'Brave' Review: Pixar's new film misses the bullseye

The computer-animated adventure film Brave is a visual achievement, which is nothing new for Pixar.  Since the original Toy Story, Pixar has been on a roll, impressing audiences around the world with stunning animation. Brave is no exception.  In fact, visually speaking, Brave might be a cut above the rest.  The lead character's highly detailed orange hair bouncing off the luscious green Scotland landscape makes Brave a hard film to look away from, until you get bored of the story.  The reason why Pixar's latest films, Toy Story 3, Up, and Walle were such marvels was not because of the breathtaking animation.  It was their memorable stories and engrossing characters that made us fall in love.  In these areas, Brave falls flat.

Brave's story is as old as time.  Set in 10th century Scotland, the young princess and skilled archer Merida is to be betrothed to one of three quirky bachelors.  Naturally, Merida is far too independent to have life decisions made for her.  It's the classic tale of the princess that wants to live her own life and marry for love, not tradition.  There is nothing wrong with hashing out old stories.  If it worked once, it can work again, but rather than staying true to a familiar tale, Brave tries to throw a few story curveballs.  And it doesn't work.  
  

Instead of focusing on Merida's quest for independence, the writers chose to put heavy emphasis on her relationship with her mother, and that's the biggest problem.  Every good film sets up a series of insurmountable obstacles for the leading character to overcome.  Rarely does one obstacle take over the entire film.  Why?  Because it doesn't work and it's boring.  Merida's mother insists on sticking with tradition and intends to have her daughter married off, leading to a mother-daughter fallout.  No surprises there, but once that conflict is established, the remainder of the film is spent mending that relationship.  It's rarely a good idea to include two main goals for a film's protagonist, as each goal will take attention away from the other.  Brave leaves the audience wondering, is this a mother-daughter story, or a story about achieving independence?  Pixar tried for both, but did neither well. 


In addition to the mediocre storytelling, Brave also does a poor job with character development.  The film relies too much on comedic effect and does not spend enough time hashing out the characters.  Besides Merida and her mother, everyone is comic relief, making for an ensemble of one-dimensional supporting characters.  There is more than a few laughs to be had at the expense of Merida's clumsy father and the antics of her conniving triplet brothers, but they offer nothing else.  Likewise, Merida's three potential husbands and their fathers are just watered down versions of her own father with cheap gimmicks.

While much is to be admired in regard to its beautiful animation, Brave's story does not hold a candle to its Pixar predecessors.  The film will likely do well, as it caters to a young crowd, especially girls, but what makes the other Pixar films so fantastic is their appeal to a wide audience of children and adults of each gender.  Lets hope Brave is not a sign of things to come.


If you've seen Brave, I'd love to hear your take on it.  Leave your thoughts below.