Brave

      I was really excited to see this movie, it looked awesome. Instead, I was kind of disappointed. I was expecting a great adventure story, and would have even appreciated another "Disney Princess" being added to the mix (most of the Disney Princesses are not terribly weak women and awful role models that need to be replaced). However, that is not how this story really went. Instead, this movie was essentially a cartoon version of Freaky Friday, but instead of actually switching bodies, the daughter just turned her mom into a bear.

      From the previews, it looked like this was going to be a movie about a girl trying to find her own destiny and breaking all the rules at the same time, however, it was not. Instead Merida, the princess, was mostly just a brat who didn't want to get married. So, she whined about it, threw a fit, ran away, and then changed her mom into a bear because she wouldn't listen. Her mother didn't do a good job listening or communicating either. She didn't QUITE understand that her daughter was not ready to get married or be a queen. So, both are in the wrong. This means that in order for the spell to be broken they have to listen and understand one another, like they did when Merida was younger. Hence the Freaky Friday analogy. Blah.

       The animation was pretty, the scenes were pretty, and the music was great fun (I do love pretty much all Irish/Celtic music :)). It was a fun story, I laughed at some parts (the demon brothers were great!), held my breathe at others, and did enjoy the movie. It just wasn't what I was expecting or really in the mood to see at the time. There were also a few moments where the story seemed to head in one direction and then completely flip a few minutes later. And there were a few points that were never really explained or connected to the main story line. During the movie, I was surprised that it ended the way it did. It felt as if the producers realized they were approaching the 90 minute mark for children's movies and simply ended without much care for the progression of the story.

       This might be one time where I really do agree with A LOT of the critics comments. If this movie had been produced by someone other than Disney/Pixar, then it would have been fine. However, it was rather blah and subpar, especially when compared to Cars, Finding Nemo, and Monster's Inc.

      Leaving the theater, I probably would have given this movie a 6 out of 10. However, now considering all the things I truly found disappointing, I think it deserves a 4.5 out of 10.