Movie Review: "Brave"/Disney-Pixar/100 min./Rated PG

When Disney bought Pixar Animation Studios in January of 2006 for a staggering $7.4 billion, much was made about the potential Disney-fication of Pixar's unique storytelling style. Those concerns were echoed in the summer of that year when "Cars" was released to huge profits and the worst critical response to any Pixar film to that point.  Of course, Pixar blew the pundits out of the water with their next string of films. "Ratatouille", "WALL-E", "Up" and "Toy Story 3" were each the most critically acclaimed film of their year and are among the most acclaimed movies of all-time. In fact, their rapturous reception by critics was one of the reasons that the Motion Picture Academy expanded the number of Best Picture nominees to ten (along with the continued Academy neglect of other pop hits like "The Dark Knight").

Last year things got iffy for Pixar with the release of "Cars 2". I honestly think that "Cars 2" is an entertaining movie, but the single element that it is most lacking is passion. Every other Pixar film is born out of a truly unique idea, spurred on by the passion of the filmmaker. "Cars 2" genuinely seems born out of corporate greed and, while I think Pixar did an admirable job of trying to make something out of it, it still ranks as their weakest film, creatively and commercially (not counting the billions it made from toys).

So, now Pixar releases "Brave", their first non-sequel in three years. It's also their first film directed by a woman (story-writer and co-director Brenda Chapman) and featuring a female central protagonist, which is all the better for the company. In fact, making a big budget computer-animated film that is a tribute to the mother/daughter relationship is borderline revolutionary in this boy-centric art form and very much in keeping with Pixar's M.O. They're risk takers. They're the one's that made a worldwide box-office smash out of a story about a rat obsessed with French cooking for heaven's sake! It only makes sense that they would see the need for this kind of a story. As long of the movie sticks to the family relationships, "Brave" is stellar.

It starts off startlingly well, with scenes that take the traditional fairy-tale elements of the story and infuse them with trademark Pixarian humor, rhythm and heart. It doesn't feel like any Princess movie you've ever seen before. The central protagonist, Merida (voice of Kelly McDonald), is a head-strong teenager who's never happier than when she can ride through the woods on her loyal horse, firing arrows into pre-placed targets on her way. Her "non-feminine" interests confuse and worry her mother (voiced by Emma Thompson), who sees it as her job to raise the perfect Princess and is thwarted at every turn by her wild-haired daughter. (Merida's hair is not only symbolic of her wild nature, but it is almost a character in itself) I want to leave the plot elements unspoiled, but this is a fairy tale, so it's not spoiler-y to say that there's a magic spell and a frantic race to set things right, but the plot is, as Roger Ebert once said, the percussion, not the melody. The plot is a means to telling the story, but point of the story is held in the relationship between Merida and her mother. Both are convinced that they could explain their view point if the other person would just listen, unfortunately, they're both too focused on that to ever listen to each other. That is until the situations force them to listen.

As I mentioned previously, when the focus is on this relationship, "Brave" is delightful. It's that central relationship that inspired Chapman when she wrote the story. However, part of the way into the production of "Brave", Chapman was replaced as director (she's credited as co-director on the final film) by Mark Andrews. Unlike other director replacements in Pixar's films (it's a more common occurrence than you'd think), this one seemed to be for commercial, rather than creative reasons. There have been reports that Andrews was brought in to make it more appealing to boys and to beef up the comedy. Unfortunately, when the humor goes crude and/or unoriginal, the magic of the central relationship is lost. For me, it's these moments that keep it from being counted among Pixar's best films, although it's a wonderful step up from the soulless, though entertaining, "Cars 2".

The animation in "Brave" is nothing short of amazing. The lushness of the Scottish highlands, the richness of the character animation, the wild beauty of Merida's aforementioned mane, it's all wonderful eye-candy. The musical score by Patrick Doyle has some lovely Scottish-themed flourishes and the voice-over work is universally excellent (Billy Connolly as King Fergus does a particularly hilarious impersonation of his teenage daughter)

 All told, "Brave" is definitely worth the price of admission and is a movie that children will love. It's wonderful to have a big-budget film sincerely address the tender and deep emotions associated with the mother/daughter relationship, I just wish the screenwriters and filmmakers would have had the courage to let that relationship inform all of the humor without letting more "hip" jabs a humor sneak in to the texture.

By the way, if you have very young children, be aware that there are moments of intense animal attacks, comparable to the Barracuda attack in "Finding Nemo". Plus, the crude moments of humor that I mentioned include some animated backsides played up for laughs and a rather surprising close up of a buxom woman's chest. These moments are short and certainly not telling of the general tone of the movie, but you should know they're there.

Also, get to the theater on time because the animated short, "La Luna", which shows before "Brave" is quite simply one of the most beautiful pieces of animation ever made. It's warm, surprising, creative and moving. In other words, it's vintage Pixar.

Overall grade for "Brave" - B+ / for "La Luna" - A+

Preview of Summer 2012....one month into it.

It’s been way too long since I’ve written in this blog, especially considering the fact that not only has the summer movie season been going for a full month, but it also contained the biggest summer movie OF ALL TIME (well, not if you adjust for inflation, then it’s just the 11th biggest summer movie of all time, but that’s still pretty darn big!) Of course, a large part of the reason for this delay is my day job(s). In the last six months I’ve conducted or performed in 14 different concerts, written and directed a musical and been in charge of several after-school hours student council activities at the school, in addition to my regular teaching and private studio schedule, so it’s been a bit busy. However, on this wonderfully beautiful Sunday afternoon, I’m going to take a breath and look forward to a somewhat less hectic summer schedule. Not that I haven’t seen any movies. I haven’t seen as many as I’d like (curse the fact that I’m not paid as a film critic), but I’ve seen the important ones. Interestingly, there are fewer movies that I’m looking forward to this summer. While there’s usually at least one film a week during the season that I’m at least moderately interested in, this year’s schedule looks a little more barren. However, the ones that look good look REALLY good, so maybe that makes up for it. However, before I get into it, let’s look at what happened in the first month. Of course, the summer started gently with a small little art house film called “The Avengers”. This intimate little costume drama somehow defied the odds and made over 570 million dollars and counting, looking to end up north of 600 million and at number 3 on the list of all-time grossers (behind only “Titanic” and “Avatar”). All sarcasm aside, “The Avengers” was awesome. A movie that by all means could’ve been a huge disaster, but somehow became one of the most ridiculously entertaining movies of the last decade. I’ve seen it three times in the theater and it’s not enough. So…..much…..awesomeness! I love how wise Marvel Studios has been in choosing directors. Joss Whedon didn’t seem like a natural fit for “The Avengers” to me, but the motivations for hiring him were totally character based and it was all for the best. He is a master at juggling ensemble casts and giving them all equal importance, which was exactly what was needed for this movie. Plus, he didn’t skimp on the special effects/action coolness. Also, it was surprisingly funny. Also, The Hulk was perfect. Also, I loved it. (grade: A) I missed the big movies of the next couple of weeks of the summer. Still haven’t seen “Dark Shadows” or “Battleship”, which is a good or a bad thing depending on who’s going the critiquing. I’ve had friends that had seen both and have heard that they are both either fun or horrible. I’ll have to check it out myself. I did see “Men in Black 3” and enjoyed it. There was an odd, made-for-video vibe about it, but it was humorous and surprisingly poignant in the end, even if the plot was a bit hole-ridden. Plus, it’s always nice to see Will Smith back on the big screen. Also, Josh Brolin is amazing as a younger version of Agent K. (grade: B-) “Snow White and the Huntsman” has two things about it that warrant a high recommendation: the visuals and Charlize Theron. This movie has some of the most stunning visuals I’ve ever seen in a film and I really do look forward to seeing what happens with director Rupert Sanders’ career. The enchant forest, the aerial views of the dark forest, the warriors made of shards of metal….there are so many scenes and individual shots that belong hung in an art museum. This visual art is framing a pretty average fantasy story with most of the actors doing the best they can with the stilted dialogue, however Theron rises above the dialogue to create a villain simultaneously terrifying, empathetic and attractive, not an easy feat. It was also nice to see Kristen Stewart in a non-“Twilight” related role. I thought she acquitted herself quite nicely. (grade: B-) The first sleeper hit of the summer is “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel”, in which several great British actors and actresses of a certain age do their take on “Eat, Pray, Love”, however, I liked “Hotel” a lot more than Julia Roberts ode to self-indulgence disguised as self-discovery. For one, Maggie Smith and Judi Dench are in it, which instantly lifts any movie to a higher level of class. Secondly, there are actually some likeable characters and good messages throughout. The overall message of the film is found in a catchphrase that is uttered throughout: “It will be alright in the end, so if it’s not alright, it’s not the end yet.” A thought that would have been equally at home among Forrest Gump’s cavalcade of sentimentality, but pleasant nonetheless. (grade: B) Lastly, “Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted”. This installment of the successful animated franchise about zoo animals trying to find their way back to Central Park is by far the riskiest and, as a result, the most entertaining. The animals leave Africa to find their monkey and penguin friends in Monte Carlo and head back to the good ole’ U.S. of A. However, their path is thwarted by a French animal control officer expertly voiced by Frances McDormand. Not only is this woman fearless and a bit feral, but she can heal broken limbs merely by singing “Non Je Ne Regrette Rien”. I’d like to see anyone on “Grey’s Anatomy” pull off that one. The animals escape her by joining a European circus and turning it into a Cirque du Soleil-style surreal extravaganza and it’s in that plot point that the movie becomes something a little more special than the other “Madagascar” movies. The movie becomes a phantasmagoria of absurdist humor and surreal imagery, which is actually best viewed in 3d. I have never seen a film use the 3d technology to such successful comic effect. In every chase scene, every action sequence, every circus-related scene, there is no opportunity to throw stuff at the audience left unturned, most of the time eliciting giggles of surprise from the audience. “Madagascar 3” is far from a perfect movie, but it’s a pretty darn funny one and would make a very satisfying end to the franchise if the filmmakers decide to end it here. (grade: B+) As for the rest of the summer, it’s sort of like a desert with a few very real oasis to bask in. In a couple of weeks, we get the first non-sequel Pixar film since 2009’s “Up” with “Brave”. It also marks the first time Pixar has made a female character the central protagonist of a film and the first time they’ve had a female director (Brenda Chapman, who directed “Prince of Egypt” for DreamWorks receives co-director credit on “Brave”). While it doesn’t look like it will have the startling originality of previous Pixar films, “Brave” looks like a solidly entertaining and beautifully rendered story swimming in Scottish mythology. I can’t wait. The July 4th holiday marks the release of a movie that I have very mixed feelings about, “The Amazing Spider-Man”. The trailers look like the filmmakers have very thoughtfully crafted, interesting and detailed origin story for the popular comic book character, it’s just that it was only ten years ago that we HAD a thoughtfully crafted, interesting and detailed origin story for this particular comic book character, and, unlike the “Batman” franchise rebooting with “Batman Begins”, the last “Spider-Man” movie wasn’t a flop financially or critically. (fanboys like to decry “Spider-Man 3” and, while it is the weakest of the series, it’s nowhere near the disaster some like to say it was) However, Sony Pictures had to rush a movie into production in order to hold on to the rights to Spider-Man, which would’ve reverted back to Marvel Studios if Sony didn’t have a film ready by 2012, and since they couldn’t agree with Sam Raimi on a direction for a “Spider-Man 4”, they decided to reboot the whole thing. Sony made and interesting choice in director with Marc Webb, a filmmaker whose previously best-known movie was the 2009 indie sleeper hit “(500) Days of Summer”. Plus, the cast is great. The question isn’t if a good Spidey reboot could be made, but SHOULD it have been made. I guess we’ll find out July 3rd. And, of course, there’s “The Dark Knight Rises”, the movie that finishes Christopher Nolan’s planned Dark Knight trilogy. The commercials have hit all the right notes and I personally every bit of faith in Nolan’s talents, so there’s no reason to believe this will be anything less than great. It will also make an interesting counter-point to the candy-colored heroes of “The Avengers”. While I’m pretty sure “The Avengers” will end up with more repeated viewings by me, “The Dark Knight Rises” will probably be the one recognized come award season. In August, there’s “The Bourne Legacy”, not a reboot, but a continuation of the Treadstone plot line sans Jason Bourne. It looks pretty good and Jeremy Renner has already shown he can do the action hero thing in “Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol” and “The Avengers”, so I’m looking forward to it. Also in August comes “ParaNorman”, a stop-motion animated film from Portland’s own Laika studios (the guys who made “Coraline”). I know some parents that are concerned about the number of darkly themed animated films being made, but personally I think they’re sort of a perfect way for kids to enjoy the spirit of Halloween without being subjected to the horror movies that litter the cable networks in October. Of course, this begs the question “Why is this movie about the dead-communicating, zombie-fighting middle-schooler going to be released in August instead of October”. The answer is probably in order to avoid Tim Burton’s stop-motion film “Frankenweenie”, a remake of a live action film he made while still working at Disney. Regardless of the release date, it should be a hoot. So, the summer movie season is upon us and, hopefully, I’ll have a little more time to keep you apprised of my thoughts on the movies. Enjoy and have a fun summer at the movies!