BRAVE: A Monument to Compromise

Twenty years ago Pixar Animation Studios revolutionized cinema with the first full length completely computer-generated film. Two decades later and Pixar is still one of the most consistently groundbreaking studios in the business. Leading up to the release of their new film The Good Dinosaur, I will be going through Pixar's entire filmography at the rate of two movies a week. This time around we dig into the tragedy behind Pixar's attempt at diversity, Brave.

Other Reviews in this Series.

Director: Mark Andrews or Brenda Chapman, Steve Purcell (co-director)
Writers: Brenda Chapman, Mark Andrews, Steve Purcell, Irene Mecchi
Cast: Kelly Macdonald, Billy Connolly, Emma Thompson, Julie Walters, Robbie Coltrane, Kevin McKidd, Craig Ferguson, John Ratzenberger
Runtime: 93 mins
2012

In every fiber of its being, Brave is a wholly and unflinchingly average movie. The character design is slightly amusing. The world is lush but unoriginal. The slapstick is inoffensive and unengaging. The voice acting is cartoonishly Scottish. The dialogue gets the job done. The action is functional. The plot is familiar. The story is a far more typical version of what Disney tried and succeeded in accomplishing a year later with Frozen.

When you add all that up, you can't help but be disappointed to find that Brave is no more nor less than the sum of its parts: a cookie cutter movie about fate and self-determination. I'd be hardpressed to name one truly interesting or groundbreaking choice in the whole movie. During my viewing I was so unimpressed with the paint-by-numbers proceedings that, without even realizing it, I got up and went to do something in another room while the climax was ramping up. I never abandon movies like that.