So I went to see Brave yesterday...
Friend's birthday, went to see the newest Pixar addition Brave. I liked it, definitely recommend seeing it, although don't quite expect whatever trailers may have told you. The trailers are LYING THINGS THAT LIE. But's not not bad, just not what I was expecting. Oh, and the most gorgeous hair I have ever seen animated, oh my god. I spent the majority of the movie more watching Merida's hair than anything else.
Okay, so, my first major gripe with the movie is the aforementioned LYING TRAILERS THAT LIE. From the one trailer I saw of the movie, I was expecting something...more epic in scope. You know, ground-breaking balls-to-the-wall epic high fantasy set in ancient Scotland, that's how the trailer came off to me.
Instead, I got...well, something best described as "magically-enhanced family drama". Which isn't bad, no. The relationships are quite nice and the story itself is good, if going down very obvious conclusions. Although Tropes Are Not Bad. It's just after seeing a trailer that seemed to promise EPIC SCOTTISH FANTASY and instead getting "family sitcom episode, in Scotland with bears!", I was...disappointed. I wanted more magic and adventure, I was expecting it, and I get...silly bear hijinks? Okay then. I wouldn't have been disappointed if they'd just owned up to the fact that this was character-driven, not plot-driven, but I just feel like I was led on because I did not get what I was expecting.
At least I won't be as disappointed as the Japanese fans, though - according to trailers and posters they're trying to set it up as some sort of Disney Princess Mononoke with shit about breaking the forest's laws and stuff. Brave has about as much in common with Princess Mononoke as...well...uh...there...are...trees? No, seriously, the forest means shit to the plot, what the fuck are you doing Japanese marketers. Anyways.
Aside from the LYING TRAILER disappointment, I liked it. It was cute, heartwarming, not ground-breaking but certainly capable. The story is nothing new, but it does what it does right so that;s good. Pixar's animation is gorgeous. Forget Tangled's Rapunzel, Merida's hair is the most gorgeous thing on a CG character you'll ever see. All those gorgeous curls are animated perfectly and move just like real hair and man, I couldn't take my eyes off it. The scenery was also just as stunning as it should be. Merida's horse was darling, he certainly stole the scenes he was in, even without being more humanized like other horses in animated films. He acted perfectly horse-y and was great for it.
The characters were pretty good. Merida's great, and her father is hilarious. The triplets I could have done without, boring and annoying, although I can't lob "flat character" at them because every character that isn't Merida and Elinor is pretty flat in this film, although it's not bad since to be honest it's all about the mother-daughter conflict and so there really isn't room or need to expand them beyond what they show up as. And despite being a gag character, poor Maudie the maid had me giggling and sympathizing with her. And she gets the hunk in the end, go Maudie and your gag boobs!
So, in the end, good film, pretty worthy of Pixar. It's not the high fantasy epic it could have been and what I was lead to believe by trailers, so don't go into the film expecting that or you will be disappointed. However it is a perfectly nice little family story that's heartwarming in its own right about mother and daughter coming to realize their own mistakes and that neither of them are completely right or wrong - instead, they have to accept each other and compromise, and that their bond as family is more important in the end than their differences. Standard stuff, yes, but done nicely. I wouldn't claim "greatest Pixar movie ever!" but it's definitely good. I would go see it if you get the chance, if nothing else than to appreciate the epic visuals.
Okay, so, my first major gripe with the movie is the aforementioned LYING TRAILERS THAT LIE. From the one trailer I saw of the movie, I was expecting something...more epic in scope. You know, ground-breaking balls-to-the-wall epic high fantasy set in ancient Scotland, that's how the trailer came off to me.
Instead, I got...well, something best described as "magically-enhanced family drama". Which isn't bad, no. The relationships are quite nice and the story itself is good, if going down very obvious conclusions. Although Tropes Are Not Bad. It's just after seeing a trailer that seemed to promise EPIC SCOTTISH FANTASY and instead getting "family sitcom episode, in Scotland with bears!", I was...disappointed. I wanted more magic and adventure, I was expecting it, and I get...silly bear hijinks? Okay then. I wouldn't have been disappointed if they'd just owned up to the fact that this was character-driven, not plot-driven, but I just feel like I was led on because I did not get what I was expecting.
At least I won't be as disappointed as the Japanese fans, though - according to trailers and posters they're trying to set it up as some sort of Disney Princess Mononoke with shit about breaking the forest's laws and stuff. Brave has about as much in common with Princess Mononoke as...well...uh...there...are...trees? No, seriously, the forest means shit to the plot, what the fuck are you doing Japanese marketers. Anyways.
Aside from the LYING TRAILER disappointment, I liked it. It was cute, heartwarming, not ground-breaking but certainly capable. The story is nothing new, but it does what it does right so that;s good. Pixar's animation is gorgeous. Forget Tangled's Rapunzel, Merida's hair is the most gorgeous thing on a CG character you'll ever see. All those gorgeous curls are animated perfectly and move just like real hair and man, I couldn't take my eyes off it. The scenery was also just as stunning as it should be. Merida's horse was darling, he certainly stole the scenes he was in, even without being more humanized like other horses in animated films. He acted perfectly horse-y and was great for it.
The characters were pretty good. Merida's great, and her father is hilarious. The triplets I could have done without, boring and annoying, although I can't lob "flat character" at them because every character that isn't Merida and Elinor is pretty flat in this film, although it's not bad since to be honest it's all about the mother-daughter conflict and so there really isn't room or need to expand them beyond what they show up as. And despite being a gag character, poor Maudie the maid had me giggling and sympathizing with her. And she gets the hunk in the end, go Maudie and your gag boobs!
So, in the end, good film, pretty worthy of Pixar. It's not the high fantasy epic it could have been and what I was lead to believe by trailers, so don't go into the film expecting that or you will be disappointed. However it is a perfectly nice little family story that's heartwarming in its own right about mother and daughter coming to realize their own mistakes and that neither of them are completely right or wrong - instead, they have to accept each other and compromise, and that their bond as family is more important in the end than their differences. Standard stuff, yes, but done nicely. I wouldn't claim "greatest Pixar movie ever!" but it's definitely good. I would go see it if you get the chance, if nothing else than to appreciate the epic visuals.