There are moments of great power in 'Only the Brave' but its overall effect could have benefited from a tighter, more focused movie. RATING: PG for scary action and rude humor. The movie plods along, getting a bit repetitive at times, but rebounds by sticking the landing with an emotional and intense final act. By the end, Merida grows into a woman by heeding, of all things, the wisdom of the witch: “Fate can be changed/Look inside/Mend the bond/Torn by pride.”ĬREDITS: Directed by Mark Andrews and Brenda Chapman written by Mark Andrews, Steve Purcell, Brenda Chapman, and Irene Mecchi So what does being brave require of Merida? At the beginning of the movie, her solution to her problems is to change her mother rather than change herself. Merida’s personal growth, from a selfish and immature girl into a humble and duty-bound princess, is made sweeter by the fact that it’s ignited by the love and concern she has for making things right with mom. Relieved periodically by moments of slapstick humor, the tale gallops forward to a dramatic climax in an exciting, if frightening, action sequence that recently left one baby in the theater crying.ĭespite occasional cliches, “Brave” is an entertaining coming-of-age tale. The scenes in the forest, where Merida and her bear-mother have to come to terms with each other and their strange situation, are among the most touching scenes of mother-daughter love in recent memory. Some of the plot devices feel forced - the will-o-the-wisps, which lead Merida to her “fate” on multiple occasions, always appear at moments of crisis.īut once “Brave” negotiates its rather rocky transition into its main themes, the story comes together. With its princess, suitors and fair share of maudlin music, the story starts off on familiar, even boilerplate, ground for Disney. In this quest, Merida learns the true meaning of what it is to be brave. Having realized the recklessness of her mistake, Merida makes it her duty to find a way to turn her mom back into the queen she is before it’s too late. Or, to look at it another way, it’s about the tension between traditional order and new pressures for change and individual self-determination. The story more or less drops the marriage theme and gets to its real concern: the relationship between a mother and a daughter.
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