Brave: Movie Review

I was really hoping this wouldn't happen.

When I first started seeing trailers for Brave I was a little skeptical. It just didn't seem very Pixary. And trying new things is great and all, but I was really afraid that it would just not work out too well.

And I was right.

I love Pixar. Love love LOVE Pixar. I just checked the date on my Pixar calendar. (June is Wall-E, the one movie of theirs that I'm actually not crazy about, but I guess I've never really given it a real chance. I only half-watched it at the drive ins one summer.) But other than Wall-E, I absolutely LOVE every single one of their movies. (Cars 2 is just something we can all pretend never happened. But even that, I was at least thoroughly entertained through).

So let's talk about Brave.

I didn't like it. And I hate that I didn't like it, because I so desperately wanted to like it.

And if I had to narrow down the one thing I didn't like, it would be the plot. It was just weird. I can't think of any other word to describe it. If you are heading to this movie thinking you're going to see a great film about female empowerment and going after your dreams and creating your own destiny, you will be gravely disappointed. As I was. But that's exactly what the trailers made us think it would be about! It was supposed to be a princess movie with a twist (a GREAT idea for a movie plot) but it wasn't that at all.

I won't give away the "mid-movie twist," but it's not what you will expect from this film.

In Pixar's defense, the story was told well and it was a good movie. I just did not like the premise. And it wasn't Pixar at all.

Nothing really stood out and Wow'ed me. In Up, you have a house that flies away tied to balloons. In Ratatouille, you have a rat in someone's hat who can cook like a gourmet chef. Etc. Etc. Etc. Brave just didn't have that wow factor for me. There was no quirky sidekick or anything (although her little triplet brother terrors did offer some nice comic relief).

And the animation in Brave was impeccable. I read that it took them 3 years to develop 2 different software programs just for her hair. There are 1,500 bright red, curly strands of hair bouncing around on top of her head throughout the film, and the three years of hard work shows. The movie is just beautiful overall, slightly making up for the lackluster plot.

So I wouldn't waste your money. It definitely wasn't worth the $9 I spent. Wait for it to come out on Red Box for a dollar and prepare to be disappointed. Or just looking at the screen at the end and saying "what just happened?"

Here's hoping the next Pixar movie is a great one! (Side note: the short before the movie, La Luna, was phenomenal!)

They're doing a prequel to Monsters, Inc. about their lives in Monster University. I can't wait. And Finding Nemo is coming out in 3D. That would be an amazing movie to see in IMAX!

(And on an un-Pixar-related note, THERE'S GOING TO BE A DESPICABLE ME 2! So excited. If you couldn't tell. And the teaser trailer was adorable! I guess that and La Luna was almost worth my $9. Almost.)

Also on that Yahoo article, there was a poll at the end asking 'What is your favorite Pixar movie?'

I of course picked Up. And to nobody's surprise, Toy Story was the clear favorite. Followed by of course Finding Nemo and surprisingly The Incredibles. I never would have guessed that.

You can vote for  yourself HERE.

But tell me what you think! What's your favorite Pixar movie? And for those of you who saw Brave, did you like it??