Just saw Brave

[MikeSF]

Had a special sneak peak of the movie tonight. Had La Luna as the Pixar short, and Wreck-it Ralph, Monsters University & Nemo 3d as trailers all of which look super fun to watch.

The movie itself was decent good, not knock your socks off good like some of the other Pixar flicks. Seems Disney's "lets not do any more princess" movies was extremely short lived (I think they said that pre-Tangled). The movie's pacing felt a bit off, all the building up of the character took most of the movie, then the character having to save the day part not so long. Think the total of the movie was 1hour 20 minutes (I briefly looked at my watch just as the movie started). I liked Tangled better than this one by quite a bit.

Little kids might like this, I felt some of the jokes were a bit more adult in nature, e.g. flipping up a kilt (you don't see anything but they might not understand), Scottish guy with accent so deep not even the Scottish guys understand what he's saying etc. And there are a few overly scary moments (for wee little ones) involving an angry Bear

If you do see this, make sure you sit through the credits there's a somewhat touching homage, and at the very end one last scene.

There's my official no-spoiler review of the movie

 

[CentralFloridian99]

I'm hoping Monsters University is good. Thanks for the review, and hopefully Pixar can get back in the game next year!

 

[scrapshappen]

I saw a sneak peek of it last night too. I agree with just about everything you said. My boys 7&9 loved it. But I thought it was too dark and intense for kids younger than that though. And I have to admit (I'm a prude) but the bare behinds were a little too much for me for a family movie.

It is more PG than Tangled for sure.

 

[mrp4352]

Our screening didn't have any previews!

I thought it was a beautiful movie. Very funny - and I'll tell you what I really liked about it after it's in general release! No spoilers on my watch!

 

[tmoret]

I cant wait to see this movie. Pixar always does such a great job!

 

[ImDMous]

We saw a screening last night also, with previews. I really liked it, much more than Tangled. The scenery was beautiful and her brothers were hilarious.

And I want a Mike Wazowski disco ball!

 

[LittleMissMagic]

Jealous! I'm planning to go opening night!

When I first saw the previews for this movie, I wasn't so sure. However, after they played a longer preview, I started really looking forward to the movie.

I hope it's as good as I want it to be. Merida looks like an awesome princess. From what I can tell, she has no love interest. She's fighting purely for herself and her rights. This is the princess that the young girls of this generation need.

Since the late 80s, Disney has done a better job creating princesses who are strong willed - Ariel, Belle, Pocahontas, Mulan - those are the princesses of my generation. All determined young ladies, but because they were pursuing men (okay, not exactly with Mulan, but that transitions us to the second set of princesses...). Then when Disney decided to create a new princess (because we had thought Mulan would be the last), they went with the motivated Tiana who had a dream and was determined to succeed... but they had to throw a man in there for entertainment purposes (okay, the prince was also very necessary in the plot of Princess and the Frog). Rapunzel in Tangled was another step in the new direction, but once again, there was a love interest. Not to say that a girl can't fall in love, but I do think it's important to illustrate that a girl doesn't have to fall in love in order to reach Happily Ever After - that a girl can be successful, happy, and "Brave" all by herself. This is the princess I have been waiting for - I cannot wait to meet Merida! (Dear Pixar: Please don't let me down!)

There was a good break between princess movies. Mulan was released in 1998, and The Princess and the Frog came out over ten years later in 2009.

I don't think that Disney needs to stop creating princess movies (okay, the princesses in the parks are getting a little excessive...), but continue to shape and modernize the princess so that she can continue to be an inspiration to girls today.

 

[Sprinklelovesyou]

You guys are so lucky! I really want to see it. I was just extremely happy to see Pixar with a female lead!

 

[DisneysPrincess25]

I hope it's not as bad as some of the reviews are saying. I was really looking forward to this one

 

[LifeIsDis]

I saw it tonight in Hartford and LOVED it! I think Pixar did a beautiful job on the whole movie. I would totally see it again when it officialy comes out.
I do think some scenes are a little scary for the little ones. But they are over in a few minutes.
I laughed throughout the whole movie. It was very funny!

And has anyone seen the Pizza Planet truck in it? I couldn't find it!

 

[DisneysPrincess25]

glad to see it getting better reviews my bf is taking me tomorrow. excited!

 

[WDWJonasGirl]

I can't wait to see it!!

 

[KMcCP]

My daightet's riding lesson just got cancelled due to extreme heat, sounds like a perfect day for a movie!

 

[BemaniAK]

Just saw it tonight, I really enjoyed it, I honestly hated Tangled, especially the way they handled the advertising, but this was really nice, yeah, it was a "princess" story, but it wasn't just a re-imagining of a public domain fairytale, it wasn't constantly wasting time with musical numbers, and Merida was actually a fun character that I (Not being a Disney Princess lover at all) really liked.

The whole Mother-turns-bear thing happened to throw me off as I initially thought through the trailers and the first part of the movie that it would be about a war that Merida caused and her having to end it, but I think I preferred it this way.
I agree with the pacing, act 1 dragged on for a long time, a lot of introduction and not enough action and memorable moments, but for me that only calls for a sequel, not a Disney sequel (Lion King 2, bleh), a Pixar sequel (Cars 2 never happened) like Toy story 2, great continuation for a great movie.

I'm just not sure if the movie will actually be popular enough to warrant that, I hope it is because I really enjoyed it as a nice "Middle ground" between Pixar and Disney's favourite storytelling styles.

 

[Hoosier37]

Just back from watching and I have to say I really liked it. It isn't as good as the Pixar masterpieces like Up or Wall-E, but it was a fun and touching story with amazing visuals. And I cried a few times. Honestly I think I got more out of it being a mother of a young daughter than a child would.

But we stayed through the credits and didn't see a last scene .

And the short. I think going to see Brave is worth it for La Luna alone. What a beautiful piece of film that was!

 

[StarGirl11]

Just back from watching and I have to say I really liked it. It isn't as good as the Pixar masterpieces like Up or Wall-E, but it was a fun and touching story with amazing visuals. And I cried a few times. Honestly I think I got more out of it being a mother of a young daughter than a child would.

But we stayed through the credits and didn't see a last scene .

And the short. I think going to see Brave is worth it for La Luna alone. What a beautiful piece of film that was!

Really? That's weird.

I went to a midnight showing last night. I at first was a little worried about how many people would be there so I picked the 3D over 2D (usually I go 2D) thinking there would be more people there. Looked about even when they started seating actually don't know if it stayed that way. A lot of people my age too going to it (which I was pleasantly surprised by since at first I wasn't sure if they were going to Brave at midnight or Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter at midnight in the same movie theater but on the other side of the building).

As for the film itself? I loved it! Favorite princess film by far. And it took Merida 10 minutes to become my favorite Disney princess as I actually connected with her on a level I had never been able to with previous princesses as weird as it sounds. I laughed, I cried, and joined the theater in giving a round of applause at film's end. My only complaint? It was too short! Wish it had been a bit longer than an hour and a half. Heard a few others voicing that same thought after the movie let out.

And I want a sequel. The end was refreshing change from the Disney norm for princesses but it left me curious about a few things.

Also loved the naming of the clans. It took me until this morning that they named the Macintosh clan purposely (or at least I think purposely considering the dedication mid-credits) in tribute to Steve Jobs. Also liked the naming of the McGuffin clan.

 

[DisneysPrincess25]

My bf took me to see it today. I
Thought it was cute and entertaining. In my opinion it's one of the better Pixar movies probably because I hate some of their most popular movies.
A Bugs Life ( just not a fan)
ratatouille (boring)
Up! (way too depressing)
Cars (boring)
But of course that's just my opinion. I honestly don't know why Brave is getting so many bad reviews. But then again everyone likes different things.

 

[KMcCP]

My daightet's riding lesson just got cancelled due to extreme heat, sounds like a perfect day for a movie!

I apologize for my earlier typos! I meant daughter of course.

I personally really liked the movie- I especially was happy to see a positive
Mother/Daughter relationship, since it's not a common theme unfortunately.
My DD(5) really liked it as well, but was scared to tears at one scene, I saw a few parents have to leave with little ones who were upset. Luckily she was easily distracted with junior mints! Just something to keep in mind if any of you have little ones that scare easily.

 

[Joe Buck]

I agree with what MikeSF said, its good but not knock your socks off good. Was a little disappointed.

The good:
- Beautifully animated. They did an excellent job with the backgrounds and the characters.
- Merida is a great princess. Definitely is a good role model for girls, that girls are just as good as guys and her message was she didnt want anyone deciding how she was going to live her life. In some ways she reminded me of Ariel.
- Showed a real appreciation of Scotland and its culture.
- The three brothers were fun to watch. Could see them in their own animated shorts.
- First Disney movie in a long time to have two parents!

The bad:
-Just didnt enjoy the second half. Felt the whole idea of the mother turning into a bear didnt work well.
-There really was no villain. Think if the witch really intentionally tricked Merida and wanted to take over the kingdom it would have been better. The whole answering machine in the caldron made it very Shrek like.
-Maybe she needed a love interest? Not sure about that.

For me, I liked Tangled better than Brave. Could be I always expect more from Pixar. Definitely better than Cars 2 but thats not to hard of an accomplishment. LOL

 

[carrie1626]

I just saw BRAVE this afternnooon. Me, my sister and adult daughter 22.
We were probably the only ones w/o kids.

I reallt liked it and for all those kids in the theater, I never heard anything close to boredom or antziness

I definetly think young boys would like it, too!