Review: ' Brave' spell-bindingly pretty, moderately entertaining

Film: Brave (3D)
Cast:  Kelly Macdonald, Billy Connolly, Emma Thompson, Julie Walters
Director: Mark Andrews, Brenda Chapman
Rating:***

 

With an ancient tradition of the Scottish kingdom of DunBroch demanding her betrothal to one of her father’s allies unlikely to be overturned, what’s a princess (Macdonald) to do?  Walk her way down the aisle like a lamb to the slaughter? Not this princess! She would sooner beseech a witch to produce a spell to change her mother’s mind. In fact, this is exactly what princess Merida does when she mysteriously encounters a cackling crone in her cabin in the woods.

 

Taking after her father, the gruff but warm-hearted King Fergus’s (Connolly) heart, Merida’s bow-wielding ways puts her at odds with her mother Queen Elinor (Thompson). While Elinor wants her daughter to be the prim and proper princess, the lass, with her flaming locks, shows up all her numbskull suitors with her archery skills. After she gives her upset mother a ‘peace offering’ – an enchanted tart containing the spell, things go awry and it will take a great deal of bravery for Merida to set things right again.

Brave has many firsts for Pixar Animation Studios– the first fantasy film with a period setting and a female protagonist – and a princess at that. The modern-day heroine Merida who seeks her own destiny however, is a far cry from the Disney princesses of yore. However, the adventure, at its heart, draws from the traditional fairytale with the common physical transformation motif making an appearance.

 

Wondrously rendered by digital animation, medieval Scotland – from the king’s stately castle to the cryptic cairns where our heroine experiences the supernatural-is brought to life.

 

Along with the constant swirl of tartan kilts, frequent exclamations of ‘Och’ and the almost-mandatory depiction of haggis, the Gaelic feel is heightened by Patrick Doyle’s sumptuous score and the brogue-soaked voice-acting of the very talented cast, of whom most are actually Scottish. It is these elements which captivate the viewer while the characters are introduced and before the story gathers pace. Among the film’s lighter moments, the witch’s (Walters) unsuccessful attempts to pass herself off a mere whittler of wooden sculptures and the adorable antics of the Merida's rambunctious brothers stand out.  

 

While Brave is unquestionably a film of breath-taking beauty, it does not offer the kind of food for thought that Toy Story or Wall-E did. Sure, family dynamics is explored, but there is no significant deviation on this theme by the time the credits fall. At the same time the story isn’t terribly dull or that badly wanting in emotional resonance. 

 

Brave is a spell-bindingly pretty, moderately entertaining but not extremely profound Pixar offering. As beautiful as animated films come, this is one film the genre’s buffs wouldn’t want to miss out on. They must, however, be ready to forgive the relative conventionalism.