph" is the better 2012 animated film, IMHO.