Brave (2012)

Thoroughly enjoyed this animated gem.

To commence let me just say that I am a bit of an animation purist, I have not adjusted easily to the advent of computer-animation (what is it 20 years later), having been raised during the Disney Renaissance, with classics like Beauty & The Beast, The Little Mermaid and Aladdin being the art I grew up loving (admittedly they used some element of Computer Generated animation, but as a backdrop to the hand drawn art I love). 

So I am incredibly critical of the Computer Animated movies, I did not welcome Toy Story with open arms, and still fail to find the level of magic in that particular ground-breaking movie - that said I enjoyed those nuggets of magic-filled genius like Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Up, WALL-E...

... and now Brave. Brave is near-perfect in my estimation, Set in the Scottish Highlands the story follows Princess Merida who tries to break from the conformity to her Princess duties, as instructed by her mother, and how all goes awry when it is announced that she is to be betrothed. 

The movie hearkens back to the magic I previously mentioned, and does so with a great level of panache and style, laughingly light and delightfully deep all at the same time. In contrast, criticism has been thrown at it for the very alignment to the Disney Classics I appreciate, while this for me is part of its charm - some critics going as far as saying it is just not ground-breaking enough (my personal feeling here is that it's okay that movies are made for the joy of movie making, there will always be time for more movies to be made which can be cutting edge and groundbreaking).

While not nominated for Best Picture (and therefore not required viewing as I forge on with my quest to watch all those Oscar Nominated movies since 1979 which have been nominated in the Big 6 categories - Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor & Best Supporting Actress), it did however deservedly win the Oscar for Best Animated Feature.

For some good old family fun, be brave and give Brave a go :)

nuff said...