FAIRY TALE FAILURE: a review of "Brave"

 

“BRAVE”

A Pixar Animation Studios Film

Story by Brenda Chapman

Screenplay Written by Mark Andrews, Steve Purcell and Brenda Chapman & Irene Mecchi

Directed by Mark Andrews and Brenda Chapman   Co-Directed by Steve Purcell

* 1/2 (one and a half stars)

Dear readers, I deeply wish that I were not about the write what I am going to write. Believe me, I never really thought this day would come but on Savage Cinema, I have to call it as I see it. I have just witnessed Pixar Animation Studios first bonafide failure.

“Brave,” the latest effort from the wizards of Pixar, is a resounding and shocking disappointment, the very type I never imagined would or could ever roll out of a studio that has set the gold standard for American animated features over and over again. However, in recent years, I have felt some bumps in the road as I felt they began to coast on their reputation a bit with their strong yet padded “Toy Story 3” (2011) as well as the decidedly underwhelming “Cars” (2006) and “Cars 2” (2011). “Brave” is unfortunately the weakest Pixar effort to date. While some of you may be feeling that I am being overly harsh, I must explain to you that I am being this harsh because the potential for greatness was blindingly apparent. Yet, sadly and surprisingly, the filmmakers missed the mark by an extremely wide margin through muddled, messy storytelling when all of the ingredients for a great story and film were right in front of them the entire time. My disappointment is not due to not receiving the film I may have wanted. It is entirely due to the fact that for a film where everything felt so right for a good stretch, it suddenly transformed into a film where everything felt so wrong.

Set in 10^th century Scotland, “Brave” centers around the life and adventures of Meridawinningly voiced by Kelly MacDonald), the teenaged princess of a clan led by her Father, King Fergus (Billy Connoly) and her Mother, Queen Elinor (Emma Thompson). Mother/daughter tensions reach a fever pitch once the time has arrived for Merida, who wishes to experience life on her own terms with her trusty bow and arrows at her side, to be arranged for marriage with one of the three adjoining clan’s sons. In defiance, Merida breaks tradition with her clan’s historic customs and consults with an elderly witch (Julie Walters), bringing disastrous consequences Merida could never have imagined.

As far as the basic plot line is concerned, all of the elements necessary to create Pixar’s first fairy tale are all supremely in place. And without question, the film’s visual landscape is rapturous from the very first image. The rolling hills of Scotland, the greenery, the skies, water, cobblestones, clothing and certainly Merida’s luxuriously designed mane of long, wavy red hair  goes a long way to re-confirming exactly how in the field of American animated films today, Pixar’s vision is untouchably sumptuous. But, the filmmakers know very well that now since they have long proven themselves as technical giants, that simply looking good is not nearly enough…or at least they should know by now.

Truth be told, for the first third to perhaps the first half of “Brave,” I was completely won over. I fell in love with Merida and her story instantly, as she, her family, her home and her internal conflict were all clearly defined, making for a story that may not have been necessarily revolutionary but one that looked to be a simple story superbly told. Merida’s desires to escape an existence not of her choosing and claim her own fate perfectly illustrated classic teen angst and the tensions between herself and Elinor were also compelling and touching. The action sequences contained a visceral thrill, the magic of the recurring Will O’ the Wisps were enchanting and the film’s comedy seemed to be well placed and completely organic to the story’s environment. All of these factors had me in such a fanciful state that I was beginning to feel that perhaps Pixar not only had creatively rebounded from “Cars 2,” that perhaps I just might be witnessing one of the year’s best achievements.

And then, Merida goes to visit the witch…

Now, for me, it was really not the moment when Merida and the witch meet where I felt the film began to nosedive. It was the events that occur immediately after their meeting, which involves bears, curses, forgiveness and redemptions. All of those aforementioned elements would have been fine as well but it was not a matter of what was included but how it was included and utilized. In many ways, from this point until the conclusion, “Brave” began to feel like a completely different movie as what was once enthralling became predictable, problematic, and pretentious when it needed to be portentous. Essentially, once you see where “Brave” is headed, all you can do is just wait for the inevitable to happen and not only does that not make for exciting filmmaking in the least, it completely undercut and undervalued all that came before.

 

From Pixar’s first feature “Toy Story” (1995) all the way through to Brad Bird’s “The Incredibles” (2004), these storytellers have basically re-invented the storytelling wheel time and again by not falling into the conventional traps of ensuring that every film they make will appeal to a mass audience. They have been fearlessly creative, obviously creating films they would see themselves, regardless of their potential appeal to children and families. These filmmakers functioned as artists and discovered ways to make art and commerce combine and co-exist in harmony. “Brave,” by stunning contrast, felt like a film that began one way and was then market researched within an inch of its life as it added long stretches of needless slapstick, some out of place and extremely forced sexual innuendo by way of a busty servant, and a conclusion you will see coming, all the way down to the dialogue, from miles and miles away.

Really, dear readers, I could not stop you from seeing this film if I tried. A new Pixar features is veritably critic-proof. But still, just take a moment and think about the great risks taken in films like Bird’s “Ratatouille” (2007), a film so sophisticated that it was essentially an enchanting dissertation on the nature of art itself. Or how about “Wall-E” (2008), which presented a daring and dark future vision combined with the hallmarks of silent films. Or even “Up” (2009), which featured one of the best love stories and heartbreaking whimsy in recent years. All three of those films completely re-wrote the rules on what an animated film could actually be. That films aimed for children could be artful and non-disposable. That if they did not respond to them immediately, it could be the very type of film they could grow with. “Brave,” on the other hand, felt as if the powers that be sat around a table and determined what would potentially work best, not for storytelling purposes but for financial purposes and the end result grew so tiresome as this was a film ready to take flight and head for the stars.

Worst of all, poor Merida was seismically let down by her creators. For all of the ink spilled over such a novelty of having a female protagonist as the lead, why did she have to lose her independent streak and fighting spirit and just become a cipher, a victim of storytelling circumstance so quickly. After a spell, it almost didn’t matter if Merida was in the film or not as the curses, witches, battles and bears all took center stage and batted the girl around depending on whichever whim it decided to take. I loved Merida’s feistiness, her moxie, her hopes as well as her deep flaws of which she would have to face, overcome and learn from. But it was such a tremendous shame, as again, all of the elements were in place for a great film and for whatever reason, the Pixar team just did not trust themselves. Look, I certainly do not have anything against curses, witches, battles and bears by any means but I have to stress that it was the way in which those elements were included that I had major issues with. Simply stated, absolutely nothing felt true to the story’s beginnings. It all felt monkey-wrenched in, whether it made narrative sense or not, and it was unfathomable to me why the filmmakers could not remain on their storytelling path confidently enough.

Honestly, we have seen the themes of parent/child conflicts merged with supernatural worlds before in films like Dean DeBois and Chris Sanders’ spectacular “How To Train Your Dragon” (2010) and most especially, Hayao Miyazaki’s timeless “Spirited Away” (2001). Yet, in both of those films, all of the events unfolded in ways that were organic to the worlds the filmmakers devised, not to any perceived audience expectations. The dangers of being granted the very wishes you asked for combined with one central conflict of “Brave” strongly reminded me of the inherent anguish contained in the children’s book, William Steig’s Sylvester and the Magic Pebble (1970). Yet here, those themes felt to be tacked on, painfully contrived and unfelt.

What went so wrong? I am not so certain but I have a feeling that the answers lie within the film’s credits where “Brave” had no less than three directors and four writers. There have even been reports that Brenda Chapman, who originated the story and was the film’s initial director, was actually replaced due to that beast known as “creative differences.” Perhaps, this was a case of having too many cooks and jazzing up a story that just didn’t need it at all. Whatever the reason, it just made me sad that the filmmakers sold out Merida and her story. She deserved much, much better and therefore, so did we. 

     

When it is all said and done, the irony of ”Brave” is all in the film’s title as the filmmakers seemed to not be brave enough to just follow the story’s inherent convictions and allow it to rise on its own cinematic feet. Instead, we have been given Pixar’s most dishonest and prefabricated effort of all. Pixar has achieved greatness before and I am certain they will again but for now, I am very worried for them as they seem to be chasing the dollar instead of chasing the muse.

“Brave” is one of 2012’s biggest disappointments.