Brave (2012) - Mark Andrews, Brenda Chapman and Steve Purcell.

Synopsis:

A young Princess, upset with her duties and role within the kingdom, seeks to change her mothers mind concerning her betrothal with a spell. When the spell doesn't perform as expected she must rely on her bravery to save her mother from a beastly curse.

Essentially... Brave is just Pixar showing off. Over the years we've seen them dominate the art of storytelling, warming the hearts of children and adults alike. Walt Disney's original ideology of making films for the child in all of us has never been so consistently realised in the history of the company than it has through Pixar. After an unparalleled string of engaging, touching and exciting movies, the animation giant has apparently decided that on top of this, they are going to bring us the most impressive display of digital effects EVER. EVER.

Pixar is of course known for having a great aesthetic, and every time they bring out something new it's as if all the other companies efforts that year have been in vane as they pale in comparison to the image feast that gets splashed across our cinema screens world over. This time you can't help but feel that they've gone beyond even that. It isn't enough to out do every other film company visually, they've gone ahead and out done every single different type of digital media on the planet. No video game can compare, nor short action packed cut-scene or trailer for said game. Even VFX for live-action films can't hold a card to these people! Although Brave of course doesn't run with a realistic aesthetic, never has a computer generated image looked so diegetically real and believable. It's truly wondrous. I wouldn't even be afraid to claim that even a single frame produced by any group of ultra CGI nerd, with all the talent in the world, could make something to match any of the (roughly) 139,000 frames that make up the best looking film you will have ever seen.

The look however was never going to be questioned, but sceptics had Brave in their sights the second they saw it's story centre on a princess. Me included. Would Pixar Disney-fy itself and no longer stand out as a beacon of originality? The short answer, yes. But then if you wanted a long answer, no. The ingredients for a Disney Princess movie are certainly there; you've got the princess, a witch, magic, even a talking animal. Thankfully all these ingredients are thrown into a cauldron and sprinkled with a bit of Pixar's own magic. Already they jump away from the obvious and head straight to the beautiful highlands of Scotland where Princess Merida doesn't even want to be a princess! Her very nature and will are opposed to it which already adds an interesting dynamic. There's not even a clear cut villain. The Witch isn't even considered, sure she's the one that causes the disequilibrium but it was the Princesses own rebellious nature that propels the story. Instead of an obvious bad guy we get a creature that is rarely seen but it's presence is still felt. Like a dark haunting shadow. Even then it's archetype isn't entirely clear cut.

But despite all the things that Brave has done right there's still areas where Pixar uncharacteristically missed the target (pun intended). Although the animation company has never been known for it's crazy plot twists, or for being overly-complicated, it dips a little too deep into simplicity on this outing. The story of a mother and daughter reconciling over a drastic change has been done before (Freaky Friday anyone?), but it was the way their problem was so easily resolved that struck me as odd. The narrative became far too linear. There was the problem, they knew what they had to do, they did it. Very few bumps in the road were had and it was painfully straightforward. Normally in a Pixar film there is so much crammed into a story you feel like you've been through an adventure with the characters but this time it was so easy to follow that it bordered on uninteresting. You are certainly left with the feeling that more could have been done, or had at least ended differently. The final action scene was over before it started and needed more layers for the characters to play through.

Thankfully for us this is Pixar. Everything else, from acting, to action, to mysticism, to humour hit the bulls eye. That's what stopped it falling into standard princess territory. The depth of the characters, the mythology, wonder and air help bring it above that.

Overview:

Pixar is still king of the animation world but sadly Brave's narrative seems to be sacrificed for it's beauty. Had it nailed both the movie would have been untouchable.

Rating:

★★★★