Disney-Pixar's Brave: Brave?

It's my birthday!

Last night I had a fabulous time with my wonderful friends at the bars in Ann Arbor and today I spent some quality family time at home. This family time included going to see Brave (and eating an incredible crepe topped with garlic parmesan smoked salmon, tomatoes, avocados, red onions, capers, and a dijon dill créme--holy crap, I was in heaven).

MK says...

• Brave is undoubtedly a family-friendly movie. It presents a good message, a clear lesson, and a warm-fuzzy-feeling-ending that is adorable. The characters are endearing, individually and as a family unit. It makes you want to run home and hug all of your family members.

• As stated in previous posts, I love girls who kick ass. Merida is a strong, female protagonist (if the trailers and movie posters didn't present that aspect of the movie in a strong enough manner for you). Brave is Disney-Pixar's first film with a female protagonist. I am obviously very pleased. She was a good first, embodying all of the necessary girl-power attributes.

• I put a question mark in the title because the title of the film represents a minor qualm. I like the title. I understand it's appeal. It's an appealing word with a strong connotation. I just wonder if "bravery" is really the over-arching message of the film. Merida was a brave character, as was her mother at points. Okay. That helps the title to make sense. However, I feel like the movie was more concerned with stressing the importance of strong family ties, communication, freedom, and fate. I mean, I didn't expect Disney- Pixar to be like, "Right, let's call the movie Family or How to Talk Effectively: A Guide for Parents and Children," but I imagine there must have been some other title that could have summed up the ideals of the film in a better way. From a purely economic standpoint, I suppose Brave is a highly marketable title. It's acceptable, just not entirely truthful in representing the movie in whole. This is solely my opinion. Totally nit-picky.

• My other small, miniscule issue was that the film focused very much on the mother-daughter relationship. Hold on, don't freak out at me. I loved that relationship and I understand its importance to the film. I just wish that they had rounded out the relations between the other family members a tiny bit more.

SPOILER...WATCH OUT...

         I mean, at the end, Merida is crying and hugging her mother, wishing she could fix the curse. What about her brothers who have also been turned into bears? Why isn't she crying over them too? They could have ended up being bears forever too. I understand that the film chose the mother-daughter relationship in order to let the storyline come full-circle, but I wanted to see slightly deeper family relations. The King, Merida's father, seemed so 2-ply. He was adorable, however. Oh well, what can you expect from a Disney-Pixar movie. END OF SPOILER.

I suppose this is just a reminder to myself and others who may question the depth and corniness of the film that Disney and Disney-Pixar movies are meant to be enjoyed as movies. There must be a reasonable amount of suspension of disbelief when viewing such films. If I step back and think about the film in whole, I really have no reason to not like it. It was enjoyable. It was a cute, family-flick appropriate for all ages.

• Oh, and the 3D version was just fun to watch. Plain fun. Worth the money if you enjoy 3D and want to be immersed in the beauty of the animated Irish landscape.

• Also, the short fight scene between Merida and her father at the end was awesome. I would have enjoyed more scenes illustrating Merida's fighting abilities.

• I keep thinking about the title. I suppose "Brave" also sends a good message out to children about the nature of bravery. Maybe it's a good title after all.

• The short film, La Luna, that played before Brave was just overwhelmingly cute. I loved it. It was visually and emotionally beautiful.

Whelp, I'm exhausted. It's time to sleep for a disturbing amount of hours to allow my body to recuperate from this weekend's festivities.

MK says...4/5. See Brave in theaters if you support Disney-Pixar, families, freedom, America, and positive life-lessons for kids.

Did you get warm-fuzzies at the end of Brave? How do you feel about the addition of another princess to the Disney royal court?