Skip to main content

Brave Review

22nd June 2012

When I saw the Brave trailer a few months ago, I was honestly very disappointed. I realized Merida's character design was beautiful, especially her hair and the change in the generic facial structure of disney/pixar characters, but besides her, the other characters resembled the characters from How to train your dragon. A lot. Sure, they were scottish with the skirts and the accents, but the features and the designs looked as different as those in HTTYD when it released. Also I was not too happy with Pixar making princess movies. All those pre-judgements kept aside, I went into the theatre to be overjoyed with the film.
 

THE PLUSES

There are a countless number of things I loved about it.

Story and Design
The first thing I would say is the storyboarding. Everything was so well choreographed! The introduction of the immense Scottish highlands, the castle and its grasslands, the woods, the character actions really helps the audience follow the story. It created a mystery throughout the film.
Coming to the story, a lot is always expected from a studio like Pixar which has created and brought us films like Ratatouille, Toy Story, Wall-E, Monsters Inc., Finding Nemo and Up. So, naturally we expect nothing but excellence. The story was usual until half of it was over - you expect a prince to come in somewhere, but there is no prince. There is no clichéd romance, instead a very unspoken relationship between Merida and her mother is suggested.
As far as design is concerned, a lot more could be explored, but since it worked, there was no need for that! All the character designs shouted out the personalities of the characters! The parents, the brothers, and even the stupid princes and their fathers! I was so glad the horse didn't look Disneyish.
Also, I absolutely loved the Score and the songs sung - they really brought in another dimension to the film.

Animation:
There're no second thoughts about this - all the gags and the acting is extremely well done and believable. We can expect nothing less from Pixar animators!


THE MINUS
What I didn't understand is the core of the film. Was it about choosing/changing your fate, about her relationship with her mother or about accepting each other for who we are? If there was emphasis on one particular subject then the audience could have taken back something. Since the core is unclear, we take back bits and pieces. We are entertained, but it doesn't touch our heart and stay with us.
Also initially the scottish accent was very distracting and at times changed the tone of the film.


A lot of critiques mentioned that this film didn't have a specific target audience - well, I cannot understand why there should be one as a rule! This film is enjoyed by all age groups. So is a film like 'Up'.

I guess that's all I have to say about Brave. I thoroughly enjoyed every second of it and hats off to all the talent and the effort put in! Loved the story, the gags, the action and the emotion. I actually cried at the climax. :'( (yes I am an emotional individual) Go for it guys! 
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Circle Review

27th July 2017 When I saw the trailer for Circle something like a year ago, it seemed pretty interesting, something similar on the lines of Black Mirror. As the film progressed I only noticed how bad the writing, direction and acting was (despite the renowned cast). There was an obvious, in your face message of the dangers of a world surrounded by surveillance and a lack of ‘privacy’ in a futuristic digital world. The main character Mae’s decisions are so contradictory to her established personality, she feels very superficial and unrelatable. Her actions seem to be without motive or any prior driving force.   The very apparent difference between a series like Black Mirror and a film like Circle, is that the former allows room for question of ethics and basic human rights. It provokes deep thought and discussion. I guess they intended to present a larger-than-life social commentary on the ‘dangers of technology’ but instead leave you absolutely disappointed with...
Post a Comment
Read more

Be the change you want to see.

18th April 2016 Arvind and I recently read about the 19 year old who is solving the world’s ocean pollution crisis. Boyan Slat is a Dutch engineering student single handedly developing the gyers (floating booms and processing platforms) which would potentially clean up 20 billion tonnes of plastic from the world's oceans; the plastic which kills millions of animals and damages thousands of cargo vessels every year. Arvind stressed on the fact that he was 19 – he was exceptionally impressed by a kid who showed that much drive, determination and hard work at such a young age. For me, regardless of his age, this was so commendable. The age didn’t matter to me, infact I disagreed with Arvind, and mentioned how adults have it harder to do something for the greater good. Not only are they in a pathetic zone (they have full time jobs!), they also have responsibilities towards their families and are less imaginative and courageous than the youth since they are aware of the hindrances li...
7 comments
Read more

(J) How to recognise intelligent people

Description: While visiting India, George Bush is invited to tea with Abdul Kalam. He asks Kalam what his leadership philosophy is. He says that, it is to surround himself with intelligent people. Bush asks how he knows if they're intelligent. "I do so by asking them the right questions," says the Kalam. "Allow me to demonstrate." Bush watches as Kalam phones Manmohan Singh and says, "Mr. Prime Minister, please answer this question: your mother has a child, and your father has a child, and this child is not your brother or sister. Who is it?" Manmohan immediately responds, "It's me, Sir !" "Correct. Thank you and good-bye, sir," says the Kalam. He hangs up and says, "Did you get that, Mr. Bush?" Bush nods: "Yes Mr. President. Thanks a lot. I'll definitely be using that!" Bush, upon returning to Washington , decides he'd better put the Condoleeza Rice to the test. Bush summons her to the W...
Post a Comment
Read more