'BRAVE'

'BRAVE' (PG) (2 STARS)

Written by Mark Andrews, Brenda Chapman, Steve Purcell and Irene Mechi
Directed by Mark Andrews and Brenda Chapman
Voices: Kelly Macdonald, Billy Connolly, Emma Thompson, Robbie Coltrane,
Craig Ferguson, Kevin McKidd

Pixar is the one film production studio I could count on for giving me a guaranteed good or great time at the movies when others failed. I am not a huge fan of movies like "Cars" but I am afraid "Brave" is the weakest Pixar movie (I have not seen "Cars 2"). I was really excited to see "Brave" after seeing it's superb teaser trailer. What promise for a movie that actually turns out to fall way short of it's premise.

This is the first Pixar movie to feature a female heroine/lead and I love the character but the movie squanders her charm. Her name is Merida and she has beautiful, flaming red hair and real verve and pluck. The movie is set in Scotland and Merida's parents Fergus and Elinor are set to arrange a marriage for her. She wants to be independent and find love on her own and she is more obssessed with archery. I like that the writers start off making Merida an individual and a strong young female role model. She can be whiny and self indulgent sometimes but what teenage girls aren't.

I expected a great adventure for Merida but the writers give Merida a cutesy, labored and boring story with no adventure. Merida fights with her Mom and she escapes. I thought she would escape, go on a thrilling adventure of self discovery and find her way back really appreciating how lucky she is to have the parents she has. Instead she finds a witch who helps cast a spell on her mother turning her mother into a bear. See, her father Fergus fought a bear once and lost his leg so now we get the mother as a bear trying to hide from the father. Ugh!

The problem is this story is too cute with scenes of clumsy slapstick and Merida becomes a side note to the other characters. They involve all the suitors that are trying to win the hand of Merida and the big bear which will figure into the final battle. This plot is recycled from a lot of other Disney or Pixar movies and I expected something more fun, thrilling and original from the Pixar groundbreakers. I loved Merida with her charm, bright red hair and search for growth and independence. I just wish her strengths weren't muted by a too precious, dull story of the same old stuff.

For a better Disney movie that sorrounds it's young female protagonist with a more solid story than "Brave" rent "The Little Mermaid" again.