Matthew & Marg: Brave

Marg

So here is the straight truth as I see it - it isn't that Brave is a bad film, at all - but it isn't a Pixar film, you know? For their first female lead character, all Pixar has done is created a Disney Princess. For a studio renowned for their originality, they've just rehashed the same basic story that their parent company has been telling for the last 25 years (modern princesses, though some of the older ones fit too). That is, a mildly rebellious girl doesn't feel like living the life her parents/society have picked out for her, some magic happens, lessons are learned but said girl gets what she wants in the end anyway. It's not a bad story at all, Disney has done some wonderful and creative things with it. My critism here isn't with the story model, it's the story model being used incorrectly.

If they were owning Brave fully, and not calling it a Pixar movie, I think Merida would make an excellent addition to the Disney Princess cannon. She is a modern enough character to match the likes of other recent additions such as Tiana and Rapunzel. The only thing Brave "lacks" to fit the mould is a love interest, but I think it will be an important step forward for the Princess franchise to remove that factor anyway, if they want to move away from the very valid "the end goal is always to get a man" critisms of their past efforts.

Disney isn't calling this a Princess movie, unfortunately. It is technically a Pixar movie, and that's where the real disappointment sets in. Pixar as creators aren't flawless - Cars & Cars 2 are just the worst - but as a general rule they make great movies with wonderful characters, which makes it just a damn shame that Brave boasted their first lead female character, and even more of a shame that they didn't make the effort to give her a great original movie!

They've made 13 feature films, it's gross that this is their first female lead. And grosser still that they made a movie a) that doesn't feel like a true Pixar production and b) with a plotline that is so dependant on her being-a-girl-ness as opposed to her human-ness. As my movie going partner-in-crime Ben said "It sucks that they had to make such a big deal about it being their first female lead." I really would have prefered to see a film where it didn't matter the gender of the character, because leads of either sex should be the norm, not the exception. The little boy in Up for example, could have been a little girl and it wouldn't have intrinsically changed the point, plot, or mood of the movie. That would have been a better sort of way to introduce Pixar's first female lead, in my opinion.

All of that aside, I thought Brave was beautiful to look at (though, I gladly would have forgone the 3D), quite funny, and certainly there were worse ways to spend a rainy evening.

-Marg

@acuteinsomnia

Matthew

I liked Brave. It was nice to look at, and I have a fondness for gingers. So I liked it. But it wasn't what I was expecting.

Going into the movie I was anticipating an adventure story. Girl breaks away from what she is "supposed" to be, does something... well, brave, rescues a kingdom or something. And I guess that sort of happens, but it's really a movie about a relationship between a mother and daughter. Which is nice, but not what I was expecting.

As Marg mentioned above, it doesn't really watch like a Pixar film, this movie is all Disney. It's a story we have all seen before, and for me that was my biggest let down. The thing that makes Pixar movies so brilliant is that they tell interesting new stories. Look at Finding Nemo, Wall-E, all Toy Stories, Brave unfortunately doesn't deserve to sit on the same shelf. It's not that it's a bad movie, it just fails to do or say anything new. It really should of been promoted as a princess film, because it would fit in with that category brilliantly.

Also, what's up the resurgence of archery? First Katniss, now Merida. I'd be interested to see if there is a huge enrolment increase among girls age 12-18.

Brave: 3 Emma Thompson Voices/ 5 Gingers

-Matthew

@thematthewjames