Brave (2012)
Average Rating: 6.9/10
Reviews Counted: 225
Fresh: 175 | Rotten: 50
Brave offers young audiences and fairy tale fans a rousing, funny fantasy adventure with a distaff twist and surprising depth.
Average Rating: 6.7/10
Critic Reviews: 47
Fresh: 33 | Rotten: 14
Brave offers young audiences and fairy tale fans a rousing, funny fantasy adventure with a distaff twist and surprising depth.
liked it
Average Rating: 3.9/5
User Ratings: 272,310
Movie Info
Merida is a skilled archer and impetuous daughter of King Fergus (Billy Connolly) and Queen Elinor (Emma Thompson). Determined to carve her own path in life, Merida defies an age-old custom sacred to the uproarious lords of the land: massive Lord MacGuffin (Kevin McKidd), surly Lord Macintosh (Craig Ferguson) and cantankerous Lord Dingwall (Robbie Coltrane). Merida's actions inadvertently unleash chaos and fury in the kingdom, and when she turns to an eccentric old Witch (Julie Walters) for
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Cast
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Kelly Macdonald
Merida -
Emma Thompson
Queen Elinor -
Billy Connolly
King Fergus -
Julie Walters
Wise Woman -
Kevin Mckidd
Lord MacGuffin -
Craig Ferguson
Lord Macintosh -
Robbie Coltrane
Lord Dingwall
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All Critics (225) | Top Critics (47) | Fresh (175) | Rotten (50) | DVD (4)
The main problem is that Merida craves adventure but Brave limits her to mother-daughter psychodrama.
Top CriticBy the climax, at which all right-thinking viewers will have dissolved in a puddle of warm appreciation, the new Pixar film has earned two cheers and a big bear hug.
The story for this revisionist fairy tale, which promotes contemporary attitudes about parenting and gender equality, is less inspired than usual for Pixar, but the movie upholds the studio's high standard of computer animation.
No, not another Pixar classic, but for full-on family fun it's a brave effort.
The story, with its patchwork of plots (involving feuding clans and disastrous spells), holds together enough to thrill intermittently.
Though it falls short of the studio's best in many respects, Brave is ravishing to look at. Merida's carrot corona is alone worth the price of admission.
Pixar's 13th full-length film is the studio's first to feature a female as its central character, and a memorable creation she is, too.
Brave continues the Pixar tradition of blazing new mythical trails. And Merida is perfect as a princess with no pre-feminist baggage to apologize for.
You kinda wish Pixar would have taken some inspiration from the title of Brave, its newest animated feature, and pushed the envelope a bit.
Brave starts as a light and airy fable, but its mood rapidly turns Brothers Grimm dark and delivers a resounding moral of personal responsibility and consequences for actions.
It practically goes without saying that the animation in Brave is frequently breathtaking.
To see a Pixar movie this sloppy, conventional, and slipshod is downright flabbergasting.
The plot - involving a wicked witch, an endangered parent and a race to reverse a spell - is decidedly oxidized. Even the young girl's unruly mane is the color of rust. But the animation is pure state of the art.
The movie's thoughtful depiction of the mother-daughter bond is female-forward enough to mark "Brave" as special.
Courage, independence and family are all beautifully brought to life by Pixar.
Although the previews would have you believe that the film was an epic journey for the flame-haired firebrand, we are really treated (or deprived, depending on expectation) to a humble, small scale morality play.
The freedom quest of a feisty Celtic princess with a jungle of wild red hair.
"Brave" is the first foray in fairytale storytelling for "Pixar," and their first contribution to the growing pantheon of Disney princesses. It works so well that we can safely assume that it won't be the last fairytale coming out of Emeryville.
The hopping lamp gang has done it again, giving birth to a sharp, fresh fairy tale that in the pantheon of Pixar releases may not go down as a centerpiece, but comes close enough to the bullseye to sate moviegoing subjects kingdom-wide.
Steps outside the boundaries of what seems like a rather conventional tale at the outset, and subsequently elevates itself into something else entirely.
A marvellous magical adventure, that'll perhaps stand the test of time even better than some of Pixar's movies we right now call classics.
While it doesn't break a lot of new ground, Brave is a beautiful and competent entry in Disney's robust fairytale film pedigree.
While Brave is a mile ahead of other animated features hitting our screens, it does feel like a lesser Pixar work.
Audience Reviews for Brave
Super Reviewer
Merida is a strong willed teenage princess who wants to buck tradition and be a free spirit instead of fulfill the typical role of a girly princess. Her actions lead to chaos throughout the kingdom, and her dealings with a witch force her to undo a potentially devastating curse.
Like I said, this had a lot of potential. It ends up sticking to tradition and convention, but, even then, it's still decently well done. It's just a shame that they couldn't bring themselves to completely break away from tradition and forge new territory. There are at least a few tweaks to the formula that elevate the proceedings, so that's cool.
I liked how both of Merida's parents are alive or even present, as this is a rare thing in Disney/Pixarland. And it's nice too that the film focuses heavily on the mother/daughter relationship. It's just a bummer that the film keeps up the trend of having the heroine be a strong willed rebel who wants to defy convention. That, and the way this film characterizes medieval Scottish culture isn't exactly the most informed or balanced, or deep.
The film does at least look pretty though, even if Pixar has made far more visually striking and interesting pictures. And the film is quite watchable and decently paced, but it seems to cater primarily to younger kids over any other demographic.
All in all, this is a decent film, but somewhat of a letdown. It's not terrible, but it's far from unique. Still, it has just enough good going for it to keep me from rating it any lower.
Super Reviewer
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Movies Like Brave
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- Merida: I want my freedom!
- Queen Elinor: But are you willing to pay the price your freedom will cost?
- Merida: Our fate lives in us. You only have to be brave enough to see it.
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- Wise Woman: You never conjure where you carve.
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- Merida: There are those who say fate is something beyond our command. That destiny is not our own, but I know better. Our fate lives within us, you only have to be brave enough to see it.
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- Merida: There are those who say that fate is something beyond our command. That our destinies are not our own. But I know better. Our fate lives within us. You only have to be brave enough to see it.
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- Merida: I want my freedom!
- Queen Elinor: But are you willing to pay the price your freedom will cost?
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- Queen Elinor: A princess does not put her weapons on the dining table!
- Merida: Oh Mum...
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Foreign Titles
- Merida - Legende der Highlands (DE)
- Brave (UK)
