I, like many, was very excited when I first saw the trailer for Brave. And this was still during that time when I wasn’t really into Pixar. But this movie appeared to be something up my alley. A dark fantasy story set in medieval Scotland, it looked and sounded great! The fact it was being directed by The Prince of Egypt’s Brenda Chapman was another really strong point in its favour. This might be epic! But she was eventually replaced on the project by Mark Andrews, a seasoned Pixar animator, and that might have been the first sign this movie wasn’t going to achieve its potential.
Brave stands out among the Pixar misfires as the one that really almost worked. It’s got so many pieces in the right places, but just the way it moves them doesn’t pay off. Which is a real shame, because I can see in this what might have been the studio’s best film.
Set in medieval Scotland, Princess Merida is the daughter of King Fergus Dunbroch, and is under constant pressure from her overbearing mother Elinor to behave like an ideal princess. But of course, Merida wants more than that, she wants to be free to make her own decisions about her life and fate. When the three other clans come to compete through their heirs for her hand in marriage, she defies tradition and sets in motion consequences that will force her relationship with her mother to change drastically.
In so many ways you can tell this is a Scottish story told by Americans. There’s a very palpable disconnect to the culture and history and its clear the filmmakers are celebrating Scotland without knowing much about it, bar a number of cultural touchstones: Red-headed kids, haggis, Highland Games, blue war paint, etc. Why are there bagpipes? Because they’re Scottish. Why are there kilts? Because they’re Scottish. It doesn’t matter that neither was around in Scotland until at least the sixteenth century. Obviously the films’ not trying to be real Scottish history (after all, there were way more than four clans), but it’s presenting a Scotland that never existed, except for in misconceptions and Braveheart. And because of this, it can’t help but be disingenuous. The film also accentuates the Scottish characteristics far too much with constant Celtic music and imagery, but not using either to good effect. To this degree, Brave is selling “Scottish” as its primary characteristic. And in some incidents this extends to stereotyping, such as when the clans start to fight as soon as they arrive as if they were in a pub -despite the apparent traditional arrangement between them. Pixar certainly respects the culture it’s appropriating, but doesn’t love it quite enough to play it straight.
This might be excusable if not for the massively disappointing story. While the trailer promised a tale of epic magic and warriors, what we got was a standard story about a disgruntled teen and the mother who doesn’t understand her being forced through circumstances to learn a lesson together. Hell, Disney’s already done a ton of these, from A Goofy Movie to Freaky Friday. Add this trope to a specifically stolen character arc from Brother Bear (which itself wasn’t a great movie) and you have the plot for Brave. The title doesn’t even work, as bravery is not a significant theme of the film. The clichés don’t stop there though, as of course Fergus mistakes Elinor for the bear who killed his wife, and they come into contact with an incredibly pointless antagonist in the form of another formerly-human bear. There are a bevy of other details that are unnecessary, such as the three children who I suspect are trying to be Minions, and the fact that Fergus is a King purely so Pixar could have their own Disney Princess. The mystical elements of the story, the will-o’-the-wisps, and the witch are just plot devices. Ironically for a movie with a character jokingly called MacGuffin, Brave actually features one in the form of the tapestry Merida and Elinor have to mend. This movie isn’t actually all that interested in Scottish folklore. A few years before Brave came out, Cartoon Saloon released their first feature in Ireland, The Secret of Kells; a movie that’s seeped in folklore, enhancing the story through it and forming a significant part of the narrative. The story of Secret of Kells doesn’t work if set outside of Ireland, the story of Brave does. It doesn’t help that neither Merida’s story nor the legend told to her have any source in actual myth. I’d be okay with a newly invented fairy tale if it was in any way new or inventive.
The one aspect of the plodding plot I do like though is Merida and Elinor’s relationship. I actually don’t mind Pixar doing a story about a mother-daughter bond, especially after how great Finding Nemo was. And through all the unsatisfying, predictable nuances of their personal journey, I have to admit it did work for me. The pacing was good, and it did a fine, if glaringly obvious job of showing how both were flawed and both were learning. By the end you do get a feel for the renewed love between them. A part of this I think also comes from Kelley Macdonald’s performance. I love Macdonald in almost everything I’ve seen her in, and while she does overplay some things in this movie, she’s overall giving a good performance, and the anxiety, uncertainty, and emotion towards what’s happened to her mother comes through. Merida’s not a great character though. She’s defined by her rejection of traditional customs and disillusionment with the expectations of being a princess. Sound familiar? Leaving aside that she lives in a period where its common to be married off to someone she doesn’t know and there’s no reason she should be just learning that now at sixteen, she’s got the same attitude as Jasmine from Aladdin. But with Jasmine, you got the impression she was mature enough to know what was best for her, and that her assertiveness was earned. Merida’s more naive, and akin to Ariel of The Little Mermaid, impulsive and not thinking through her actions; a typically reckless teen, and it doesn’t make her very interesting, even with the archery fixation that was over-emphasized in the promotions (I’m also sick to death of the Robin Hood splitting the arrow in two cliché). Her arc is pretty standard and just like Aladdin, her marriage requirement is conveniently done away with by the end. Throughout the movie, she talks a lot about her fate as well, which seems to be a flimsy theme of the story, but it’s never followed through with. At one point the film appears to try to equate fate with change, thereby making the theme valid by the end -because Merida does change- but those two abstracts are not the same. She’s still a princess, still belonging to the ruling clan, her fate is more or less just as it was. It comes off as lazy writing.
The great Emma Thompson for her part, does well with the stern mother, initially appearing to be one-note, but I like that we get to see her point of view on the divide between herself and her daughter. Thompson also does surprisingly well with a Scottish accent. Billy Connolly is alright as King Fergus, though not as entertaining as he should be. I liked the moments where his relationship with Merida was put in direct contrast to his wife’s, laughing together at the archery tournament, and generally getting along. The trio of Lords are played by a trio of great Scottish actors: Robbie Coltrane as the eccentric Lord Dingwall, Craig Ferguson as Lord MacIntyre, and Kevin McKidd as both the aforementioned Lord MacGuffin and his son, making the clever choice of putting on a heavy Doric accent for the latter. Of course all of the sons are ludicrously incompatible suitors for Merida. I wish I liked the witch voiced by Julie Walters, but she’s pretty much just a discount Edna Mode with only a handful of funny moments. And her talking crow definitely had no purpose being there.
But as poor as the story is, and as unremarkable as the characters are, the animation is really quite good. Brave is an exceedingly pretty movie to watch with a very lush and beautiful look to its world. The topography of Scotland is well-realized and this movie gets a lot out of its location shots. I like some of the touches in the witch’s home, and the wisps are wonderfully ethereal. They and the menhir stones are really evocative of ancient power or mystical nature. Once again, it’s imagery that goes unfulfilled. Even the characters are well-designed, if a little too Disney. Sure, Maudie the maid has some issues, chiefly comical breasts, but both Merida and Elinor are fairly expressive and are animated well enough that it too helps sell their relationship. There are also a few songs added to this movie, which is a little strange, but the songs themselves are good. “Touch the Sky” and “Into the Open Air” are sung by Julie Fowlis, who certainly has a nice voice to listen to, even if the montages their edited over are forced in for their inclusion (my favourite is when they play a moment in slow-motion just to pad out the song).
I really wish Brave wasn’t abundantly clichéd, culturally deaf, or a waste of fantastical concepts. I wonder how different this film might have been if Brenda Chapman was able to stay on as director. Given her previous work, I have to believe it would’ve been at least a slight improvement. This could have been a mesmerizing exploration of Scottish culture and folklore, something comparable to The Secret of Kells or even Song of the Sea, one of the greatest of all animated films. But instead, it’s just a basic story told through a medieval setting, that’s not nearly the love letter to Scotland it thinks it is. Bear in mind, there was a time they weren’t even looking at a real Scottish actress to play Merida. The central relationship may be genuine and the animation really good -it’s watchable compared to the Cars movies or A Bug’s Life. But that’s hardly sufficient praise for the movie we thought we were getting from that amazing trailer.
I don’t think I’ve been more intrigued by a Pixar short than by La Luna. It’s beautifully enchanting and curiously imaginative. A boy is being taken out in a boat with his father and grandfather. They both work as sweepers it appears, and are taking him out for his first run, passing the torch by emphasizing how they wear their hat or which broom they use. When the full moon comes up, they grapple-hook it and climb up a stepladder to it. The brightness of the moon is the result of thousands of glowing shooting stars that have landed on its surface. A giant one appears and it’s the boy who figures out hammering it will cause it to break into dozens of smaller stars. The three generations then proceed to sweep the stars away and when they return to their boat they’ve cleverly made a crescent moon. I was constantly delighted by the turns this short took, first with the incandescent lunar surface being entirely stars, then the reveal of the giant star, and finally the crescent at the end. Enrico Casarona is another animator who deserves recognition, as he imbues this short with a true sense of child-like wonder. I love the simplicity, the minimalism, and the ingenuity behind it, as well as the style reminding me a little bit of Popeye cartoons crossed with The Little Prince. It’s nicely magical, atmospheric, innocent, and cute -the kind of thing out of a child’s dream.
Next Week: Monsters University (2013)
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