Brave

You know what? I just realized that I never reviewed a Pixar movie. So here I go with my first review of a Pixar movie. But which one...I know, Brave. Time to get started with my review of Brave.










The movie starts with a little girl named Merida (Kelly MacDonald) and her mother Elinor (Emma Thompson) playing. Merida's father Fergus (Billy Connolly) gives her a bow as a present. But before she has a chance to enjoy it a demonic bear named Mordu (stock animal sound effects) attacks. Merida and her mother escape but her father stays behind to fight the bear. Surprisingly her father survives the demonic bear attack and all he loses is his pride...and one of his legs. We cut to years later where Merida is older and now has three little trouble-making brothers. Elinor prepares Merida for becoming queen and for the three suitors that are coming. The only problem is she doesn't want to get married. She enjoys horseback riding and archery instead. So when the suitors arrive and try to prove themselves, she runs away. While running she comes across a strange cabin and goes inside. Inside she meets a wood carver (Julie Walters) who makes carvings and novelties themed around bears. Merida figures out that she is actually a witch. The witch attempts to kill Merida at first but when she finds out that she will buy all the carvings in the store along with a spell, the witch agrees to help.

She gives Merida a spell to use on her mother. She goes back to the castle where Fergus is keeping everyone entertained. Merida gives her mother the spell (which is disguised as a cake) which causes her to fall ill. But instead of changing her mind about the marriage she just turns into a bear. Merida remembers that her father kind of has a deep hate for bears after Mordu ate his leg, so she decides to get her mother out of the castle. Merida finds the witch's hut but the witch is gone. However she left a note saying that the bear transformation will become permanent after two days. She also gives Merida some very cryptic sounding information on how to fix it (I won't tell you what she said; I don't want to spoil too much). So they go to rest for the night and when they wake up Merida teaches Elinor to go fishing. After fishing Elinor becomes a bear fully but she quickly returns to normal. This makes Merida realize that she has to do something.

***SPOILER ALERT STOP HERE IF YOU DON'T WANT THE END RUINED***

So they find some ruins that belong to an old kingdom that fell. Inside they find out that the way to turn Elinor back to normal is to fix a tapestry that Merida tore at the beginning of the movie. She also finds out that one of the princes of the kingdom is Mordu. So Merida and Elinor make it too the castle. But the suitors and Fergus are at each-others throats. So Merida calms them down and they make it to the room with the tapestry. But Fergus sees Elinor and thinks she is a bear and tries to kill her. But in the end the tapestry is fixed, Elinor defeats Mordu, and Elinor becomes a human again. The End.

****SPOILERS OVER KEEP READING****

Brave is a pretty good movie. I like the relationship between Merida and her mother. The animation is good too: I especially love the wildernesses that it creates. But I do feel that the story borrows from some Disney movies, specifically Brother Bear. But I can over look that. I think that Brave is a good fantasy movie that everyone will enjoy.