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Okay Brave.... this movie is good, but.....can be predictable.  Nice soundtrack, good acting, but can be predictable. It's worth $5.00 to watch, not so much for $10.00.

Alan and I went to see this yesterday and both loved it. I agree it was just a bit predictable but still fun and beautifully animated.

Went and saw it with my 9 year old daughter and my girlfriend earlier this week.  It was not the best thing that Pixar has ever put out, and did feel like a slight misstep for them.  I expect near perfection out of them after the films that they've put out.  Still, we caught it at a super matinee and for $5.00 a ticket, it was well worth it.  Portions of it were quite fun, the animation was as stunning as ever. 

But honestly, it was worth the $5 to see the trailer for Wreck It Ralph.  I do believe I'm looking forward to that one more than the kid!

There are a half dozen good reasons to see this film.

The Action
I really wish that the directors who direct live action action would take some pointers from the people at Pixar, who really know how to direct a rousing action scene. And this was typical. What was atypical was you got both comedic and dramatic. Normally, you get one or the other, but not both, but here you got both.

The Detail
Look at the detail. Look at the princess' hair. That is what the animators who animated "The Little Mermaid" wanted Ariel's hair to look like, but they couldn't. SFX hadn't advanced enough. And the people at Pixar got the princess' hair to look like that, because they invented a whole new computer program just to animate the hair.

The Emotions
I found it as emotionally satisfying as any of the previous Pixar film.

The Humor
It is the funniest film I have ever seen from Pixar, and one of the funniest films I have ever seen, and that is saying something. On a couple of the scenes, I was almost rolling in the theater aisle, and that doesn't happen too often.

The Originality
The 1st past period piece from Pixar.
The first Pixar where the lead protagonist is a female.

The Realism
It made me believe that people once lived like that. Realism is good.

And, oh yes, there is another reason. The thoughts it leaves you with after you have seen the film.

Accents
The big Scotsman. The incomprehnsible one. Some Scots actually talk like that. That idea came from the actor who voiced the part, as some of his relatives talk like that.

Archery
Whatever comes out of the film. One good thing is that it is one of the movies released this year that has inspired an increase in the interest in the sport of archery. But it is probably the only one with a horse archer.

Bowhunting
One wonders if it will also inspire an increase in the interest in bowhunting. I got hold of a catalog for Cabela's, the sporting goods store, and they were really higlighting bowhunting. Maybe because it can be so expensive. What surprised me is how expensive it could be. A good compound box can cost you from $300 to $800 in the store, and a good crossbow can cost you even more. And that is only for the bows.

Fishing
It is not as easy as it looks in the film. When the light hits the water, the light refracts, so the fish may not be where it looks like it should be.

Kilts
Well, that answers the age old question. What does a Scotsman wear under his kilt?

Secondary Characters (3)
I was surprised, after the primary characters--the princess, the king, the queen--how few secondary characters there were, and they always seem to come in groups of three. The 3 suitors, their 3 fathers, the 3 little brothers (and weren't they cute), the lady-in-waiting (who with the other two ladies makes 3), and the witch (who with the broom and the raven also makes 3.)

Sidesaddle
I was trying to see whether the queen was riding sidesaddle there at the end. I couldn't tell, but probably. Because the queen was a lady, and all ladies in the past rode sidesaddle, and if they didn't, people looked askance at 'em, because they were saying they were not a lady, but a man, as only men rode astride. My maternal grandmother, who always thought of herself as a lady, and was a lady, always rode sidesaddle, and that was less than a hundred years ago.

Wickerman
Listen closely to what the witch says. Does she pay homage to the 1973 film "The Wicker Man?" It sounded that way to me.

The Ending
Sometimes I can be a little slow. It took me awhile, but I finally figured out what the raven was bringing to the castle after the credits had run. Do you remember all those wooden carvings the princess had earlier bought from the witch?

Before the film saw the trailer for "Wreck-it-Ralph." If one remembers those old video arcade games, there is suppose to be alot of cameos from those video games. Though, the only one I recognized was one from Pacman and Ms. Pacman.

Paid $8.00 to see "Brave" in 3-d, and worth every penny.

     I THOUGHT I heard THE WICKER MAN mentioned!
I thought I was just going to spend a pleasant two hours or so, but I loved this movie. It wasn't what I thought it was going to be, but was actually more than I expected.

In the never ending blood feud between Disney/Pixar and Dreamworks, once again we seemingly have a split decision. Critics apparently prefering Dreamworks' "Madagascar 3," and audiences, by their spending at the boxoffice, prefering Disney/Pixar's "Brave."

I suppose, though, if you asked Hollywood's filmmakers what they prefered: a critical success and a financial failure or a critical failure and a financial success, most of them would pick the latter, because that is where the money is.

Though, like this year, the Oscar category for Best Animated Film should be wide open. Even though I have no more faith that the voters can pick the best animated film than they can the best live action film. What they'll most likely do is not pick the best animated film, but the film most of them have seen.

Dreamworks has become a non-entity to me.  I just don't care about them anymore.  Tired, recycled pop-culture crap.

Well, they are not completely out of the game (for my mindshare) because I did really enjoy MEGAMIND more than I thought I was going to.  Chalk that one up to Will Farrell's quirkiness for the most part.

Pixar is constantly pushing the boundaries.  I saw BRAVE and did enjoy it.  Not my favorite Pixar production, but enjoyable and not the usual Disney "princess formula."  A strong female main character (with realistic teenager flaws) and a rather realistic Mother-Daughter quandary.

To me it comes down to Pop Culture "hip" vs Story Development, and to me, story will win every time.  Pixar's character development hooks me in more as well.  I get invested in them.

I think if Dreamworks productions are getting higher critical acclaim, it's at least in party due to said critics wanting to appear hip and cool in the pop culture department.  Perhaps hoping to drive sales up?  I can see no redeeming value in even making a MADAGASCAR 3, much less acclaiming it.

Very good points.... :smile:

The critics actually slightly prefer Brave overall, now that all the reviews are in.  It's a bit higher now on both metacritic and rottentomatoes.  I think the reviews are probably going to be a little misleading though - Brave takes more risks and tries more new things, so that will end up dividing the critics a little more.  Madagascar 3 looks to be a decently made very pop culture-dealing extremely mainstream kids film - so it'll get a lot of moderately positive reviews, but few high marks. 

I really disliked Madagascar, though, so I'm not going to be seeing the third one.  I'm rarely that annoyed by characters, even the most grating characters in family films, but everyone aside from the lion and the penguins (the penguins I did like) in Madagascar annoyed the hell out of me.