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| UNWORTHY |
Brave got a lot of attention as being the first Pixar film with a strong female lead. This got my attention even though I didn't see the big deal. It isn't like females in previous Pixar films were worthless background noise. ElastiGirl from The Incredibles might be one of the strongest animated female characters in film history. After seeing Brave, a very misleading title by the way, I would not place Princess Merida anywhere in Helen Parr's league.
What if I told you a tomboyish princess, who trained to be an archer/warrior her entire life, was opposed to her prissy mother's demands to marry her off to the suitors of rival kingdoms? Still with me right? Now, what if I told you her refusal to marry plunged her kingdom into war? Awesome! Then what if the princess and her mother are sent away by the king for their own safety? Uh oh! Then what if they were ambushed and attacked by men from a rival kingdom? Oh Sh*t! But what if the princess, escapes with her mother? Wow! What if the princess used every bit of the skills she'd learned from her warrior father to travel across the dangerous countryside back home? Nice! What if, while avoiding capture and surviving the elements, the princess proves to her mother that there are things a woman can aspire to be other than a stuffy aristocrat. A woman can actually aspire to be "Brave". You'd want to see that right? So would I. Too bad that isn't what this film is about.
Sure Princess Merida is being forced into marriage. But instead of the story going the way you want it to, it changes into a silly body transformation comedy no better than that Tim Allen Shaggy Dog remake. Don't look forward to seeing Princess Merida using that bow in the above picture in any meaningful way. It doesn't make a bit of difference in this film's story. She could have been awesome with a boomerang or slingshot and it would not make a bit of difference in this film. Merida is also NOT A STRONG FEMALE CHARACTER. She is a whiny, petulant, prideful child that makes a decision that could only be described as DUMB. At no point did I see her as brave. The brave thing to do would be to confront the issues she had with her mother head on. Instead, she avoids doing the brave thing pretty much for this entire movie.
Think my version of what I hoped Brave to be is too adult? Then let me remind you that the beginning of Up centers around infertility and a subsequent psychological breakdown. The Incredibles deals with the issues of a midlife crisis, infidelity and McCarthyism. A Bug's Life is literally a remake of the Magnificent Seven/Seven Samurai. Wall-E is set during a post apocalyptic future. And Toy Story 3....oh boy...Toy Story 3 was a few frames away from being the ballsiest allegory for mortality ever. A Scottish female version of Rescue Dawn is not too much to ask for.
Brave also has an OVERLY PREACHY message about fate that would be lost on a child and insult the intelligence of an adult. A message narrated to us just so they could tie it back to the, again, misleading title. The film should be called Pride if anything. It is the only thing I see at work in the main character. This could have been a film that might have set an example as to how to make a movie with a strong female lead. However, it comes across more like a medieval episode of That's So Raven. (Yes, I've seen it. Don't judge me.) A film UNWORTHY to be under the Pixar banner. I expect this from Disney Studios but not these guys. Brave it...then tell me I'm wrong.
I have yet to see it, but being that your review is based on what you see as a misleading title, it's interesting that 'Brave' is not the original title.
ReplyDeleteWould you have viewed it differently had they named in 'The Bear and The Bow', as was originally intended?
Yes, or just drop the fact that she has a Bow and Arrow skill at all. It is inconsequential to the story. Why give her this skill, market around it, and then squander it. It'd be like having Dustin Hoffman not do any number tricks in Rain Man. Having Jeremy Renner NOT diffuse bombs in Hurt Locker.
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ReplyDeleteI saw it today (UK opening day). I have to say that in the ads and trailers I saw beforehand, sure they showed her using the bow, I myself didn't really interpret that as a huge signal that the skill was a huge part of her character, and thus the movie. They may even have emphasized it purely because it provided a good opportunity to utilize the 3D tool with cool shots and angles? The bow aside, I was a little dissappointed overall. It didn't seem enough like a Pixar movie, and I like many people, went to see it because of the studio name attached and always hope to see the inimitable Pixar stamp on a film, but I didn't quite see it in this one.
ReplyDeleteLike I said. It is unworthy to be under the Pixar banner. Its adequate at best, where most of their pictures are stellar.
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