Pixar is back on track but not entirely with this release. After the painfully dreadful, insipid Cars 2 (I have sat through this so I can rightfully complain), things could only get better…yes and no.
Yes, because the cast/voices fit the characters not the other way around as per Dreamworks. Pixar also went with real Scots, boosting the authenticity instead of using imitation accents, aka everybody sounds like Darrell Hammond’s Sean Connery gag. The list features: Billy Connolly, Robbie Coltrane, Craig Ferguson, Kevin McKidd and Kelly Macdonald. I guess Ewan McGregor and Robert Carlyle would’ve exceeded the rule on how many Trainspotting alumni were allowed. The technology is obviously present in the details as much of Brave resembles the 2008 opener Presto.
With the story’s execution, here’s where I’m not sure. I don’t have home access to cable/broadcast TV which means I’ve seen little of the advertising campaign. Sometimes commercials reveal key plot points/twists, same goes for trailers. All I knew going in was the heroine’s desire to change her fate. How this would come about was a pleasant surprise. Either Disney restrained itself or I lucked out. I have to go with the latter knowing the marketing campaigns studios have ramped up every Summer.
No, due to Brave‘s core DNA being a rehashing of Disney’s Princess formula from the Nineties minus the key characters breaking out into musical numbers. I expect this type of film with Disney, Fox, Paramount, Universal, Warner Brothers and especially Dreamworks. Pixar had a reputation for making more daring fare that entertained adults as well as children. Sometimes their movies upset certain political camps, see WALL-E or The Incredibles. This isn’t the case.
Is it really worth seeing? Absolutely. Even a mediocre Pixar movie is better than their competitors despite the quality gap shrinking (Despicable Me, Over the Hedge prove it happened). The positive qualities do outweigh its cynically chosen negatives, just don’t plan on this to break new ground.
In short, Brave is better than both Cars cartoons but it’s no Toy Story; Up; A Bug’s Life; Monsters, Inc. nor Ratatouille. The last one I often find myself defending from the title of weakest/least re-watchable.
The opening cartoon La Luna rocked. Sit tight through the ending credits, there will be a final joke to reward your patience. The 3-D charge was worthwhile. Animation can make the transition more easily than live-action. Our opening trailers were boring: Paranorman, Frankenweenie and Ice Age Flogs a Dead Horse. No Monsters, Inc. prequel.
Alamo’s warm-up show was Pixar’s shorts. Something they do every year. Taking in a mid-morning show means the theater serves these bitchin’ breakfast scones, our actual incentive to go during a rugrat/yard ape screening.