Brave

4/4

Starring (voices): Kelly Macdonald, Emma Thompson, Billy Connelly, Julie Walters, Robbie Coltrane, Kevin McKidd, Craig Ferguson

Rated PG for Some Scary Action and Rude Humor

Since 1995, the release date of the new Pixar movie has become a date to circle on the calendar.  "Toy Story," "Monster's Inc," "Finding Nemo," "The Incredibles," "Up," "Wall-E"... those are just a few of the many titles that are not only excellent family entertainment, but excellent entertainment for everyone.  Pixar's newest entry, "Brave," is in the upper echelon of Pixar releases, and considering its fellows, that's high praise.

Merida (Macdonald) is a princess living in ancient Scotland.  Her life is being dictated by her mother Elinor (Thompson); she's being groomed for marriage, where the oldest sons of the leaders from the rival clans will compete for her hand in marriage.  But Merida's heart lies not in being a wife.  She longs to get out and control her own fate.  At the ceremony, the friction with her mother comes to a head, and she breaks with tradition in a big way.  She then flees into the forest where she meets up with a witch (Walters).  After much prodding, Merida gets the witch to cast a spell that will change her mother.  But Merida doesn't mean for that to be taken literally, especially when the spell turns her mother into a bear.

In keeping with the tradition of having female princesses be feisty and independent (Jasmine, Belle, Mulan, etc.), Merida is stubborn and fiercely independent.  She marches to her own beat, much to the chagrin of her mother.  Macdonald, a native Scot who is best known for her roles in "Trainspotting" (unseen by me) and "No Country for Old Men," gets this right.  For all her flaws, Merida is likable and it's easy to get behind her.  Likewise, Elinor is sympathetic as well (and Thompson is almost unrecognizable in the role).  The trailers make her look almost like the caricature of an overbearing mother.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  She just thinks that Merida is being selfish by not following tradition, but she still loves her daughter.  Their problem is that they're not listening to each other.  Billy Connelly is hilarious as Merida's loving, if rather dense, father Fergus.

There are a number of truly hilarious sequences, like when the opening ceremony turns into a full blown brawl or Elinor's attempts to keep her manners even when she grows twelve feet tall and sports fur and claws.  There are also some touching sequences, like when Merida and Elinor go fishing and when they finally realize what each other was saying all along.

The film is directed by Mark Andrews and Brenda Chapman.  Chapman, who came up with the idea for the film, left the project early on due to creative disagreements.  The film was significantly reworked after her departure, and control of the film went to Mark Andrews, who co-directed the Pixar short "One Man Band" (by the way, the short that plays in front of Brave, called "La Luna," is more whimsical than funny.  It's still good though).  Although there was friction behind the scenes, it doesn't show up in the film.  This is truly the best film of the year so far.

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