Brave
Whenever I used to revisit an old blog post, I tend to be sad and upset that I didn’t actually write enough. When I think of a great film and wonder what my first impressions of it were, I am disappointed by two measly paragraphs of almost pointless rants. That is the main reason why I desire to write more in-depths reviews these days. However, I don’t actually revisit that many of my old blog posts. Most of the hundreds of reviews I have written are never to be seen again, neither by me nor (probably) by anybody else. By this logic I should probably not blog about films I didn’t like, but what if I like? The simple solution is to just keep myself short with films that didn’t really make much of an impact.
“Brave” is one of those. Actually I was surprised about the plot. There is no big adventure, no kingdom to be saved, no faraway home to be found. All the film was about is the egoistic self-realization of a little girl who was being a brat and reconciled with her mother when the mother finally changed her mind and gave her what she originally wanted. I am not sure what kind of message this gives to children – parents must throw away their tradition and ultimately abide by their children’s modern life to be loved? Note that Merida never understood her mother’s position, all she knew was that she had to ‘forgive’ her and reconcile, but she never compromises her own position, not by an inch. How convenient that Merida is the one with the opinion the audience will relate to.
Personally I love stories dealing with parents-kids relationships, and I was surprised that “Brave” truly was all about it. But unfortunately the overall dumbness of the story kept me up from fully appreciating the fun the movie could have presented with all its lovable side characters (such as the brothers). I wish the first Pixar movie with a female lead had been less ridiculous, but oh well. There are enough Disney movies to make up for that (Mulan!) so it’s okay.
You’re right about the development of the mother character! I didn’t find that realistic/convincable/anything really too and the ending came in quite a rush. I loved some of the animation and the Celtic references though and the beginning already made me feel really fluffy and “yeah, go, shoot that arrow!”-ish. There are way better Pixar movies though.
The Celtic references are totally wasted on a movie with such a bad plot. After “The Secret of Kells” this is the second Irish/Celtic/whatever-styled animation movie with a rather idiotic plot. It’s unfortunate because it looks so beautiful.