I had a lot of problems with Brave myself, but I totally agree that Brave didn’t need either of these things. I’m genuinely glad that they didn’t shoehorn in a stable boy or something for her to fall in love with. I just wish there was something about her personality that interested me, beyond her yearning to break tradition and be her own person.

I liked Brave, but I wish a liked it more. The humour is there almost exclusively for kids. I found most of the cast to be kind of dull. And it’s weirdly paced. There’s just not a whole lot there for me, which is disappointing, because I’ve always thought Pixar did a good job of appealing to people of all ages.

And I love The Incredibles, but I don’t want to see a sequel to it, or a prequel to Monster’s Inc. I want more original stories.

Yes. This is a critique of Brave I can get behind.

Cars 2 was the first Pixar I didn't see, looks like Brave will be the second.

Good animation can't make up for bad story. Disney animation showed how quickly a studio can crash, and for how long. Pixar might be coasting; sounds like they need Brad Bird back to yell STORY STORY STORY! Now it's a Monsters, Inc prequel? Do they expect to top the first movie? When's Finding Nemo 2? Nemo the teenager with attitude and a bad haircut. Can't wait.

Thanks for the heads-up, James.

I've always thought of Monsters, Inc. as a bit of a Pixar throwaway, something light and fun to go between their major features. I'm surprised the prequel is going to be their next summer feature. After that they're going back to original stories.

There's a possibility they're going to alternate original stories and sequels. CARS 2, BRAVE, MONSTER UNIVERSITY, something original, new sequel, original #2, etc.

Depends largely on how the marketplace shakes out. Story treatments exist for another TOY STORY and FINDING NEMO. You can bet the TOY STORY movie will get made at some point.

According to Wikipedia, THE UNTITLED PIXAR MOVIE ABOUT DIA DE LOS MUERTOS is in the shoot. I've long wanted Pixar to buy the rights to Grim Fandango. I assume this is not what they're doing, but still--Pixar + Dia de los Muertos = Bones' butt in the theater seat.

I have to say I enjoyed Brave a lot. I agree with a lot of the criticisms but that really didn't deter from what was an entertaining, if also forgettable, experience. What I found surprising was how unoriginal this film was, and that too from Pixar. The plot line has been beaten to death in nearly every coming-of-age teen film I can think of and Pixar didn't help things much by adhering to the well-beaten path. I also didn't think of Merida as that much whiny. In fact, my mind was going back to thinking that the Queen really wasn't giving her her due. There weren't many moments were I felt like I truly hated Merida as a character (there were a few, yes). Nearly every other character was a caricature from the King to the Kings from the other kingdoms and the suitors for Merida.

The biggest problem for me was 3D. I never thought this day would come but this is the worst Pixar film I've ever seen. Seriously, nearly every other 3D film I've seen had some redeeming features (Note: I haven't seen the Titan films.) but Brave had absolutely horrendous conversion. Seriously, I thought I was going to get a headache. As James' review said, nearly every scene where there's movement was so blurred that it became difficult to watch the screen without having my eyes water. The colors were't flashy and most everything was just dull. I think this may have been a creative decision because the story didn't really warrant bright colors like something like Tangled, but it certainly didn't help things at all. If you are going to watch this film, then please choose 2D, even if your kids thing that it is not the best decision you're taking.

Having said that all, the film was still entertaining (I might be generous enough to give it a 3 out of 4), so make of that what you will.

Have you ever seen pictures of Scotland?

Unfortunately, no, I haven't. But for a film that is squarely aimed at kids, I don't think it can afford to be so dull and devoid of colors.

I don't see the problem.

^ Hahaha. That's just fantastic. Well done, sir.

I could show you some photos of Orkney that are anything but dull they have Sheep that live on the beach and eat seaweed. Yes, you read correctly.

I noticed this too. Where it was happening is when the camera pans too quickly, and all the trees blur together, but this only happens a few times. Wish I'd worked this detail in my own review, but it does feel like a minor point rather than a major flaw in the film.

It's an animated film where the animators have complete control on their computers, so there's no excuse for this. It's just sloppy.

I'm generally on board with you James, with most of your reviews, but in this case I think we saw completely different movies. Your implication that this is just a hodgepodge of Disney formulae is bewildering to me. It skewers almost every typical Disney convention, despite being about a princess. It emphasizes a mother/daughter relationship (I'm surprised you didn't address this at all in your review. Can you remember any another animated film to do this?), there is no romantic love interest that drives our main character's arc, there is no larger than life external villain (the conflict is mostly internal), no one is singing songs, there are no tagalong formulaic comic relief sidekicks aside from some slapstick in the castle and, unlike How To Train Your Dragon, all of the children actually speak in the same accent as the adults.

The central conceit of the film felt more true to old fashioned fairy tales than typical Disney canon.

The accent issue bothered me about Dragon but since it's never made clear where it's meant to be set, it wasn't too bad. Certain other modern movies could learn a thing or two about setting/accents...

Tangled had a mother / daughter relationship near its center. Granted, a wildly emotionally abusive and dysfunctional mother / daughter relationship, but still interesting. Also, The Princess and the Frog, while it doesn't emphasize the mother / daughter relationship, at least has one. And now there's a more or less healthy mother / daughter relationship central to the movie. Baby steps I suppose.

I agree about the central conceit, in concept, feeling like an old fashioned fairy tale. But in execution, it felt Disney-fied to me. The slapstick with the anthropomorphized bear was by far the weakest part of the movie for me. I much preferred those moments when the bear's eyes rolled over black.

Up until the scene with the "wood carver," I was borderline in love with the movie. After that it was a mixed bag. The scene in the wood carver's shack would have been fun if it didn't feel exactly like 100 scenes just like it in other movies. Pretty much everything that happened away from the mother bear was good, and the catching fish scene was good, but the bear-related slapstick at the castle felt tacked on from a lesser Disney movie. Also, the scene where A minor annoyance, but still, betrays the surprising laziness in some of this movie. I enjoyed it, but yes, it's lesser Pixar.

I finally saw Brave yesterday and loved it. Pixar is just so invested in telling their stories visually that it's next to impossible for anyone who loves the craft of film to not enjoy their movies. As for the complaints folks have had with the film, a few in the thread have already said it well, so I'll start-a-quoting:



Exactly. Antagonists exist in fiction to give the protagonist a source of conflict. It isn't something that's 100% necessary to every story. Conflict is necessary, but the villain as the source isn't. In Brave's case, the result is a stronger, more sophisticated narrative because the source of conflict throughout the film is the strained relationship between the mother and daughter. Throwing in a villain would have just been arbitrary and slavish to formula.



Again, well said. Faulting a movie for a lack of a romantic element is just lazy criticism from James. The movie isn't about romance, and doesn't try to be romantic, so it's pointless to fault it for something it doesn't even try to do.

I just don't really understand James' review in this instance. He derides the film for being full of cliches, ignores the inventive portions of the story (a friendly witch not attempting to use the princess for her gain, lack of a traditional villain, the courage to merry theme with plot, countless visual metaphors and visual character development), and then has the audacity to say the movie needs a villain and romance! In other words, he got a fresh take on a standard story, called it cliche, and then demanded it should have MORE cliche elements! I just don't get it. How can you fault a movie for being full of cliches and then say it would be better with more cliches? I don't know, I just found this to be a really, really lazy review.



Another excellent take on the film. In a sense this is a revisionist princess story. It takes many of the familiar elements and changes them a bit to create something original.



I noticed this too, and it's a legitimate complaint. However, I'd say that, outside of that scene, the film is so well made and so visually effective that it outweighs the mistake. A few scenes immediately come to mind:


Brave is just a wonderful movie in just about every regard. The story isn't terribly complex, but it's told so well, and told with such artistry, that it's become one of my favorites from this year.

I agree with almost all of your examples of good moments, but still come out a bit disappointed in the movie overall. Most of the bits you mention come in the first act. Indeed, I found Brave a fantastic first act followed up by a mediocre second act and a pretty good, if truncated, third act. Anything having to do with Mor'du was good, I agree, and I enjoyed those moments when Also, when you say you like the plot twist , I liked it too--as a concept. But the slapstick that ensued just wasn't very well-done and the fact that the moment of understanding comes in that pretty bad scene robs the story of some of its emotional weight. Certainly not up to the level of the madcap stuff in Monsters Inc or the light-hearted action scenes in Incredibles and Toy Story 2. Not even up to the level of the over-the-top action scenes that threatened to torpedo Up, I'd say.

With Pixar, I'm used to even so-so ideas (Cars) being executed so well that you forgive the so-so premise. Here, sadly, I found the opposite. Great premise and great setup let down by lazy writing and lukewarm visual comedy.

PeachyPete, I loved everything you wrote. I agree... it was a lazy review from James. And I do love James's reviews, and still do. I guess now that someone else said it I have the balls to say it too.

My favorite thing you said: "[Brave had] the courage to merry theme with plot." What a great line.

Really good catching all those visual metaphors. Reading that gave me chills. I missed them! I usually do miss visual metaphors...