Pixar's Brave

[Leorgathar]

I watched it along with KS about 2 weeks ago. I didn't think it was so bad, but yeah, the Pixar feeling was lacking from it.
I know the focus was on the mother-daughter relationship, but I would have liked for Merida's father to be more... Well, a father, and less a comic relief. More importantly, I would really have loved to see a more memorable villain.
Ah well, at least it gave me some good laughs, and the soundtrack is great.

[Azerane]

Now that you mention it, I never really thought about the fact that there's not really a villain in it before. It's more herself that's the villain against herself. A life lesson so to speak.

[Kasei]

I just thought the movie was beautiful. *_* I am a sucker for lovely animation--if it looks awesome, I'm pretty much sold on it unless the story sucks. Kind of like Dragon Wars, where I decide to just watch the movie on silence when I need to see pretty dragon animation. xD

But I actually really liked Brave, I watched it with my friends and all our Moms, funnily enough, xD It was a happy accident, but really appropriate considering the mother-daughter content. My mom and I thought it was funny because we are both pretty outdoorsy so we were like, "Just goes to show you--any relationship issue can be fixed by going on a camping trip!" Since that's basically what Merida and her Mom were doing during the bonding segment, hehe.

My only complaint about the movie is that I would've loved to have seen more/find out more about the witch. She seemed like an interesting character.

[KanuTGL]

I expected more from Brave. There was nothing very original about the story, really, and some parts of it reminded me way too much of Brother Bear. You can still make a really nice film out of a story like this and I thought that if anyone could do it, it would be Pixar. I agree the visuals and animation are absolutely stunning, but there are several things about the story I would've done differently... It's even more of a disappointment since I was so excited about it when that first teaser trailer came out :C I've been debating whether to even get the BluRay, but I decided to do so the other day anyway, if more for the animation than anything else :P Even Pixar can't win them all I suppose.

[Leorgathar]

And yet Brave won on pretty much every award for animation, now with an Oscar last night. I think there were other movies out there deserving it more. If anything, I'd say 2012 was actually good for stop-motion animation films (my second favourite kind of animation after hand drawn, hehe), with 'The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists', 'ParaNorman', and 'Frankenweenie' on the table. I would have liked for The Pirates! to get more attention, that was my personal favourite, but I think ParaNorman had a lot of potential (yeah, despite the silly name and looks, I still think it's a very good movie).

The only good credits I give to Brave is the stunning visuals and the soundtrack, but as for the story I prefer ParaNorman, at least it's much more moving

[Kasei]

Man, I really fell off the animation bandwagon this past year, I was way too busy to see many movies at all and missed all three of those stop-motion films you mentioned. I will watch them eventually though, and the Pirates one actually looks really good! I'm not a huge fan of Aardman typically (don't know why, something about how everyone always looks slightly angry or stressed because of the way they do teeth maybe?) but I am super impressed by the animation in the trailer for that film.

Didn't know Brave won an Oscar, that's cool. It probably didn't deserve it, honestly, as much as I liked the animation. I also could have done without the mom turning into a bear. A wolf maybe, that would've been cool...but you'd think Pixar would know better since Disney has gone the Brother Bear route already. Then again I suppose BB didn't do all that great so maybe they were hoping that no one would remember it...?

[nathalie]

I seem to be the only one who did not think of Brother Bear, not even once while watching Brave.

[King Simba]

Yeah, I didn't like Brave much either. The animation was no doubt fantastic, so was the soundtrack, but the storyline seemed too unoriginal for me. I was a bit disappointed, as I was expecting so much more, but oh well. Here's to the next Pixar movie, whatever they have in store for us next.

I enjoyed Pirates! In An Adventure With Scientists more, if I'm honest, so that should have won the Oscar instead. I've never seen ParaNorman or Frankenweenie, so I can't comment on those.

[KanuTGL]

I also could have done without the mom turning into a bear. A wolf maybe, that would've been cool...but you'd think Pixar would know better since Disney has gone the Brother Bear route already. Then again I suppose BB didn't do all that great so maybe they were hoping that no one would remember it...?

This. So much xP Once she turned into a bear, the film lost its appeal for me. Up until that point, it was a really lovely story about the bond between a mother and a daughter, but after that it just... turned weird. Or, I think it turned weird as soon as the witch appeared. She was just too out there for the film; her personality didn't fit in with the rest at all. They didn't have to turn Elinor into a bear at all. I think the film would still have worked with her as a human, they would just have had to think of another reason for her and Merida to hide away in the forest, be chased by Mor'du and bond...

Brother Bear is one of my favourite Disney films (yes, it is) and it may not have been the most successful film in cinemas, but it was clearly still popular enough to receive a silly DTV sequel, so Pixar definitely should've known better than to use bears as a central theme again. A line Merida says in Brave is even exactly the same as one in Brother Bear o.-

I am actually disappointed that Brave won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature, simply because of its story =/ I am happy about Brenda Chapman receiving it, but I enjoyed Pirates! so much more in comparison so I would much rather have seen the award go to them. (Speaking of the animation Oscars; yaaay, Paperman!!!)

So, yeah. It's a shame that Brave isn't as good as it should have been :C

[nathalie]

Lol.
I'm totally the opositte.

I was all exhited when she turned into a bear, haha.
Maybe I didn't think of Brother Bear when watching Brave, because BB isn't even in my top 10 list (though, I love the songs).

And to me, it is as good as it should have been, hehe


Don't know the other movies yet.
They are all on DVD over here, I must go shopping!
(Pirates a band of misfits, Frankenweenie, Paranorman, and then waiting for Hotel Transilvania aswell)

Also, Pixar isn't Disney.
If it was purely Disney, then they should have known better and take another animal, so I guess they could "afford" it.

[KanuTGL]

Also, Pixar isn't Disney.

Technically they are, since Disney owns them since a few years back I wouldn't be impressed if Pixar decided to base a film around talking royal lions either, and Brave vs Brother Bear is kind of like that for me. The premise is the same: human gets transformed into a bear and makes the journey they need to make in their new form, thus developing as a character. Elinor is accompanied by her daughter instead of a little bear cub brother and the main focus in Brave is really on Merida, but, eh. I'm not saying that these films are the same, because they certainly aren't, but there are enough similarities to bother me :C

And now it sounds like I hate Brave xD I really don't, there are lots of things I like about it, but I'm disappointed in what this film turned out to be as a whole. Like I've said, I thought Pixar could do better, and I expected them to.

So, enough about the bad sides I guess :P I've been listening to the soundtrack a fair bit recently and I agree it's awesome <3 I love the songs especially

[Kasei]

Speaking of the animation Oscars; yaaay, Paperman!!!

Oh yay, did it win? I don't watch Oscars or Academy Awards or anything, but that is exciting! Good for them, I loved Paperman! Such a beautiful animated movie and it is SO nice to see 2D return (at least in some form) to the big screen in such a successful way. Something about watching drawings move across the screen....aaaah! Just love it. Now if only they were real drawings again. :(

[nathalie]

It's really just how you see the movie yourself.
Clearly I see it in a very different way, hehe.

That's good, I'm always the oddball

[KanuTGL]

After all this talk about Brave I decided to watch it yesterday, haha. And true, with some reminding I can see and understand the thoughts behind the story elements, but it still doesn't really win me over. Too much stereotyping and expected stuff :C Changing some cheap gags and some minor characters around (I mean that raven really steals the show, why didn't they make more use of him in his only scene?) and it could've been great, but it's those little things...

Darned if it doesn't make me want to draw bears everywhere though XD Gosh, they are beautifully done.