Disney's Brave [Movie Review]

For once I think the US had the better poster.

I did threaten that I was on a Disney movie spree, or something, a while back. I even made a mistake in a previous review. When I wrote up my triple movie review of Wall-E, Tangled, and Frozen I said that the last Disney movie I had seen in theaters was Pocahontas.

I'm actually less fond of the UK poster. It's not bad, I just think the lighting
effects on the other one is much better.

I had completely forgotten that I saw Brave in theaters. Actually I had forgotten that it was a Disney movie, I mainly thought of it as a Pixar film. Of course Pixar was owned by Disney in 2012.

4.5 out of 5 stars

Overall this is a really solid movie. With some very unexpected elements from a Disney film.

This film has two primary messages. One is the importance
of family & communication.

However I do have one criticism. So I'll start with it.
Pacing.
The movie needed better pacing. For 90% of the movie you feel like the pace is pretty good. Yeah, the first thirty some minutes are really just character introduction, but that is vital to this story. That's not actually an issue.

It's the ending.

The second is about independence and freedom of choice.

That last tiny small bit of the story, the final act, is very short. It could have been expanded. The average modern Disney animated movie is about 100 minutes long. Brave is only 90. For the extra minutes of time it is missing we could have expanded the ending just a bit more to keep the pacing flowing better.

Honestly that is the only thing I'm going to fault the movie on.

Actually there is a third message, responsibility.
That is actually tied into the whole bit about independence
and freedom of choice. You have to be responsible for your
choices. (Wow this caption carried on didn't it?)

Otherwise it is a gorgeously animated film, with a strong story and powerful messages. No, I'm not going to spoil the plot. I do that too often. This one you should watch yourself and make up your own mind on. I liked it as is signified by my rating.

Ah, the subtle humor of teaching a bear to fish.

What I will say is this. The fun little unexpected element of the story. There is no romantic plot. Yes, this is a Disney film without the typical romance. It's an interesting change. If you think about it, all four of the Disney movies I've previously reviewed have had a romantic story or subplot. Both Tangled and Frozen of course had romance. Tangled was mainly about the romance, while Frozen gave it a different spin (warning against 'love at first sight' and emphasizing the strength of the sisterly bond). Even Wall-E was largely a romance, a cute bot centered romance, but still... Wall-E was willing to give his all, his whole being, for EVA. Wreck-It Ralph had the romance as a sub-plot between Fix-It Felix and Calhoun. Certainly not the main plot in that film, but still there.

This was a fun film, a good film, a film worth seeing.
And as such, I am embarrassed that I forgot about it when I was talking about Disney movies I had seen in theaters. I've amended my mistake, here and now, I hope.

Oh, yeah and the music. This has songs, but not the more typical Disney fair. There are lyrical songs, but they are not sung by the characters, and of course everything has a Scottish feel. I am not complaining about that. I love folk-sounding Scottish music (and Irish too). Love it.

This image is reversed from the actual film... I have no idea why.
Still it is cool to see her wielding a sword against more than a bedpost.

And the credit at the end. The film was dedicated to Steve Jobs, original co-founder of Pixar.
The BD also has a bonus short, The Legend of Mordu... worth watching, even though the animation is not completely Pixar level... it's actually kinda like the animation at the beginning of Dragon Age.