REVIEW: Brave (dir. Andrews)

Things we liked about Pixar's new feature, Brave:—

1. The Rebekah Brooks hair (so wasted on Brooks. That hair is the hair of the woman who blows the whistle on Murdoch).
2.The way Merida and her mother both exit their argument consumed, not with hatred of the other, but with self-loathing.
3. The way the transformation plot gave body to a child's worst suspicions about their parents.
4. The point-scoring against machismo / narcissism particularly in the Djokovic-lookalike.
5. The aerodynamics of the flying arrows.
6. The riding and arrow-shooting combined.
7. The rain (always a Pixar strength. Fond memories of the moon-through-raindrop effects in Toy Story).
8. Merida's puppy-fat.
9. La Luna.

And things we didn't like so much:—

1. The way the plot loops back and repeats itself. When I found out we were going back to the castle (only to escape again) my heart sank. Denied the satisfactions of a quest.
2. Merida needed to rescue her mother using all the skills her mother frowns on (archery, riding, etc) at the climax. Fishing montage not enough.
3. Mom didn't go further in her transformation. She should have been fully wild for at least 10-15 minutes.
4. Too much bear slapstick.
5. Merida a little too exasperated / on the back foot. Wanted more bravery.

B