BRAVE--movie review by Gordon Stamper, Jr.

Brave

A Walt Disney Pictures/Pixar Animation Studios Production

Featuring the voices of Kelly Macdonald, Emma Thompson, Billy Connolly, Julie Walters, Robbie Coltrane, Kevin McKidd, Craig Ferguson

Story by Brenda Chapman; screenplay by Chapman, Mark Andrews, Steve Purcell, and Irene Mecchi

Directed by Andrews, Chapman, and Purcell

Rated 'PG' for crude humor and frightening images

100 minutes

Though Brave is not a return to Pixar's best releases, at least it is not a sequel or lacking visual appeal.  The main problem is the main character, Merida (Kelly Macdonald), who kids will probably love and their parents will think is a spoiled brat.

All similarities end with bow and arrow skills between Merida and The Hunger Games' Katniss Everdeen.  This archer is literally a whiny princess, albeit with a Scottish brogue.  Her loving parents, King Fergus (Billy Connolly) and Queen Elinor (Emma Thompson), lavish her with attention.  Fergus encourages her tomboy ways while Elinor attempts to train her in the ways of a princess and eventual queen of the Scottish clans. 

Tensions between mother and daughter rise when Queen Elinor arranges a meeting of the clans to have the clan lords' sons vie for Merida's hand.  When her trusty bow and arrow and general feistiness doesn't derail the queen mom's plans, Merida seeks the help of a witch not-so-convincingly disguised as an artistic wood carver (Julie Walters), and big plot complications quickly follow.  Will Merida be able to make up for her selfish actions and undo the witch's curse?

While the clan in-fighting features the Pixar debut of a purple nurple, Brave draws most of its adult audience appeal from the genuine suspense and high stakes tension in its second half.  These developments make it interesting for adults, but may be too intense for small children, which is the principal reason for the 'PG' rating.

Otherwise, technical delights abound, with superior and detailed animation, from Merida's flowing locks to a Scottish Highlands setting that is at turns serene and foreboding.   Enchanted will-o'-the-wisps are straight out of Studio Ghibli.  A rousing music score by Patrick Doyle adds to the sweep of Merida's horseback rides in the countryside.

Macdonald, Connolly, and especially Thompson, with spot-on Scottish speak, are well-suited for their voice work.  And those concerned that the John Ratzenberger streak in Pixar films is over can be consoled that he has a brief cameo role.

Pixar's latest feature overcomes its fairly conventional plot and sometimes grating central heroine with a compelling climax and their animation magic.  Too bad it wasn't made on the same level as "La Luna," a dreamy and sublime animated short that accompanies Brave and encourages viewers to get in the movie theater on time.

Overall rating:  *** out of ****