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Post by Hitotsumami on Jun 22, 2012 2:32:50 GMT -5
Movie was aaaaaaaaalright. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
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Post by Kyubey on Jun 22, 2012 4:51:50 GMT -5
Final verdict: Shark has no idea what he's talking about.
I really don't want to give anything away, because there's a lot I can potentially spoil, and I don't want to ruin a single moment of this film, but let me start by saying that this is a movie that is absolutely nothing like how the trailers make it out to be. The protagonist is relateable and thought-out, with distinct flaws and development, the writers most certainly put the characterization above everything else. In fact, the same can be said for all the characters really. Each one of them is likable in their own way, from the mains all the way down to the supporting cast (more on that later). The relationship between the protagonist and her partents, in particular, was incredibly believable. It would have been so easy for the writers to just throw in the standard character archetypes, expect the audience to just accept it, and drive the story on from there, but really, we should all have learned to expect better from Pixar by now. Has Cars really lowered your expectations that much? They worked hard to make everyone distinct and endearing, and that work pays off in a great way. Again, I won't comment much on the story itself, but let's just say it most certainly meets the high standard set by Pixar, and is worthy of standing on its own.
Morcombe will be happy to hear that his homeland is portrayed incredibly well. In fact, and I know this is a huge cliche, but it throughout the story it feels as if Scotland itself is a character. Every detail, every blade of grass, every piece of rock and moss, every prop, and every strand of hair has been carefully animated, and the result is simply stunning, and it's astoundingly easy to be completely immersed. Through the portrayal of the culture, history, and people of Old Scotland, Pixar masterfully set the stage for their very fairy-tale esque adventure.
Of course, the setting would be nothing without the people to fill it out, and every bit of the world of Brave feels definitely alive. Not necessarily lifelike, naturally, but just far enough from reality to sink the viewer into the story. Even the background characters feel like individuals, and each member of the supporting cast brings something great to the table. The classic Pixar humor is at it's finest here, in fact, I would go so far as to say that this is by far the funniest movie they've churned out.
This is a movie that I recommend to everyone here. I think it has enough to defy a lot of expectations that've been expressed. If I had to give any fair criticism, it's that some of the plot twists in the second act are predictable, but that's a minor annoyance, and doesn't really hurt the film as a whole. The acting is good, the atmosphere is good, the writing is good, the animation and direction are fucking brilliant... it's a Pixar movie, come on.
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Post by Shark a' Pult on Jun 22, 2012 9:14:31 GMT -5
Nice paid review Kylor.
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Post by Shark a' Pult on Jun 23, 2012 12:50:44 GMT -5
Ok I just got back from seeing this movie. It was pretty meh, and kylor is a massive faggot. My joke about his being a paid review actually seems true now.
Everything you need to know about this movie, I can sum up in four words;
Freaky Friday with bears.
All in all it was a nice film, and I would rate it seven arrows out of ten arrows.
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Post by CJ on Jun 23, 2012 19:33:22 GMT -5
Just saw it. I'll try to make this short.
Let's pretend for a moment that Pixar had nothing to do with this movie.
The animation is superb. This is some really fine stuff. Meredith's hair alone was worth the price of admission. Man, these animators are fantastic.
The relationship between the Queen and Meredith cemented this movie. As an ex-rebellious teenage daughter, I heard my own words coming from Meredith's mouth and likewise my mother's from the Queen. It was stunning to see how well the writers understood these kinds of relationships. On a side note, the King was also very realistic (at least when compared to my dad).
Now, let's remember this was made by Pixar.
I really only have three problems with this movie but it is these problems that, I believe, put this movie in the barren wasteland between greats like Ratatouille and marketing driven toy cash cows like Cars and Cars 2.
The music was really weak. I'm talking about the lyrical numbers in places where there should have been orchestrated music. We don't need a whimsy lady telling us what we're supposed to be feeling. The scene is supposed to do that for us. I know it was done in Toy Story but... I'm just not sure why it works there. Maybe it was because they needed a bit more narrative to supply the weaker animation. Here, I wanted to just watch Meredith interact with her world. The lyrics were just distracting.
Actually, here's an example. SPOILER, the scene in the end where the fallen warrior nods to Meredith after the demon bear was defeated was beautiful. It was wordless, but it said enough. If some fancy lady started singing about how "we all get a second chance" or some crap there, it would have killed the scene.
The humor also could have been better. The scene where the one son is introduced behind the strong man is such an old joke (Spongebob did it better). Also, do we really need boob and genital jokes? I thought Pixar could find humor in better places. The voice mail joke with the witch was pretty shoved in there too.
Two notable exceptions, however, would be the scene where the triplets are leading the men around with the fake bear shadow and most of the interactions with the clan leaders. That was some excellent stuff.
Finally, there was a bit of a raging plot hole. Why didn't Meredith calmly tell her mother to sit where she was and then go tell her father what had happened in the first place? It would have solved everything in minutes. I wish there had been a scene where Meredith tried to tell him but he was too busy or too rowdy to listen. Eh, maybe they just cut it for time.
Anyway, long review is long. Definitely go see it, but try to forget it's a Pixar movie, otherwise you might not like it.
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Post by Shark a' Pult on Jun 23, 2012 19:59:15 GMT -5
I don't feel like writing out a whole helling damning review because I don't feel like writing that much. Like I said earlier, this isn't Citizen Kane, this is a Disney Pixar film.
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Basically my biggest beef with this movie was its scope. The whole movie took place in a geographic span of about five square miles, and that I can sum it up very simply; teenage princess doesn't like overbearing mother, makes a faustian bargain with a witch to change things, mother and daughter bonding, mother and daughter reconciliation, family and love triumph. The only locales were; the castle, the game fields, the woods, the witch house, and the ruins of the old kingdom.
The scope of other Pixar movies is usually huge, with many different places and journeys to join them. I was expecting as much with this movie, and they very easily could have done some sweeping epic given the location of the story and the plot. But instead, as mentioned it took place in about 5-square miles, and very little actually happened.
I'm not expecting grand battles of armies, or amazing action sequences. But if you're doing a story in ancient Scotland dealing with magic and legends, I expect a journey or an ordeal to explore more of this amazing, ancient world, just like as in other Pixar movies. Instead, in it's expanse Brave is really just mother and daughter go walk-about in the castle and the woods nearby.
I don't want to bash the movie for something it could have done, but to me it seems like a missed golden opportunity, and that they kind of dropped the ball there. That's really my only main problem with the movie, it's small scope played on a soft note, and something that has been nagging in the back of my mind ever since I saw it.
In terms of actual problems with the actual movie itself, I don't think I can say anything of what hasn't already been said.
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Post by Kyubey on Jun 23, 2012 23:31:51 GMT -5
OH HEY GUYS IT'S KYLOR THE RAGING PIXAR FAN HERE TO DEFEND THIS HERE MOVIE.
Naw guys, I just really really liked it. Anyways...
The music didn't really bother me that much, but really only because I honestly wasn't listening to the lyrics. Like, at all. Really, it was just part of the background for me. (the ACTUAL backgrounds, on the other hand...) So it'll probably bother me more when I see it again, but all I was thinking was just "the singing is nice." Uh, that's all I have to say about that. And I also really liked the humor, I don't know, it just really appealed to my taste in comedy. I will concede that not all of them were winners, but at the same time I laughed much harder at this than I did at literally any other Pixar film, so that says something. A lot of people seem to have a problem with how it was implemented in the story, but it made me like the characters well enough, and it made me care more during the dramatic scenes than I might have otherwise. Mostly, I was really blown away by how they conveyed a whole lot while saying little in some scenes.
Now, as for the scope deal. I think the problem here is that, especially with the stories of today, we're really accustomed to stories about the olden times being like Lord of the Rings or similar tales, with grand adventures and a huge scope. What Shark was saying bothered me as well at first, but honestly I think it's mostly due to us expecting something going in that's different from what the story actually is. Brave really borrows less from the High Fantasy Epic and definitely follows the pattern of the classic fairy tale, but told in a way that relates more to the modern audience. I think both CJ and I really relating to the central conflict shows how well they succeeded in that. So yeah, think of it as more of a Brothers Grimm-esque thing rather than a huge fantasy adventure. Just because it has trees and swords doesn't mean it's required by law to be an epic.
One minor gripe I did have when I saw the movie, though, that I didn't bring up when I made my first review because I felt it was unfair to the film itself, was that I was a little let down by the teaser. Remember, the one that was all dark and promised a much more somber tone than the standard Pixar film? I was really hyped to see that movie. We saw shades of it in the finished product, enough to make me somewhat content, but still, it would've been neat to see my favorite animation studio try going in that direction for a change. Ah well, it's not like Pixar's going anywhere. At the end of the day, they still have all the time in the world to boldly charge into those waters when they feel they're good and ready, and I should just shut up and judge Brave by Brave's own yardstick. A hard thing for any viewer to do, but an important thing if you try to seriously judge a movie. The emotional parts hit home pretty much every time, and it was still solid. One of my favorite of theirs.
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Post by Hitotsumami on Jun 24, 2012 0:02:22 GMT -5
KyubeyI also kinda wish that the movie was a bit more like the original trailer and had a darker theme. Maybe if the father ended up killing the mother when she was a bear or something and Merida left the village and swore to kill the original bear or something. Nah, maybe that is too dark. One thing that did bother me was that I wish it spent more time about the ancient story of the original four brothers. Like, the main bad guy in the movie was mentioned only like once by the mother. He would have seemed more threatening if they talked about him more or something. Also, speaking of that, if these separate clans all originated from the four brothers, aren't these guys trying to marry their cousin? Eh, maybe it is too far down the line to matter, I don't know.
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Post by Shark a' Pult on Jun 24, 2012 0:07:37 GMT -5
Now, as for the scope deal. I think the problem here is that, especially with the stories of today, we're really accustomed to stories about the olden times being like Lord of the Rings or similar tales, with grand adventures and a huge scope. No, no that's not what I'm accustomed to. What Shark was saying bothered me as well at first, but honestly I think it's mostly due to us expecting something going in that's different from what the story actually is. Brave really borrows less from the High Fantasy Epic and definitely follows the pattern of the classic fairy tale, but told in a way that relates more to the modern audience. I think both CJ and I really relating to the central conflict shows how well they succeeded in that. So yeah, think of it as more of a Brothers Grimm-esque thing rather than a huge fantasy adventure. Just because it has trees and swords doesn't mean it's required by law to be an epic. I think Brave is less a classic fairy tale and more a story constructed around an idea someone had. Compare for me another fairy tale film with as small a scope. It struck me as something that could be absolutely amazing as a Pixar short film, but as a movie there was allot that was just unnecessary. Like, the entirety of the movie, without losing much of anything, could be handled in a 30-minute segment, such as an episode of a TV show or a showcase piece. I'm sorry, but if you aren't going to make it for lack of a better word, epic, don't make it into a full-fledged full-budget Disney hollywood blockbuster, not when as a studio as a general rule of thumb your previous works have been epics. Brave had the heart, a whole lot of heart. But it lacked the punch.
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Post by Kyubey on Jun 25, 2012 16:56:51 GMT -5
I don't get what you're saying about the movie not being like a fairy tale. Look at pretty much any classic story of its kind and you'll find it pretty much follows the pattern people have been using for years. If you still insist on judging this movie by the yardstick of other movies by means of setting.
Anyways, there's been a similar thing going on after the release of pretty much every Pixar movie where immedeatly after it's release, everyone leaps on the chance to be the guy who says, "Well I'm so smart, I was able to find these flaws in it! Look at how much more caustic I am than everyone else!" I mean, holy shit guys, calm down. Not liking something good as much as the general doesn't mean you have better taste. Especially if your reasoning is so incredibly arbitrary.
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Post by CJ on Jun 25, 2012 17:09:58 GMT -5
Anyways, there's been a similar thing going on after the release of pretty much every Pixar movie where immedeatly after it's release, everyone leaps on the chance to be the guy who says, "Well I'm so smart, I was able to find these flaws in it! Look at how much more caustic I am than everyone else!" I mean, holy shit guys, calm down. Not liking something good as much as the general doesn't mean you have better taste. Especially if your reasoning is so incredibly arbitrary. Compare Brave's 75% to these movies. www.rottentomatoes.com/m/up/news/1823197/total_recall_pixars_winning_streak/It's not that Brave is a bad movie, it's just a bad Pixar movie. Pixar is supposed to be a forerunner in animation. It doesn't make movies just to make movies (though Cars sort of proved that wrong), it makes them to captivate us. Brave just didn't do that for some people and it didn't do that for me.
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Post by Kyubey on Jun 25, 2012 17:17:24 GMT -5
Huh, maybe so. Maybe it's not that good. But then again Perhaps, by really liking the shit out of this movie and listing it amongst my favorite Pixar movies, I'm the biggest rebel then.
HAHA! GAZE UPON MY REFUSAL TO CONFORM TO YOUR STANDARDS! THE OPINIONS OF ROTTEN TOMATOES MEAN NOTHING TO ME! BOW BEFORE ME AS YOUR GOD!
Nah, just kidding guys, I just really don't understand you guy's cynicism here. Personal taste, I guess. And to be fair, I really didn't like La Luna as much as everyone else did. So put me in the same club as the rest of y'all.
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Post by Shark a' Pult on Jun 25, 2012 17:43:18 GMT -5
I didn't read anything of what was said after I posted, I'm just here to reaffirm that my opinion is the correct one, and that kylor is a faggot.
That is all.
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Post by Hitotsumami on Jun 25, 2012 20:29:46 GMT -5
Brave is probably my fourth favorite pixar movie, or fifth, around that.
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Post by Sprite on Jun 28, 2012 16:48:00 GMT -5
I saw this movie and was pretty disappointed. I'm pretty easily enthralled and captivated by movies, especially Pixar. But Brave was just very underwhelming, the trailer alone set a very high standard and expectation for me as it seemed like it would be more of an epic and adventure. So I have to agree with Shark in that the fact the whole story took place in something like a 5 mile area, with the same landmarks, same locales [the circle of stones] and yadda yadda made it seem more like a very dull slice of life movie or even a short! Hell, the whole Luna short before the actual movie entertained me more I think.
In general the movie just failed to push any boundaries or meet any extremes to make it a really entertaining watch. I mean sure, the animation was great, but nowadays just about anyone can CG up some super good animation granted they have enough money, but not everyone can write a really good script and plot. Brave I felt like was more a mundane folk story, not even reaching the mysticism or mystery that a fairy tail would have.
The villain was not that interesting and honestly I feel like they could have explored the eldest brother a lot more. But yeah, I didn't find the movie very engaging.
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