Brave – Disneycember

Was it really THAT bad?

About Doug Walker

Creator of 5 Second Movies, Nostalgia Critic, Bum Reviews and more.

4 comments

  1. I was going to argue in favor of this one a lot more, Doug…but then I realized I’ve only ever actually sat down and watched the last-half-to-last-third of the movie, so I have to concede the point I’m basing my opinion of this movie over “the good part”.

    And yes, I agree that it was dumb that they made such a huge deal out of Merida’s skill with a bow only for “oops, Mordu is invulnerable to arrows…plot point useless”. And the biggest “technical failure” that gets me in this movie has to do with Eleanor as a bear. I know Disney and Pixar are the “big boys” when it comes to animation. They try to make the animated characters “match” the voice actors. And comparing how Elinor handles herself to Emma Thompson’s voice versus how Elinor as a bear carries herself…yeah, I think the bear scenes were animated prior to Emma Thompson even signing on.

    But still, I have to give this movie credit for ‘trying’ to do something different with the Disney Princess theme. (Yes, this is technically a Pixar film, but she’s been indoctrinated in whatever Papal-esque system Disney uses for declaring princesses, so whatever…) You pointed out Merida is a bunch of character traits from the princess character “grab bag”, but you have to admit every other Disney Princess film eventually degenerates into a story about “a guy and a girl getting together”. I don’t care if you’re the fairy princess Aurora or the seeking-new-horizons Ariel or the well-read Belle or the entrepenuer Tiana…it all eventually comes down to they’ll be happy once they pair with a guy. I have to admire this one for really not “needing” a guy. It’s about a mother and a daughter…and really, for a company that has a history of giving ol’ mom the axe off camera, the one time it ‘does’ have the mother, it makes the movie pretty much about her as much as about the princess. That’s worth something to me even if the movie really is “meh” compared to other Pixar stuff.

    Besides…you can’t be saying you liked “Cars” more over “Brave”.

  2. Pretty film, good protagonist but Doug doesn’t mention the juvenile humor in the film which is very out of place and didn’t work for me. Like the three brothers who feel incredibly tacked on and did not need to be there!

  3. CurtTheHistorian

    5:00 um Madagascar?

  4. I think the film was very good, but the one problem is that is doesn’t feel like a Pixar film. Heck, it doesn’t even feel like a Disney film. It feels more like Dreamworks. Not the pop-culture referencing type, but the fantasy based, How To Train Your Dragon-esque type of Dreamworks. Heck, the character designs even feel Dreamworks.

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