Brave is a 2012 computer-animated fantasy film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It was directed by Mark Andrews and Brenda Chapman and co-directed by Steve Purcell. The story is by Chapman, with the screenplay by Andrews, Purcell, Chapman and Irene Mecchi. The film was produced by Katherine Sarafian, with John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton, and Pete Docter as executive producers. The film's voice cast features Kelly Macdonald, Billy Connolly, Emma Thompson, Julie Walters, Robbie Coltrane, Kevin McKidd, and Craig Ferguson.
Plot[]
Princess Merida, the impetuous but courageous daughter of Scottish King Fergus and Queen Elinor, is a skilled archer who wants to carve out her own path in life. Her defiance of an age-old tradition angers the Highland lords and leads to chaos in the Kingdom of DunBroch. Merida seeks help from an eccentric witch, who grants her an ill-fated wish. Now, Merida must discover the true meaning of courage and undo a beastly curse before it's too late.
Why It's Great[]
- It stays true to the Celtic and Scottish culture.
- Very likable and entertaining characters, such as Merida, Queen Elinor, Fergus and the Triplets.
- An emotional and touching plot with really good morals about family and courage.
- Brilliant animation, that is another major step-up from other Pixar films.
- Amazing musical score by Patrick Doyle.
- Great voice-acting, with Kelly Macdonald, Billy Connolly, and Emma Thompson.
- Plenty of surprises, like the scenes where Queen Elinor turns into a black bear.
- The film has a dedication to Steve Jobs in the credits.
- Merida is one of the few princesses to have an accurate accent, as well as one of the few to be voiced by someone the same nationality as her.
- Good character development, for example: Merida started off as a selfish and rebellious brat who treats her mother horribly, and vise-versa, but later she apologizes to her mother during the second act.
- Awesome final battle between Merida, Elinor and Mor'du.
- (Lies!) Three Lord Fight Funny.
Bad Qualities[]
- The overuse of butt jokes.
- The story can be a little bit rushed.
- False advertising: Despite all of the posters featuring Merida with her bow and arrow, she only uses it in a few scenes and doesn't use it for any of the action scenes of the film.
- In fact, all of the trailers are also misleading as well.
Reception[]
Brave received a 78% approval rating on the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes based on reviews from 250 critics, with an average rating of 7.00/10.
Box Office[]
Brave earned $237.3 million in North America, and $303.2 million in other countries, for a worldwide total of $540.4 million. It was the 13th highest-grossing film of 2012, the eighth highest-grossing Pixar film, and the third highest-grossing animated film that year behind Ice Age: Continental Drift ($875.3 million) and Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted ($746.9 million).