Brave Review

I'm glad to say that Disney's latest movie, co-partnered with Pixar, is great. Disney's had a good year, first with the decidedly average John Carter and then followed by the movie Avengers, which broke every movie record ever. Literally (Ignore Avatar, that has transcended the mortal plane). 

Brave is set in ancient Scotland, where King Fergus' daughter, Merida, is about to get married. She is a wild, spirited teenager, taking long rides on her horse to the wilds, accompanied by some stirring Gaelic flutes, pipes and drums that create a beautiful soundtrack to a beautiful movie. And it is beautiful. Pixar/Disney continue to up the ante with their movies in terms of visual quality, and watching it in 3D was amazing.

Storywise, seeing the nuances of the feuding clans when each put forth a suitor to ask for Merida's hand is highly amusing, but soon enough the theme of family shows through as Merida rejects her mother and runs into the forest, guided by the ethereal will-o-wisps. There, she finds a witch who promises to "change" her mother, and gladly accepts. Once she returns home, she finds out exactly what this change entails. Here follows the meat of the movie, where Brave's themes of love and family shine through as they seek to mend the "bond torn by pride". 

It's hard to describe what happens without spoiling the movie, but it's safe to say that Disney excels at portraying emotion just as much as backdrops and action. One highlight of the movie is a bearfight. Yes, a bearfight, in a circle of menhirs. Creepy. It's similar to The Golden Compass' best and most famous scene, and I'd say its just as good or even better, considering how lauded that scene was.

Brave follows Disney's core tradition of movies that are not only great for family entertainment on the outside, but possess deeper themes and meanings within.

9/10