Brave (2012)

Directed By: Mark Andrews, Brenda Chapman & Steve Purcell

Rating: PG

Runtime: 93 minutes

Disney and Pixar are at it again with the release of 2012's "Brave," a story about a young girl named Merida (voiced by Kelly MacDonald) who just doesn't accept the rules and regulations expected of the young women of her time. Of course it doesn't help that she also happens to be the Princess of Scotland and thus the term 'lady-like' is synonymous with her upbringing. But let's face it, Merida is anything but lady-like as she goes galavanting off into the forest with her bow and arrow, conducting target practice while her curly red mane is tossed about wildly in the wind.

As a wild child with a stubbornness that cannot be matched, Merida is bound and determined to prove that she's better off left alone when presented with three eligible suitors from other reigning lands. And I have to admit, her prospects are pretty dim and gave me a good chuckle - perhaps in the time of lords and ladies these stories might have been someone's reality... or nightmare. Alas, Merida's mother, Queen Elinor (voiced by Emma Thompson) will not accept her daughter's tempered attitude. As mother and daughter often do, they get into an argument and Merida stomps off into the gloomy night acting like a toddler who had just been spanked.

So life isn't fair... at least in the world according to Merida, where the boys have all the fun and all the non-royal girls get to do whatever they want! And that leaves poor little Merida alone, left to sulk in her self-invented misery. As she walks along an unguided path, she happens upon the shanty of a witch. There's a little double double toil and trouble and all of the sudden Merida is carrying a delectible dessert that will 'change' her mom. What she envisioned 'change' meant I cannot say, but after her mother eats some of the dessert she metamorphoses into a grizzly 1-ton... oops better not spoil the surprise!

"Brave" is a nice story that is fit for the whole family. It will surely keep the children entertained, while the adults may develop a disinterest at both the lack of originality as well as the predictability of the story. There were a few laughing moments that I could count out on one hand, and as a whole, character development was lacking to the point where I had trouble recalling main character names such as Merida. Perhaps that fiery red hair was too distracting!

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