Pixar's 13th film, which follows an adventurous Scottish princess, is visually stunning and strongly voiced, but doesn't take any real risks and is set in that version of the past forever favored by Disney, that of princesses, kings, queens, witches, evil spells and prankish secondary characters.

After a beautiful and eventful prologue in which flaming-maned Scottish princess Merida (Kelly Macdonald) receives an archery bow for her birthday, glimpses blue will-o'-the-wisps floating through the forest and sees her father, King Fergus (Billy Connolly), lose a leg to a ferocious bear, the action jumps ahead to her adolescence and her obligation to get married.
Under the strict tutelage of loving but demanding mother Elinor (Emma Thomson), Merida has learned the necessities but is a wild lass at heart, desperate for her days off when she can ride off on horseback and perfect her archery. As for marriage, nothing could be less appealing: “I don't want my life to be over,” she rails to her mother. “I want my freedom.”
On a sensory level, however, BRAVE is almost entirely a delight. The wild beauty of Scotland, of the verdant forests and the craggy peaks, is lovingly rendered with a gorgeous palette of painterly colors. Working in pronounced Scottish accents that, to be sure, don't approach the often undecipherable ones heard in Ken Loach films, Scottish actors Macdonald and Connolly are a joy to listen to, as is Thompson.

Unfortunately, BRAVE is a film that starts off big and promising but diminishes into a rather wee thing as it chugs along. Younger kids won't mind, but many viewers accustomed to relying upon Pixar for something special will feel a sense of letdown due to the lack of adventurousness. [EDITED]


Hollywood Reporter
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