Thrashbrowns v. Mouse House, Round 14

 Brave (2012)

The Story:

Headstrong young Princess Merida (Kelly Macdonald) isn't happy that she's about to be betrothed when she'd rather be free to ride around the glens on her horse, shooting shit with her bow and arrow. Determined to change her fate, she purchases a spell to change her mother (Emma Thompson), and it does change Mom... into a bear. Merida then takes Mom on a journey to find a cure and both mother and daughter learn life lessons.  

Has Thrashbrowns seen this? Why or why not?

Some people think Pixar does nothing but release instant classics. I'm not one of those people. For me, Pixar has released plenty of great films (I'm particularly fond of Monsters, Inc and Up.) and they have a few that are way underrated. (Hellooooo, A Bugs Life!!) But they've released a number a "classic" films that I just find to be overrated and they even release the occasional clunker. 

With this one, something about the trailers set off my "clunker" alarm. So I skipped it up until now.

The Good:

The relationship between Merida and her mother is great. It helps to give Merida a pretty satisfying character arc. The relationship helps drive the tension in the piece since you NEED to see Merida save her mom so that this relationship resolve and give us some closure.

It also helps to give this flick a very emotionally satisfying ending.

The Bad:

The biggest issue with this movie is that it doesn't really take off until Mom gets turned into a bear and it feels like it takes way too long for that to happen. With some creative cutting, I think they could have shortened the first act and gotten us to the good stuff quicker, all while making more room for the good stuff between Merida and Mom in the middle of the film.

Another thing that really didn't work was all the slapstick humor. This movie got me to laugh, but it was never derived from the slapstick pratfalls, like people getting whacked in the head, or the like. Merida's little brothers were pretty funny, but they were the only characters that consistently amused me.

Thirdly, the visuals in the movie were way too monochromatic for me. Too much green and brown. It works to emphasize differently-colored element we need to pay attention to, like the electric blue wisps or Merida's red hair. And there are some pretty shots in this flick, but I got bored with all the greens and browns pretty fast.

Most Annoying Disney-ism:

The finding-my-identity, self-discovery formula. I'm probably a little too sensitive to this element having just watched Moana, but this seems like the five billionth time I've seen this whole headstrong-young-woman-finding-out-who-she-is-and-where-she-belongs formula in a Disney setting. This story gets retold and retold over and over for a reason: it fucking works. But for me, it's a little too tired and overused for me to not get annoyed by it.

Does Thrashbrowns get why people love this so much?

Sure, I do. The parent/child coming to an understanding is powerful stuff, especially for people with kids of their own. I don't have kids and it still got to me. If you have a relationship with your kids or parents, you'll be able to relate.

Did Thrashbrowns like it?

Meh. I found that the things that bugged me robbed a lot of enjoyment for me. Still, there is quite a bit of good stuff here. I'll put it this way: if I'm at a friend's house and they're watching it, I'd be able to tolerate it pretty easily but I will probably never go out of my way to watch it again.

Up Next:

We'll tackle a request by reviewing The Black Cauldron. And we'll probably disappoint a few people in the process.