Determined to make her own path in life, Princess Merida defies a custom that brings chaos to her kingdom. Granted one wish, Merida must rely on her bravery and her archery skills to undo a beastly curse.
The magically long-haired Rapunzel has spent her entire life in a tower, but now that a runaway thief has stumbled upon her, she is about to discover the world for the first time, and who she really is.
When the newly-crowned Queen Elsa accidentally uses her power to turn things into ice to curse her home in infinite winter, her sister Anna teams up with a mountain man, his playful reindeer, and a snowman to change the weather condition.
The special bond that develops between plus-sized inflatable robot Baymax, and prodigy Hiro Hamada, who team up with a group of friends to form a band of high-tech heroes.
When Gru, the world's most super-bad turned super-dad has been recruited by a team of officials to stop lethal muscle and a host of Gru's own, He has to fight back with new gadgetry, cars, and more minion madness.
Spoiled by their upbringing and unaware of what wildlife really is, four animals from the New York Central Zoo escape, unwittingly assisted by four absconding penguins, and find themselves in Madagascar.
The Dragon Warrior has to clash against the savage Tai Lung as China's fate hangs in the balance. However, the Dragon Warrior mantle is supposedly mistaken to be bestowed upon an obese panda who is a novice in martial arts.
Set in Scotland in a rugged and mythical time, "Brave" features Merida, an aspiring archer and impetuous daughter of royalty. Merida makes a reckless choice that unleashes unintended peril and forces her to spring into action to set things right.Written by
Walt Disney Pictures
The Pixar Ball can be seen carved out of wood in the "wood carver's" cottage. At about 33:36 in, the ball can be seen carved out of wood on the table to the right after the witch summons her weapons on Merida & exclaims, "I don't care!". See more »
Goofs
Merida's bow appears to be a double recurved self-wood type such as was used in the Great Plains area of North America during the 19th century. She also carries a quiver. Neither of these were used in any part of medieval Britain; bows were always self-wood (made of a single piece of timber) made without re-curves, while arrows for immediate use were carried tucked into the belt. At one point Merida carries an arrow in her mouth in order to follow up very quickly with a second shot - this was typical of native Americans of the Plains when hunting on horseback and in warfare. There are historic photographs by Edward Curtis of Plains warriors using this technique. It is definitely not recorded in medieval Scotland or elsewhere in Britain. See more »
Quotes
[first lines]
Queen Elinor:
Where are you? Come out! Come out! Come on out! I'm coming to get you!
[Young Merida laughs as she hides under the table]
Queen Elinor:
Where are you, you little rascal? I'm coming to get you!
[Elinor looks under the table but Merida quickly moves to hide somewhere else]
Queen Elinor:
Hmm. Where is my little birthday girl, hm? I'm going to gobble her up when I find her!
[Merida comes up behind Elinor and goes to run away but Elinor catches her]
Queen Elinor:
Eat you!
[...] See more »
Crazy Credits
After the credits, the crow arrives to deliver all the wood carvings Merida bought. See more »
This should have been an easy review to write. Brave should have been a film that cemented itself as one of the all time greats, a necessary addition to any Top Films list. It should have been a film that claimed a place in our hearts as so many other Pixar films have in the past. But it's not. And writing this review is proving anything but easy. It's hard because I'm sitting at my Dell Latitude feeling bewildered at how a film from the best animation studio in the world left me feeling lukewarm at best.
A bit of background on the film first; this film went through two directors. After Brenda Chapman left the film for reasons I don't know, Mark Andrews was hired as a shoe in. This wasn't the first Pixar film to have multiple directors, just unplanned multiple directors. This is where my major problem with this film stems. Everything from Brenda Chapman is textbook Pixar class and charisma, but once Mark Andrews gets the reins (and you WILL know when it happens), the film takes an abrupt and uncomfortable shift towards the dark, and really challenges the boundaries of PG. It feels like two different films tacked on to one another with Gorilla Glue, it's as if the directors had no collaboration with each other. A real shame because up until it takes this dark turn, the rest of this film is a class act bursting with potential.
However to lament on the pitfalls is to ignore the positives. Pixar created two characters with copybook classic credentials in Princess Merida, and her father Fergus. Merida as the independent, self-confident, inurbane princess has a tongue-in-cheek charm and a personality that brings a genuine smile to your face. The other hero of character is Fergus, his character of a bumbling king with an overpowering queen is cliché, but he's executed brilliantly and is the provider of the majority of humor on Brave. Another immensely impressive aspect is its supremely dazzling animation aesthetics, the resplendent beauty of the Scottish countryside sometimes stealing scenes from its characters. Whether or not you agree that's brilliant is more subjective.
Now this may seem like the ranting of a spoilt wannabe movie critic weaned on delusions of grandeur, and hollow satisfaction from demeaning films with hype behind them, but I can assure you my size 10.5s remain firmly on the ground. This film is still a damn sight better than a majority of animated films out there, and it no doubt sets a new bar for animation quality other films won't be able to reach without a pole vault. I generally like this film and its good moments are plentiful and remind you why we love these films so much. Pixar films are utterly infectious when done correctly, Brave isn't up to the standards of their best, you won't fall in love with it, but forget the scale of its predecessors and you'll definitely be impressed by it.
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This should have been an easy review to write. Brave should have been a film that cemented itself as one of the all time greats, a necessary addition to any Top Films list. It should have been a film that claimed a place in our hearts as so many other Pixar films have in the past. But it's not. And writing this review is proving anything but easy. It's hard because I'm sitting at my Dell Latitude feeling bewildered at how a film from the best animation studio in the world left me feeling lukewarm at best.
A bit of background on the film first; this film went through two directors. After Brenda Chapman left the film for reasons I don't know, Mark Andrews was hired as a shoe in. This wasn't the first Pixar film to have multiple directors, just unplanned multiple directors. This is where my major problem with this film stems. Everything from Brenda Chapman is textbook Pixar class and charisma, but once Mark Andrews gets the reins (and you WILL know when it happens), the film takes an abrupt and uncomfortable shift towards the dark, and really challenges the boundaries of PG. It feels like two different films tacked on to one another with Gorilla Glue, it's as if the directors had no collaboration with each other. A real shame because up until it takes this dark turn, the rest of this film is a class act bursting with potential.
However to lament on the pitfalls is to ignore the positives. Pixar created two characters with copybook classic credentials in Princess Merida, and her father Fergus. Merida as the independent, self-confident, inurbane princess has a tongue-in-cheek charm and a personality that brings a genuine smile to your face. The other hero of character is Fergus, his character of a bumbling king with an overpowering queen is cliché, but he's executed brilliantly and is the provider of the majority of humor on Brave. Another immensely impressive aspect is its supremely dazzling animation aesthetics, the resplendent beauty of the Scottish countryside sometimes stealing scenes from its characters. Whether or not you agree that's brilliant is more subjective.
Now this may seem like the ranting of a spoilt wannabe movie critic weaned on delusions of grandeur, and hollow satisfaction from demeaning films with hype behind them, but I can assure you my size 10.5s remain firmly on the ground. This film is still a damn sight better than a majority of animated films out there, and it no doubt sets a new bar for animation quality other films won't be able to reach without a pole vault. I generally like this film and its good moments are plentiful and remind you why we love these films so much. Pixar films are utterly infectious when done correctly, Brave isn't up to the standards of their best, you won't fall in love with it, but forget the scale of its predecessors and you'll definitely be impressed by it.