The D11 Report: Brave
4 Aug 2012 23:58![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
patentdragonBlockbuster Season is drawing to a close, and yet again, we're treated to an offering from Pixar, and this time, Lassiter and Co. have featured more human characters than ever in the Scottish-themed Brave - so, how does it fare...?
No attempt is made to give this rather Disney-esque "feisty princess" tale any kind of historical framework, and so a great weight is taken off this film's shoulders. Given the Disney pedigree, one might expect some supernatural elements, but these are only gently fed into the story as heroine Merida seeks to "change her fate" and "chances" upon a witch in the forest. A spell is cast, with unexpected consequences for Merida's family as her overbearing mother is transformed...
And here, we find the problem with this movie. It's too short. For the whole "mother as bear, coming to see the world from a different angle" heart of the tale to really work, it needed a bit more time to "cook". A musical montage sequence in the wilderness is very endearing, but there could have been at least another twenty minutes where the mother perhaps "comes round" by herself, but such elements are pared down somewhat, to fit everything into a film coming in not much over the one hour thirty mark. Intentional? A cost-saving exercise? I can't really say. Pixar are trying to be more realistic this time round, and they should be applauded for the attempt.
The voice performances are first-rate, in particular the heroine, the animation is fabulous (hair and clothes are more convincing than ever), the setting lush and green without being fantastical, the musical sequences are carefully deployed, and most fitting. This isn't the typical Disney "true love wins the day" kind of thing - the "princess" DOESN'T find her "prince", and doesn't actually need to, and there's a certain Studio Ghibli feel to proceedings, as the will-o'the-wisps channel the forest spirits from Princess Mononoke, even to the point of making very similar "sighing" sounds - and maybe that's how Pixar are trying to take things. In my mind, that's no bad thing.
What is, and continues to be a bad thing, is 3D. Why bother? There was no immersive feel to the loving aerial passes of CG Scottish wilderness, and only a couple of instances where the 3D effect was even noticeable. I will, however, overlook it this time as this movie included the obligatory short "supporting feature", the almost silent "La Lune", which was beautifully crafted, intriguing, and paid off splendidly in the final frames where it all came together. The cherry on top of the cake.
The Final Verdict... McSpirited Away? Not quite, but a change of approach from Pixar that mostly pays off. Not a classic, but very much worthy of consideration. 8/10
Oh, and definitely stay to the very end of the titles to see a part of the story you'll probably have forgotten get its pay-off... ;-)
No attempt is made to give this rather Disney-esque "feisty princess" tale any kind of historical framework, and so a great weight is taken off this film's shoulders. Given the Disney pedigree, one might expect some supernatural elements, but these are only gently fed into the story as heroine Merida seeks to "change her fate" and "chances" upon a witch in the forest. A spell is cast, with unexpected consequences for Merida's family as her overbearing mother is transformed...
And here, we find the problem with this movie. It's too short. For the whole "mother as bear, coming to see the world from a different angle" heart of the tale to really work, it needed a bit more time to "cook". A musical montage sequence in the wilderness is very endearing, but there could have been at least another twenty minutes where the mother perhaps "comes round" by herself, but such elements are pared down somewhat, to fit everything into a film coming in not much over the one hour thirty mark. Intentional? A cost-saving exercise? I can't really say. Pixar are trying to be more realistic this time round, and they should be applauded for the attempt.
The voice performances are first-rate, in particular the heroine, the animation is fabulous (hair and clothes are more convincing than ever), the setting lush and green without being fantastical, the musical sequences are carefully deployed, and most fitting. This isn't the typical Disney "true love wins the day" kind of thing - the "princess" DOESN'T find her "prince", and doesn't actually need to, and there's a certain Studio Ghibli feel to proceedings, as the will-o'the-wisps channel the forest spirits from Princess Mononoke, even to the point of making very similar "sighing" sounds - and maybe that's how Pixar are trying to take things. In my mind, that's no bad thing.
What is, and continues to be a bad thing, is 3D. Why bother? There was no immersive feel to the loving aerial passes of CG Scottish wilderness, and only a couple of instances where the 3D effect was even noticeable. I will, however, overlook it this time as this movie included the obligatory short "supporting feature", the almost silent "La Lune", which was beautifully crafted, intriguing, and paid off splendidly in the final frames where it all came together. The cherry on top of the cake.
The Final Verdict... McSpirited Away? Not quite, but a change of approach from Pixar that mostly pays off. Not a classic, but very much worthy of consideration. 8/10
Oh, and definitely stay to the very end of the titles to see a part of the story you'll probably have forgotten get its pay-off... ;-)
