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“Brave” Analysis

Introduction

Disney princess movies are watched by many children in this country, and there are certain stereotypes that these movies build in young minds. In order for these specific movies to be productive is to provide a good moral for children to learn from. Unfortunately, almost every Disney princess movie up until very recently hasn’t had the most productive morals. A way in which a princess movie can have a good moral is to have a strong female protagonist, like a lady who is able to think and make decisions for herself. She also needs to be able to rescue herself from the conflicts in the movie, at least for the most part. This is the most important aspect because it teaches children to not feel helpless. Another important lesson for children, especially young girls, is that they don’t need to find a romantic love interest to be happy. In other words, true happiness comes from within, not from a prince. Finally, modern day princesses need to be more relatable and have less unrealistic personalities and body types. Most Disney princess movies fail at these aspects but the film, Brave , does not.

Summary of Brave (No Spoilers)

The Over-Romanticizing of the Princess

Princesses’ Effect on Body Image

The article, Pretty as a Princess: Longitudinal Effects of Engagement With Disney Princesses on Gender Stereotypes, Body Esteem, and Prosocial Behavior in Children , expresses that along with life goals, princess movies also have the potential be dangerous for young girls’ body image. Disney princesses are always unrealistically thin, along with having perfect hair and ridiculously large eyes, which affects the way girls see themselves (Coyne et al.). Despite the fact that Merida is extremely thin, her hair differs from other princesses in that it is very large and curly. She also walks without the grace of a “lady” and has a very unrestrained laugh, which are all more realistic attributes that are actually relatable to those of us who don’t look like the “standard” princess.

To summarize, Brave is a very unusual princess movie, and Merida is quite the untraditional princess. As a person who has watched many princess movies, it is my educated conclusion that Brave is not only a good film but the best Disney princess movie. This movie shattered stereotypes and showed that Disney has come a long way. It is more progressive in its portrayal of the female protagonist, and, in doing so, it inspired more movies like it and films that are better suited for young minds to see. Brave displays a strong female character that little girls and boys can look up to and learn from. Merida is relatable in that she makes mistakes, has flaws and is extremely stubborn. She differs from other princesses because she never backs down from a challenge, nor does she rely on a man to save her. There is no romance in this film involving Merida, which I really like, because it shows that princess movies can be just as moving without the protagonist being romanticized. This movie is important to me because my little sisters can watch it and see that ladies can be independent and strong-minded without any rescuing. Their true value comes from their own sense of self-worth, not from a prince.

Works Cited:

Brave . Directed by Brenda Chapman and Mark Andrews, Disney, 2012.

Chapman, Brenda. “The moment I became a feminist.” Ted Talks. Berkeley, California.   Guest lecture.  Accessed 21 November 2018. Link to video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Loc10c2cu0g&t=431s .

Coyne, Sarah M., et al. “Pretty as a Princess: Longitudinal Effects of Engagement With Disney Princesses on Gender Stereotypes, Body Esteem, and Prosocial Behavior in Children.”  Child Development , vol. 87, no. 6, Nov. 2016, pp. 1909–1925.  EBSCOhost , doi:10.1111/cdev.12569. Date accessed: 22 November 2018.

Siede, Caroline. “Disney Princesses Are My (Imperfect) Feminist Role Models.” Boing Boing . 24 October 2014. boingboing.net/2014/10/24/disney-princesses-are-my-impe.html. Date accessed: 22 November 2018.

Sleeping Beauty . Directed by Clyde Geronimi , Disney, 1959.

Stephens, Jena. “Disney’s Darlings: An Analysis of The Princess and the Frog, Tangled, Brave and The Changing Characterization of the Princess Archetype.”  Interdisciplinary Humanities , vol. 31, no. 3, Fall 2014, pp. 95-107.  EBSCOhost ,  search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=101481692&site=ehost-live . Accessed 19 November 2018.

Photo Credits:

Link to “Brave” front cover picture:

http://www.lacasadeel.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/brave-pelicula-2012.jpeg

Link to Merida fighting picture:

https://thefeministwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/brave.jpeg

Link to Sleeping Beauty Picture:

https://thebroketypist.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/sleeping-beauty.jpg

Link to Cinderella Picture:

https://janeaustenrunsmylife.files.wordpress.com/2015/03/cinderella-wedding-day-shoe.jpg

Link to Princess Body Type Picture:

https://img.buzzfeed.com/buzzfeed-static/static/2015-06/26/10/enhanced/webdr14/edit-wide-23390-1435327406-2.jpg

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Review by Brian Eggert June 22, 2012

An enchanting story about a betrothed princess, a witch’s curse, and the changing of fate, Brave is a Disney-style storybook made by Pixar. Walt Disney built his legacy animating fairy tales into family-friendly spectacles, and in doing so, he established a series of “happily ever after” formulas ingrained into our understanding of the genre to this day. Pixar’s legacy, however, stands in the realm of visual and narrative perfectionism, where conventions are reworked or altogether originated. And so, with this film, the Disney•Pixar corporate namesake has never been more appropriate. As much as Pixar’s film follows the conventional Disney storybook recipe, there are moments wherein the premier animation studio breaks convention; indeed, somewhere behind the scenes, a Parisian rat has added a dash of smoked paprika and diced shallots to augment and ultimately deepen that standard Disney fairy tale recipe. What results is a familiar story told with impressive artistry and integrity, inside a deceptively simple treatment that hides its unconventionality behind its embrace of tradition.

Even the film’s main theme is about letting go of certain traditions to make room for all new ones. Set in the Scottish highlands long ago, the story follows Princess Merida (Kelly Macdonald) from her wee childhood as her mother, Queen Elinor (Emma Thompson), instructs her how to behave as a future queen should. But Merida, encouraged in part by her big lug father, the land’s great bear-slayer King Fergus (Billy Connolly), would prefer to go on adventures and become her own woman. When Merida reaches her age of consent, her parents announce her hand in marriage will be won by a prince from one of the three clans in their kingdom. Despite Merida’s fervent protests, Elinor refuses to budge and insists the ritual must commence out of tradition. Opposed to any such betrothal, Merida sets off on a row and comes upon a witch (Julie Walters) who will rearrange her fate with a spell. Merida was hoping to just change her mother’s mind, but the spell changes Elinor into a bear. Meanwhile, the clan leaders (Robbie Coltrane, Craig Ferguson, and Kevin McKidd) threaten war unless Merida follows through with their time-honored custom.

This plot has elements of Aladdin , Beauty and the Beast , The Little Mermaid , and countless more. But determining that Brave is a Pixar film—and all that that entails—and not a Disney or Dreamworks production is simple: Consider how the film might have ended up in these other studios’ hands. Certainly, the Scottish accents (here voiced by an excellent, almost all-UK cast) wouldn’t have been so thick, especially that of Merida. Remember in Dreamworks’ pseudo-Scottish How to Train Your Dragon how the protagonist suspiciously sounded like a modern teenager who used contemporary slang, while the movie’s adults used the easiest-to-understand Scottish accents? Macdonald’s accent is thick, but her enunciation is clear and sounds delightfully un-American. Moreover, Pixar’s film hilariously uses characters whose accents are so thick they intentionally can’t be understood. Imagine if Disney alone had produced the film; doubtful Merida would have been so independent. Think about Tangled , Disney’s “Rapunzel” story from 2010; even that sovereign female protagonist needed the help of a good strong man. Not so, here. Merida’s self-sufficiency requires no obligatory love interest to save the day.

Most importantly, the film contains a central relationship not between the princess and her prince; rather, Merida must reconnect with her mother, from whom she rebelled and, in turn, caused Elinor’s beastly predicament. To be sure, this story is about the bond between a daughter and her mother. So rare is a female protagonist in an animated film, but rarer still is a story about repairing a mother-daughter connection. After Elinor becomes a bear, her personality is still contained inside this furry, 7-foot-tall form; her awkward size offers physical comedy aplenty. But behind her animal appearance are tender, expressive bear eyes that try to communicate with her human daughter, and never resort to obvious puppy-dog cuteness (like the pet dragons in How to Train Your Dragon do). The curse has two days to be lifted, and in that time, Elinor’s cartoonish eyes occasionally roll over into wild, black, unsympathetic animal eyes, foretelling what she’ll become if the curse remains unbroken. Had Disney alone made this film, they would’ve probably just made Elinor’s bear form speak. Instead, Pixar’s long tradition of mute characters continues here. Alongside the Elinor bear, Merida’s three rambunctious brothers never say a word, yet their physical antics incite the film’s most laughs.

Not everything about the film works as seamlessly as other Pixar efforts, though, and one or two plot holes become distracting upon reflection. Long in development, Brave changed hands from its original director Brenda Chapman ( The Prince of Egypt ), to Pixar writer and artist Mark Andrews, and finally to Steve Purcell. All three directors receive separate screen credit. This is not to suggest that the film feels out of joint, but as the mood shifts dramatically throughout the film, some ideas are forgotten. Consider the witch, accompanied by an annoying and pointless talking crow; later in the story it becomes evident she’s been cursing Scottish royalty for centuries, but the film never addresses her motivations or resolves her presence as an antagonist. After she places the curse on Merida, she never appears again in the flesh. A smaller quibble concerns the folkish songs, sung by Julie Fowlis, which stand out like a sore thumb in this setting. The theatrical trailer for Brave features a gorgeous ballad performed in Old English; how wonderful that music would have been to lend this film further artistic integrity. In between the songs is a score laden with bagpipes and drama by Patrick Doyle.

Of course, Pixar’s excellence resides in its animation. This is a beautiful film rich with eye-popping color contrasts, expansive landscapes, and atmospheric and foggy night-time scenes. Lushly green highlands and dark forests are offset by phosphorescent blue wisps beckoning Merida closer to her destiny. The characters have a stylized look, but their expressions (the way Merida crinkles her nose when she giggles, for example) have such surprising human distinctions to them. The animals, both Elinor’s bear form and the wicked bear Mor’du, move realistically and provoke some genuine feelings of fright in the climactic bout. But Pixar’s greatest achievement here is Merida’s hair, a bright blaze of oranges with layers of different curls, some bound tightly and others lesser so, all bundled together in a shambolic mess signifying the character’s signature tom-boyishness. The color and curls are so vivid and intricate that, at times, I found myself lost in the splendor of Merida’s hair.

There’s been some negative feedback about Brave that suggests the material is too conventional for Pixar—that the studio opted for a more classical and therefore less interesting story to tell, far removed from the inventiveness of their landmarks: Finding Nemo , Toy Story , Up , and WALL • E . I’m not sure those people saw the same film I did. Aside from its fairy tale characters and elements of folklore, Pixar has accomplished what they’ve always done by telling a story loaded with deep emotional relevancy and a set of universal morals that transcend traditions. More often than not, fairy tales are about reinforcing those timeless traditions, whereas this one does the opposite without promoting utter upheaval. Merida becomes a rare kind of protagonist, whose lesson tells a rapt audience that defying customs is okay, as long as we take responsibility for our actions and consider the ones we love in the process. Only through understanding can a necessary change be made. Not one Disney fairy tale before this ever boasted such a significant message. What, I ask you, is conventional about that?

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Pixar's Fast And 'Brave' Female Comedy: 'Delightful'

David Edelstein

In Brave , Merida goes in search of a spell to get back at her mother, who wants to force her to marry a suitor. Disney/Pixar hide caption

• Directors: Mark Andrews, Brenda Chapman
• Genre: Family, Animation, Comedy
• Running Time: 93 minutes

Rated PG for some scary action and rude humor

With: Kelly Macdonald, Emma Thompson, Billy Connolly, Julie Walters, Kevin McKidd

First, I hate the title, and not because it's an adjective. Notorious, Ravenous, Rabid: great titles. Brave? Generic. And with the poster of a girl with flame-red curls pulling back a bow, it looks like yet another female-warrior saga, another you-go-girl action picture suggesting the biggest injustice to women over the last millennium has been the suppression of their essential warlike natures.

You'd hardly know this latest Pixar movie is a broad comedy, a farce, and that it centers not just on the redhead who wants to shoot arrows but the mom who constantly undermines her. It's closer to the uproarious Freaky Friday than the recent, glumly revisionist Snow White picture — and all the more delightful for it.

Now, the first part of the film is a bit misleading. After a prologue in which the huge medieval Scottish king Fergus goes nose-to-snout with a giant bear, Brave depicts his daughter, Merida, growing up and longing to head out. She wants to shoot arrows like her dad, to chase the wind and touch the sky — as proclaimed in a Celtic-inflected song on the soundtrack called, uh, "Touch the Sky."

But then the central conflict emerges: Merida, who teases her dad for constantly declaiming the bear-who-took-his leg story to anyone who'll listen, and who walks around with a longbow; and the mom who wants her to act like a stereotypical princess.

The hearty Scottish verbal attacks throughout the film splendidly evoke a world in which all the people are wayward, headlong, acting before thinking. After Merida humiliates three ludicrous suitors from three different clans competing for her hand, she gallops off and sees a magical glowing orb called a will-o'-the-wisp that leads her to the house of an enterprising witch who sells her a spell. I can't tell you what that spell does — it's a major spoiler — but the rest of Brave consists of Merida trying to undo it and prevent a potentially fatal disaster.

Merida's parents, Queen Elinor and King Fergus, try their best to control Merida's wild behavior, with little success. Disney/Pixar hide caption

Merida's parents, Queen Elinor and King Fergus, try their best to control Merida's wild behavior, with little success.

The film has three directors, Mark Andrews, Brenda Chapman, and Steve Purcell, and my tam-o'-shanter is off to them for a second half in which farce, suspense, and surprising sentiment are in perfect balance. You can detect the influence of the great Japanese animation director Hayao Miyazaki in those will-o'-the-wisps and in the central idea of a misunderstood child who wishes a parent would change and then has to use all her wits and strength when the parent changes too much. But Brave is pure Pixar in its mischievousness and irreverence and the brilliantly delineated facial movements of its characters — with Kelly MacDonald an inspired choice for Merida, her voice both melodious and edged with exasperation.

Some Hollywood commentators have pointed to the previews for Brave and the recent, poorly-received Cars 2 to wonder if Pixar is losing its edge and becoming more formulaic. True, Brave is not as groundbreaking as the last two Toy Story pictures, Finding Nemo or Ratatouille . But it's fast, funny, and unpretentious, its message more powerful for its lack of stridency. Merida wants nothing more than to control her own fate, her rage provoked by her mother's refusal to see the world through her eyes. Her cataclysmic attempt to change her mom's mind at least has the effect of giving them both a common cause and spares Merida the kind of estrangement that nowadays would lead to thousands of dollars in therapy.

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Review: Pixar’s ‘Brave’ Is A Powerful But Wobbly Feminist Fairy Tale

Drew taylor.

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For those wanting to go in cold, there are some spoilers ahead.

There are a lot of firsts associated with “ Brave ,” Disney / Pixar ‘s new feature, set in the misty Scottish highlands. It’s the studio’s first period piece (“ The Incredibles ‘” captivating retro-futurism doesn’t count, it seems), their first fairy tale, and their first film led by a female character (in this case Princess Merida, voiced with strength and conviction by Kelly Macdonald ). It was, at one point, also the studio’s first movie directed by a woman ( Brenda Chapman ). And it’s these firsts, combined with a charming atmosphere and layers of genuine heart, that make you want to love “Brave” more than you actually do. Because for all these breakthroughs, “Brave” feels hopelessly safe, less a Pixar trailblazer than yet another entry in the Disney princess line of films and products. Brave it is not.

Over the years Pixar has gotten a lot of flak over its lack of female characters. While this isn’t completely fair (the speech Elastigirl gives Violet in “The Incredibles” is Feminism 101, and the gender-bending, rainbow-colored female bird Kevin in “ Up ” was sufficiently progressive) but there is enough of a void to make “Brave” seem really big and important – a feminist fairy tale from Pixar? Fuck yeah!

What’s so interesting about the marketing of “Brave” is that all the footage and artwork thus far released has been culled from the first twenty minutes or so of the movie. It’s in this stretch that we meet fair Merida (Macdonald), her bright red hair an unwieldy tangle, who lives in a kingdom with her mother Queen Elinor ( Emma Thompson ) and father King Fergus ( Billy Connolly ) as well as three annoying, rambunctious brothers (the triplets Harris, Hubert and Hamish). Merida is less interested in the finery of being a princess (the tenets taught, stringently, by the queen), and more interested in shooting her bow (she’s an ace archer) and riding through the highlands with her trusty steed Angus. All of this stuff is beautiful and captivating, the camera gliding over trees and hilltops, everything rendered in a kind of vibrant, slightly heightened realism. And when what appears to be the main thrust of the story kicks in – Merida’s family wanting her to engage in the selection of a suitor – it’s so good  you start to vibrate.   

The lord of three kingdoms show up to woo her (led by Craig Ferguson , Robbie Coltrane and Kevin McKidd , of course), each more pathetic than the last. Merida can barely keep from rolling her eyes, and when a physical test is proposed, the winner of which will win her hand, she eagerly suggests archery. During the game she steps up, takes off her royal garb, and says she wants to attempt for her own hand. (Of course, she totally owns the archery.) It’s a powerful sentiment, the most unabashedly feminist moment in recent fairy tale memory (dating back to at least 1998’s “ Mulan ,” which featured a princess who, before that, was an androgynous, cross-dressing warrior) and it makes you want to stand up and pump your fist with pride (if you’re more out of touch you might scream out something like “You go girl!” but we wouldn’t suggest it).

It’s just that, *spoilers* after this sequence, the most memorable and moving of the film, it totally switches gears. The queen is furious at Merida, and can’t understand why she would do something that she feels is totally selfish (if Merida doesn’t take the hand of one of the suitors, it could lead to kingdom-wide war like something out of “ Game of Thrones ” except with less boobs and beheadings). Merida, outraged, grabs Angus and heads for the hills (quite literally). In a brief prologue it was established that Merida can see into the magical realm, drawn there by small spirits called “wisps” (their design and function owes a debt to Hayao Miyazaki ’s bobby-headed spirits in “ Princess Mononoke ”) which are supposed to point you in the direction of your fate. On this day, they lead Merida to a ramshackle house anyone who’s read a storybook would know to avoid.

In the house is where the movie really begins – it’s where Merida meets a mysterious Wise Woman ( Julie Walters ), a witch who is obsessed with wood-carvings of bears, and who offers Merida the chance to change her mother (with the help of a little dark magic cake). Returning to the castle, Merida gives her mother the magic cake, thinking that it will change her mind. Instead, it literally transforms the queen – into a huge, hulking bear. That’s right – “Brave” is really about a princess who accidentally transforms her mother into a bear . The movie changes, too, going from the tale of a plucky young girl who discovers herself and her power (and causes everyone else to acknowledge the same) to being both broader and more simplistic. It’s now about the relationship between her and her mother (Pixar can never walk away from a good buddy movie set-up), and instead of a young girl’s empowerment it’s about things like responsibility, entitlement, selfishness and communication. Things get much, much less interesting.

And it’s a huge shame, too. The bear transformation takes the wind out of the movie. What would have been amazing would have been if her self-empowerment somehow melded with her relationship with the magical world and she could have brought magic back to a land that had stopped believing in it, just as she starts to really believe in herself. But instead it’s an awkward buddy movie, made all the more awkward by the fact that the bear doesn’t talk, it just kind of growls around. The design of the movie remains unflaggingly brilliant — in particular the design of the queen bear seems at once familiar and altogether new (a rare feat considering how many animated bears, from Baloo to “Brother Bear,” we’ve seen throughout the years), and while the stakes don’t seem particularly high, especially since the queen was kind of a bitch to our more innately lovable princess, but the idea that, if the spell holds, the soul of the queen will evaporate from the bear’s body is pretty nifty.

Unfortunately, the script for “Brave,” worked on by Chapman, Steve Purcell , Irene Mecchi , and Chapman’s directorial successor, Mark Andrews , is wobbly and overtly segmented, with each section of the movie never having enough time to fully breathe or gain any traction. Some sections of the movie are just tonally amiss – there’s some truly clumsy narration that bookends the film and a moment when Merida returns to the witch’s hut and is greeted with a magical “answering machine” that feels like it was cut-and-pasted from an entirely different movie altogether. The last act, in particular, is a mess, with complicated relationships having to get tidily wrapped up, a whole lot of magical mumbo jumbo being unleashed on the kingdom (amusingly, the triplets take a bite of the same magic cake and turn into adorable cubs), various clans on the brink of PG-rated skirmishes, and, hilariously, a moment towards the end where Merida goes out of her way to assure middle-American audiences that she is not a lesbian (even though she totally is and the movie would have been much stronger if it had actually admitted it). *end spoilers*

While “Brave” would have just been a cute, visually dazzling but ultimately disappointing Pixar movie, it feels graver and more serious because it’s been this long since they’ve taken on a female protagonist and this really should have been a bolder, more experimental exercise. In the last few years, like clans of Scottish tribesman, the houses of Disney and Pixar have begun to merge (for evidence look no further than the Randy Newman songs in “ The Princess and the Frog ” or the newly opened Carsland expansion in Disney California Adventure ), and “Brave” seems like a natural progression of that melding. This doesn’t feel like “ WALL-E ,” it feels like “ Tangled .” And “Tangled” (and “Brave”) are perfectly fine animated movies, with “Brave” at times reaching staggering emotional depths in the mother/daughter relationship, but it’s not enough. It’s too unfocused and cute and lacking in memorable set pieces (an enraged, enchanted bear named Mordu can’t even scare up any excitement). In the end, “Brave” stops just short of being truly magical. [B]

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Brave Reviews

Many daughters, young and old, can relate to this kind of story about the plans and expectations that their mothers have for them that differ from their own interests.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Feb 18, 2024

Merida becomes a rare kind of protagonist, whose lesson tells a rapt audience that defying customs is okay, as long as we take responsibility for our actions and consider the ones we love in the process.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | Oct 4, 2022

A powerful and relevant story wrapped up in gorgeous animation and one of the best soundtracks of the year.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Aug 19, 2022

At ten, “Brave” is less flashy and way more modest than the other Pixar and Disney films it sits against. But it is that gentleness and wonderfully specific earnestness that distinguish it for the better.

Full Review | Jun 26, 2022

In the end, Brave really does mark a return to quality for Pixar.

Full Review | Feb 11, 2022

You're not going to see a more beautiful, eye-appealing movie than Brave this year.

Full Review | Original Score: A+ | Sep 18, 2021

I was pulled in by the film with fair ease, but eventually it seemed unsure where to go, and ultimately I don't think it really ever found a path of its own

Full Review | Jul 2, 2021

Brave, the new film from Pixar, is the most beautiful movie I've seen in years.

Full Review | Mar 10, 2021

Effectively creates its own world and mythology it would be easy to think it is an old tale updated by the story shamans at Pixar, but it's a new story that feels timeless.

Full Review | Original Score: 4.5/5 | Jan 31, 2021

A grandly mediocre accomplishment.

Full Review | Original Score: 5/10 | Dec 1, 2020

The script is too fundamental and possesses a predictability that is not usually found in Pixar films.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.0/4.0 | Sep 4, 2020

Brave is a charming diversion lacking the inspiration needed to make it linger in the memory.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Feb 14, 2020

...try as they might to dress up Brave's conventional story with delicious visuals in hopes of balancing its faults, the film remains a substandard Pixar production that lacks the inventive creativity that we've all come to love and expect.

Full Review | Feb 9, 2020

However, what the film lacks in originality, it makes up for in technical and animated excellence.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 9, 2019

Be transported to ancient Scotland and a land of magic and adventure. The most visually stunning animated film of the year, Brave hits the bullseye! Move over Katniss! Merida's in town!

Full Review | Nov 26, 2019

...call me picky, but it seems a shame that a movie devoted to demolishing an outdated stereotype of female subservience enlists legion hall of hoary stereotypes to do so.

Full Review | Jul 31, 2019

There's plenty of rowdy humor to keep audiences entertained. But for a supposedly progressive film, Brave is marked by a notable amount of timidity.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Jun 20, 2019

Merida is an appealing heroine, and the colorful cast of characters is great fun, voiced by a lineup of outstanding talent such as Billy Connolly, Emma Thompson, Julie Walters and Craig Ferguson.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Jun 8, 2019

I enjoy watching it but it could have been a real masterpiece.

Full Review | Original Score: C | Apr 19, 2019

The mother-daughter relationship is the film's strength, with some heartfelt exchanges that feel as authentic as most live action films.

Full Review | Apr 11, 2019

• Cast & crew
• User reviews

• Determined to make her own path in life, Princess Merida defies a custom that brings chaos to her kingdom. Granted one wish, Merida must rely on her bravery and her archery skills to undo a beastly curse.
• Set in Scotland in a rugged and mythical time, this movie features Princess Merida (Kelly Macdonald), an aspiring archer and impetuous daughter of Queen Elinor (Dame Emma Thompson). Merida makes a reckless choice that unleashes unintended peril and forces her to spring into action to set things right. — Walt Disney Pictures
• Princess Merida, the impetuous, but courageous, daughter of Scottish King Fergus and Queen Elinor, is a skilled archer who wants to carve out her own path in life. Her defiance of an age-old tradition angers the Highland Lords and leads to chaos in the kingdom. Merida seeks help from an eccentric witch, who grants her an ill-fated wish. Now, Merida must discover the true meaning of courage and undo a beastly curse before it's too late. — Jwelch5742
• Medieval Highland Scotland. Merida, an atypical young princess, would rather perfect her archery skills than accept the burden of royal obligations to become a queen. After all, love seldom blesses arranged marriages. As a result, rebellious Merida flees the castle in a fit of pique, only to enter the enchanted dark forest, the home of a powerful local witch. While looking for a way out of her predicament, Merida unwisely uses a potent magical incantation. However, to change your destiny, you must first transform from within. Will Merida face the grievous consequences of her decision and take responsibility for her actions? — Nick Riganas
• In a prologue, we see Lord Fergus and Lady Elinor in a forested area, celebrating the birthday of their young daughter, Merida. Though Elinor happily plays with Merida, she grows perturbed when Fergus gives the little girl her own bow and set of arrows. As Merida tries to hit a target, one of the arrows sails off into the forest nearby. Merida runs off and retrieves it, but soon encounters a glowing blue willo-the-wisp. Going back to her parents, she tells what she saw, and her mother explains that they can lead a person to their destiny. Suddenly, the mood is broken as an enormous black bear enters the camp grounds. Merida and her mother quickly take leave as Lord Fergus and his men fight against the bear. Time passes, and we see that Lord Fergus has lost his leg to the bear. In the time that has passed, Lady Elinor has given birth to three mischievous boys (triplets), and Merida is now a teenager. While her mother wants her to be proper, Merida is moreso intent on practicing archery, and journeying off in the forest. One evening, a messenger brings word that the 3 neighboring clans have accepted the offer to fight for Merida's hand in marriage. Naturally, the young woman is not at all happy with this situation. Elinor explains to her daughter that the clans must be kept in harmony, or chaos may reign. She relates the story of how the clans were descended from four brothers, but one of them wanted more power than the others, and caused the balance of power to crumble. Even so, this does little to quell Merida's resentment of the betrothal. The three clans soon arrive, and Lords MacGuffin, Macintosh, and Dingwall arrive with each of their sons. Per tradition, each of the first-born of the clans will fight in the event that the Princess chooses. This causes Merida to perk up, and she eagerly suggests archery. When it comes to the sport, almost none of the sons are good at the sport, but everyone is shocked when Merida appears before everyone, claiming that since she's a first-born as well, she'll be 'fighting for her own hand.' Elinor demands Merida stop, but she defies her mother, and makes a bulls-eye on each of the targets. Naturally, Elinor feels angry and humiliated at this, and both mother and daughter have a heated conversation in her room later on. Merida claims she does not want to be like her mother, and in anger, slashes a tapestry depicting the family, slicing a hole between her and her mother in the piece. Upset by this as well, Elinor loses her temper, and throws Merida's bow in a fireplace nearby. Upset by this, Merida flees the castle. Unseen by Merida, her mother regrets what she has done a few moments later, and manages to retrieve the bow from the fire. Merida flees to the forest, where she comes across a circle of stones, and several willo-the-wisps. Following them, she finds a small cottage inhabited by an old woman. The old woman claims she is just a wood carver, but Merida soon realizes she's actually a witch, when she notices an enchanted broom, and the woman's crow (which can talk!). Merida eagerly asks for a spell to change her mother, but the witch refuses, claiming she did a spell once before, and regretted it. However, Merida gets her to reconsider when she agrees to purchase all her wood carvings. The offer is too much to resist, and the witch brews a concoction that produces a small pie. Merida is instructed to give it to her mother, and she eagerly ruses off to do so. Returning to the castle, King Fergus is doing his best to quell the Lords after the events of the tournament. Merida encounters her mother in the kitchen, and eagerly gives her the pie, but after one bite, Elinor claims she does not feel well. Merida happily leads her to her chambers, but soon her happiness that her mother will change turns to shock...when her mother turns into a black bear! Knowing that King Fergus will surely kill Elinor, Merida enlists the aid of her brothers to distract Fergus and the Lords, while she sneaks her mother out of the castle, and back into the forest. The two manage to find the witch's hovel, but find it is now empty. A message left for Merida tells that the Witch has gone away until the next Spring, and that the spell will become permanent within 2 sunrises. However, if Merida wants to reverse the effects, she has heed some specific words, in regards to 'mending.' Merida is unsure just what this means, and the two sleep in the woods that evening, before having breakfast in the morning. Merida manages to catch some fish for her mother, but when her mother demands more, Merida tells her mother she will need to catch them herself. The mother and daughter bond over this method, but when her mother wanders off into the woods, Merida chases after her. However, upon finding her, her mother suddenly attempts to attack Merida, before returning to normal. With less than 24 hours, it seems that if they do not find a way to reverse the spell, Elinor will lose her humanity, and become a bear forever! As they wander in the woods, the two come across the willo-the-wisps again, and follow them. They are lead to a high mountain, and the ruins of a great castle. Inside, Merida finds a stone tablet depicting 4 men, with one of them separated from the group. Soon, Merida realizes that she is in the castle in the legend her mother told her about, and soon makes the connection: The brother who attempted to seize power from his siblings went to the witch, and her spell turned him into a bear...powerful and stronger than his brothers, but he was unable to change back, and became a rampaging beast, the same one who took Lord Fergus' leg! Suddenly, the bear emerges from the darkness and attempts to attack Merida. Elinor manages to save her daughter, and the two head back to the circle of stones. However, Merida is now sure what needs to be done. The witch's spell mentioned mending, and Merida feels that if she can mend the tapestry she cut the day before, her mother will be saved.

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Good Brave Essay Example

Type of paper: Essay

Topic: Literature , Film , Audience , Parents , Family , Public Relations , Cinema , Women

Words: 1600

Published: 02/22/2020

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Movie Analysis

Brave is an animated film based in fictional characters. The film is based in an old setting revolving around Princess Merida. The Princess is born of King Fergus and Queen Elinor. Merida realize that she was to be married of to a man she had not chosen. This was to enable her assume the role of her father as the king after he got injured protecting them from a bear attack. However, Merida flees her home after an argument with her mother. While in the forest she encounters a witch who vows to help her enable her mother to change her mind regarding marrying her off to another man. However, she had the task of changing the mind of an entire clan on marrying off their daughters. The clan of her husband to be came for her hand in marriage but Merida still chooses not to be married to a man she has not picked herself. As the witch promised, she is given a piece of cake which is made to reverse the memory of her mother and make her make a choice to marry the husband of her choice. The magic works on her mother as she forgets her duty to marry off Merida. However, her mother is turned to a bear by the spell and she does not have the abilities to change her mother back in to human unless she consults the same witch. She travels back through the forest but does not find the witch as she is forced to do a list of things as instructed by the witch before her mother can turn back to normal. However, the list of task does not reverse the spell and she has the responsibility of reversing the spell before two sunsets. However, she succeeds in reversing her clan’s belief of marrying off their daughters to men not of their consent. The clan agrees on this change as Merida is given the chance to choose her own husband. Later in the film, her mother attacks Fergus almost killing her. After this confrontation and another confrontation with another bear, she realizes that she needs to reconcile with her mother in order to reverse the spell cast on her. She reconciles with her mother and she turns back to human as the two are happy for seeing each other again.

Analysis of the film review

In the critic written in the LA Times, the authors aim at analyzing the film at a deeper that just reviewing the plot of the film. The motives of the author are to create a critic highlighting both the negative and positive characteristics of the novel in terms of the plot and creation basis. At the commencement of the review the author analyses the creation of the novels in terms of characterization and setting. The author acknowledges the beautiful setting of the film arguing that it provided a good view while in 3D glasses. The author also creates a tone that is likely to be a perception of the audience on the film. Additionally, the film is compared to other animations under the same paradigm and the author highlight the film as a winning piece as compared to other animations. The author finalizes his critic by providing and analysis of the mood expected by the audience at the end of the novel. He cites that the end mood of the film is enough to create a somber mood among the audience. Apart from the review of the plot and creation of the film, the film review includes a piece on the preferred audience of the film and reasons behind the audience rating.

Critic on the film review

The film analysis in the LA Times was an appropriate piece in terms of creating a review that would highlight an appropriate critic on the film. The author effectively reflects on the creation of other animations under the same distribution and producing companies. The review analyzes the voicing and characterization of film and compared it to other successful animations. The review is created in favor of this particular film citing that the film is a visual and valiant heroine. Additionally, the author acknowledges the standard of the film arguing that it is an envy of the civilized world. The review also recognizes the motives of the author while creating the film. As a woman, the director of the film wanted to express her side as a female protagonist. The article acknowledges this effort and relates the characterization of the film to the feature of the creator and director. While analyzing the plot of the film, one easily understands that the fact that the power of the woman is effectively highlighted in the film. The film is based on a main characterization by a female, Merida. Merida is given a strength that could be perceived manly in the film. At first the she is used to address the plight of women in the film. In this particular setting the woman is supposed to married of to any man chosen by her parents. Merida changes this act forcefully by making her clan change direction on the issue. She goes even further to consult a witch to address her problem. This shows a relentless characteristic that woman are perceived to not posses in the real world. Through the film, the creators are able to realize this weakness, create a character symbolizing change and give the character enough power to address this issue to the significance on the real world. The film review then ventures in analyzing of the plot of the film. The plot of the film is reviewed in regards to Merida. The author starts the review by highlighting the physical attributes and beauty of Merida. Merida is perceived to have adopted feature from her parents who are King and Queen. The author of the review realizes this possibility and makes this comparison hence making Merida a significant character possessing royal features and abilities. Additionally, the author creates an analytic creation of the characters of the film in regards to their current status or main conflict in the film. For instance, the king is presented as injured while fighting off a bear attack while the queen is created with a violent relationship with Merida in regard to her marriage. The review of the film then sticks in the analysis of the plot of the film. The author sticks to the main ideas and conflict highlighted in the film such as the unhealthy relationship of Merida and her mother. Additionally, the author realizes the significance of Merida in the film and he bases his review in analyzing the story in regards to Merida. Every thematic concept in the film revolves around characterization of Merida. Both family conflict and cultural conflict revolve around the happenings on the character of the Princess. For instance, family conflict emerges after a confrontation between Merida and her mother on her marital status. The further is then enhanced introducing the rebellious characteristic of Merida and her plight to get what she believes is right for her. This particular review recognizes this fact and enhances its plot along this line as the situation of Merida is highlighted across the entire review. Additionally, the review is wrapped up with Merida getting justice in terms of reconciling with her mother and refusing to follow family tradition just as the creator of the film had in mind. In reviewing the appropriateness of the film review, one analyses both the negative and positive aspects of the review. The positive aspects of the review are numerous. Firstly, the author is able to recognize the main agenda the creator of the film had in mind in terms of thematic creation. Understanding the motive behind the creation of artistic pieces is an important requirement while creating reviews and critics. This particular review recognizes the main theme in the film which is the plight of women in the society. It is an obvious assumption that the character of Merida is created as a way in which the creator would use her to effectively enhance their creation motives. Merida is created as strong female character that refuses to accept the society’s mandatory requirements. She refuses to be betrothed as she goes further to seek the help of a witch to stop this practice. Additionally, the review also does not develop its own version of the main plot while analyzing the film. The author sticks to analyzing the main ideas of the plot and creating an analysis highlighting each and every detail on the main plot areas. The fact that the review analyzed the setting of the novel and gives it advantages as a plot enhancement tools as also a good inclusion in the review. However, one may point out that the review was shallow in terms of helping the audience understand all the themes and use of artistic styles in the film. In the review, the author only focuses on enabling the audience understand the plot and the basic characterization in the film. The relationship between a review and the main film should be based on deeper insight on the motive of the creation of the main film. Additionally, a review should provide reason as to why certain motives are created and enhanced. This particular review bases most of its focus on the character of Merida and the queen disregarding the significance behind the creation of other characters. Conclusion

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Home — Essay Samples — Entertainment — Braveheart — A Review of the Movie Braveheart

A Review of The Movie Braveheart

• Categories: Braveheart

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Words: 1089 |

Published: May 7, 2019

Words: 1089 | Pages: 2 | 6 min read

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Movie Reviews

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Though he’s been quite the presence in fantastical, supporting roles in the likes of “Game of Thrones” and “ Justice League ,” Jason Momoa ’s day as an action lead has yet to come. Enter Lin Oeding ’s “Braven,” a movie as dumb and bloody as a slab of meat, but with Momoa playing an emotionally vulnerable logger who you also believe would throw an ax at someone's face. 

Wearing modern clothes and leading an action vehicle for one of the first times ever, Momoa positions himself as a snowball-tossing, Porter-drinking, tree-chopping family man, with specifically no mentioned history of him ever killing before. But before he finds himself squaring off against drug dealers in his small family cabin out in the woods, we get a sense of his loving relationship with wife Stephanie ( Jill Wagner ) and their daughter Charlotte ( Sasha Rossof ). In the script’s most unexpected edge to this type of story, Joe has an emotional vulnerability for his father Linden ( Stephen Lang ), whose mental health is deteriorating. After Linden is in a scuffle at a bar when confusing a random woman for his late wife, Joe decides to take him up to the family cabin for a tough chat about getting medical care, with Charlotte sneaking aboard the truck. 

But woe, as we see during drawn out sequences of cheesy goonery in between hints of Joe’s quiet life, the cabin has become a drug stash locale by one of Joe’s worker friends ( Brendan Fletcher ) and an accomplice ( Zahn McClarnon ), after they crashed a logging truck that was carrying a log with a whole lot o’ drugs inside. This propels lead baddie Kassen ( Garret Dillahunt , whose riff on malevolence is to smoke cigarettes inside a diner and generally seem weary of this shit) and his men to to the cabin to get the drugs themselves. The stakes are obvious from the beginning to Joe that his family will not survive after giving the drugs back, so the second half of “Braven” turns into a bloated fight scene with more dead bodies than pings of simple amusement you might feel owed from the premise alone. 

With such a simple concept, and with its big showdown happening only over the course of a couple hours or so, there’s a disappointing lack of tightness to the big picture. Instead of sharpening its basic elements like character and location, "Braven" piles on more stuff; the script even works overtime to set things up at the cabin and with the dumb truckers, as if we’re to be emotionally invested in their oopsie-daisy, until it starts to directly affect the Bravens. Later on, the script adds crossbow-toting Stephanie and some cops, creating more opportunities for people to battle but less chance of immediacy. As “Braven” becomes more than just than an impromptu OK Corral showdown, there are still too many moving pieces to worry about any one of them in particular. 

Oeding, himself formerly a stunt coordinator, makes a case that he could be a strong fight scene director in due time, but his directorial comprehension lacks a sense of space and the people within it. While Momoa's character is more compelling than just watching a modern, housebroken Khal Drogo, the forces of evil he's up against (gun-toting henchmen with beards) aren’t so much forgettable as inconsequential. And the free-for-all setting of the snowy woods, for all of its opportunities of visibility and camouflage, is wasted by not establishing a concrete sense of the property's geography (even though the opening credits are dedicated to setting Newfoundland's amazing views). 

But you’re probably reading this review wondering most of all if the action delivers, or if it fulfills in the crude art of “cool kills.” That is one facet where the movie does have some inspiration, where its nimble brawn sometimes comically zigs when you think it’s going to zag—a character is stabbed despite the promise of being shot, or a fight scene ends with men being thrown off a cliff, in two cases. Even a bear trap is used in a way that might make you think, after laughing, “well, that's unusual.” “Braven” is an automatic type of action movie, often only challenging its predictability by getting goofier and goofier. 

Nick Allen is the former Senior Editor at RogerEbert.com and a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association.

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Film credits.

Braven (2018)

Rated R for violence and for language throughout including some sexual references.

Jason Momoa as Joe Braven

Stephen Lang as Linden

Zahn McClarnon as Hallett

Jill Wagner as Stephanie

Brendan Fletcher as Weston

Sasha Rossof as Charlotte

Garret Dillahunt as Kassen

• Thomas Pa'a Sibbett
• Michael Nilon

Cinematographer

• Brian Andrew Mendoza

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