I enjoyed this movie okay, but I'm used to Pixar nailing it (Cars franchise notwithstanding). And this just didn't knock me out of the park like their stuff usually does. I don't think this movie had any moments that pulled at the heartstrings like were in Up, WallE, Nemo, Monsters, or any of the Toy Story movies.
That entire scene was a setup for mom becoming more like a bear, and the fear it evoked in both mother and daughter.Originally Posted by Gourmand
I loved Brave, and thought the strong female characters cast against the silly/immature men and boys was fantastic.
I did not appreciate the slap-stick, especially when it was targeted the mom. Overeall, it felt like they were trying to make a Miyazaki style movie, but they buried it in all the slap-stick.
Took my two younger boys (12, 9) to the film and found it charming. Loved the art & animation, thought the story worked well for what it was aiming at. Particularly liked the way they conveyed the queen's body language throughout the film.
I'm not one who believes that Pixar has been batting 1.000 (I couldn't even bring myself to bother watching the end of Toy Story 3), but I'd put this one in the better half.
Last edited by RickH; 07-02-2012 at 08:56 AM. Reason: typos must be eliminated
This was the last post on the previous page, so just bumping it in case anyone wants to discuss. This will be the one and only bump.
In about 5 years, when your oldest boy is checking out colleges and thinking about moving away from home, you'll cease being able to watch the ending of Toy Story 3. I've had to deal with the fact that, for each Toy Story, I've had a son the same age as Andy.
I think that's a good guess. Mordu could also have been generally misunderstood to be as ferocious as he was, as having a gigantic bear just show up in the midst of an armed party of clansmen generally means violence is going to break out, no matter the intention.
I like how the wisps were seemingly a neutral party representing Destiny. They don't have any feelings in the matter, they're just there to do a job.
Mordu didn't appear to be scarred at the beginning of the movie, but by the end, he was worked over. Did his wounds come from the fight from Merida's dad?
--- Alan
Is that from Disneyland? Man, they're fast. I wonder when they start making the training materials, costumes, etc. for the actors.
Yummy.
nice wig.
Wow. Too bad I "let" our annual passes expire.
("let" = $3000 was too much for a guy with no full-time job!)
I just saw brave in a double feature with the Amazing Spiderman at a Drive In. I enjoyed it. My wife really liked the fact that the story was about the bond between a mother and her daughter.
I liked that, too, and I *loved* that Merida didn't end up running into some strapping, square-jawed peasant that* she fell in love with. In fact, I thought I saw in her some appreciation for the three boys that were presented as her suitors, especially at the end, when they echoed her call for change.
* As I posted, I noticed that I used "that" here instead of "who", but decided not to change it, because the strapping peasant really would have been a "that" to me. "Oh, that. That plot, the one I have seen a million other times."
+1
If Brave was made by Dreamwork or regular Disney I would have said good movie. On the other hand I wouldn't have gone to the theater to see an animated flick about a little girl with a bow (or a bunch of toys;or boy scout, old man with a ballon etc. for that matter).
By all means take your kids to see Brave, it was very enjoyable and big step up from Cars2. Pixar movie are suppose to make you laugh and cry in equal measure. Brave made a laugh there were a few touching moments but overall the second disappointment from Pixar IMO.
I kept waiting for some explanation of why the queen was so controlling, some hint of depth to her motivation. I thought maybe she realized what she was doing, but there was a higher purpose to forcing Merida into betrothal even as it strained their relationship. First I expected it to tie into what turned out to be the other bear’s legend. With the wisps hinting at the supernatural early on, I thought maybe some family curse, or fairy-tale scenario where Merida had to marry or their kingdom faced some horrible fate.
Nope. Just some flimsy tradition that allegedly kept the other kingdoms from wrestling each other to death during meals, or something. That was a big disappointment that made the queen completely unsympathetic. She didn't feel like the quality of character we expect from Pixar, she only acted as she did because the plot required it to set her at odds with Merida. Boo.
That's a good point, Schmidt. Think of Ratatouille, where the restaurant critic has the flashback to being comforted by his mother's cooking? Something like that which dug into the mother's backstory would have been welcome.
Overall, though, it was a good movie, if not up to Pixar's best. Leaps and bounds above Madagascar 3, which we saw earlier in the week.
That's not a flimsy tradition. Merida had a whole speech about it. It was pretty well beat to death that the king was a great warrior but not much of a king. I thought it was clear that the mother felt a great responsibility to make sure her daughter had her shit together for when she need to be queen.
Great movie, one of Pixar's best.
One thing that stood out to me: That bear was effing scary. They didn't pull any punches with the villan, he wasn't a pink teddy bear or an old man with talking dogs he was a giant pissed off bear that eats legs. Good to see some genuine terror in kids movies again.
The mother's trick with the chessboard was a great way to explain the situation for people who need to see character motivation demonstrated with physics instead of dialogue.
-Tom
Why? Why was that Merida's problem? Again, the degree to which the queen was willing to force her daughter into her footsteps was in no way commensurate with any actual need for Merida to be the same kind of queen as her mother, or even marry at all if she decided not to. The queen herself solves the whole tradition aspect of it by proxy through Merida in a single conversation with laughably little resistance from the other clans. That it must have never occurred to her to try before just reinforces how artificial that whole conflict was and how needlessly cruel she was to Merida. I don't buy it.
Wholly, did you not see how those chess pieces went everywhere??!!???
-Tom
It is the age old balance between values of society versus the values of the individual. I'm no sociologists (actually, I study decision making), but it would seem that people from nations that strongly value the role of the individual might have a tougher time accepting the roles that society might place on a individual.
Likewise, people from societies might be shocked that anyone would risk a huge war just to enjoy him/her self a little longer.
Again, I'm no sociologist, or even a social psychologist, so I might be wrong, but those are my 2 cents.
Of course, the movie is for a western audience, so the girl ends up being right about her selection, and the mother wrong, but if that movie had been made for a different audience, we might have seen 2 dead bears, and a war between 4 clans.
Saw this the other day with my wife and my two daughters (10 and 14).
I enjoyed the humor and the action, and I thought that it worked well as a full-length fairy tale. I came out thinking it was in the middle of the pack for a Pixar flick; hovering around the level of Monsters Inc. I was also REALLY impressed (as always) with Pixar's technology: the horse in particular was stunningly animated.
The wife and kids all gave the movie a big thumbs-down. They didn't HATE it, but none of them thought it was particularly good. It was hard to get subjective reasons out of any of them, but briefly:
- They didn't really feel that the heroine actually learned anything. She gave a poisoned cupcake to her mother, ran around a bit, and then got everything she ever wanted.
- My youngest actually wanted some romance in her medieval fantasy princess story instead of so much daring-do.
- They all thought that the film was too formulaic (though none of them would have used that term). Aside from the little moment-to-moment action surprises, they felt that everything was pretty-much preordained from the moment she entered the witch's hut: selfish wish; unexpected results; scramble to put things right; loving hugs.
Given that girls and their mothers might be considered to be the target audience here, I wonder if they missed the mark so drastically, or is it that my family is just a bunch of humorless hens with no sense of whimsy?
My wife trains horses, and said that the horse ran like a dog, not a horse, but otherwise, they did great. They especially nailed his ears! Also, the way the horse behaved outside the witch's hut after the big explosion was perfect.
Just so you all know.
I am taking my wife and two daughters (6 and 11) tomorrow, so I will answer that for you afterwards. :)
For what it's worth, my wife and two daughters adored the film. My youngest, who's 4, already has her first Merida doll.
YES! VINDICATION (although not really since I never voiced this thought)! She is absolutely right. I kept having this nagging sensation that I was watching my goofy puppy's loping gait, and just figured I've been cooped up trying to teach my goofy puppy 'fetch' too much lately. But yes, I was constantly thinking 'dog' when that horse was doing stuff. I don't recall thinking that with Maximus, as silly as he was.
Yay Dave's wife! (But "Boo Dave" if he rolls out the 'k' word. Don't do it man.)
-xtien
"You're muttering."
That would have also been an awesome movie.
I came out of Brave mildly disappointed but on reflection loved it. My two kids 9 & 7 both enjoyed though the youngest did find the bears rather scary.
Anyone care to tell me where the boats were going?
At the end? My assumption was off to rape and pillage.
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