Brave (2012) · Posted June 17, 2012
Directors: Mark Andrews, Brenda Chapman, and Steve Purcell
Writers: Mark Andrews, Steve Purcell, Brenda Chapman, and Irene Mecchi
Stars: Kelly MacDonald, Billy Connolly, Emma Thompson, Craig Ferguson, Robbie Coltrane, and John Ratzenberger
Brave is, in my opinion, one of Pixar’s strongest pieces of pure storytelling. It takes many bold steps and fully commits to them, and I’m not only referring to the introduction of a female protagonist (something that should be happening way more often) and the advances in the actual animation technology, but also to the the actual beats and emotional transitions of the story. This movie is about family, first and foremost, and it benefits from both wonderfully realized characters and a delicate balance between comedic and dramatic moments. I think this will be a divisive movie once it’s exposed to a wider audience (I saw an advanced screening of it at the Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar) because it embraces being small in terms of scale. Within its seemingly restrictive parameters, though, it manages to generate a surprising mount of emotion and conflict among its characters. I loved this approach because I’m definitely of the “less is more” persuasion.
Some viewers are going to want to take an epic journey when they watch this movie, and the setting certainly seems to lend itself to a sprawling adventure with a huge ensemble of characters. That’s just not the direction Pixar took with this one, though, and I applaud them for it. The mythology is there, as is the background information we need to understand where all the characters are coming from. However, the majority of the actual scenes we watch are dialogue-heavy and grounded in well-established sources of tension. Everything is character based, and the major events occur within the context of how these people react to them. The story credits the audience with being intelligent and even open to a few things that might be completely unexpected. There is a significant twist in the movie that influences the remainder of the story following it, and this fundamental shift is just one example of something handled beautifully by the writers and animators who worked on this movie. In other words, this very likely isn’t the movie you think you’re going to be watching when you go into it, but it will leave you satisfied and possibly even pleasantly surprised.
Again, though, I can feel the backlash already, and I wonder if this is just a result of Pixar’s incredible streak over the years. Films like Up, Wall-E, Ratatouille, and Finding Nemo are all so beloved and popular that I think it was only a matter of time before such credibility actually starting working against new Pixar projects. As far as I can tell, the folks there are still working just as hard (if not harder) on developing ideas and characters and crafting dynamic, interesting stories. Some things just hit while others don’t, I suppose. I think that Brave will be absolutely adored by some and shunned by others for not seeming as “ambitious” as some of Pixar’s other work. I wonder if people are also having a difficult time accepting a female protagonist as their hero. It seems as though Merida (the central character in Brave) needs to be twice as impressive as a Mike Wazowski or a Buzz Lightyear to be considered substantial. This observation seems to hold true not just for Pixar movies but films in general. I’m not saying that this would be directly responsible for a less-than-warm reception of the movie, but I think it’s a factor worth considering.
In any case, I thoroughly enjoyed Brave, and I think it’s yet another great piece of work from the tremendously talented storytellers working at Pixar.
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