It has taken Pixar a dozen movies before the wildly successful animation company has finally employed a female protagonist.  This 12 – 1 ratio may be reflective of the industry in general, though it is probably still low; in other words, at least a dozen movies with male leads are made for every one with a female lead.  This is not at all a scientific analysis, but I think it is accurate nonetheless.  Anyway, Brave follows a Scottish princess named Merida and her attempts to be herself and find her way in a male-dominated world.

I really, really liked Brave’s first half.  The sexism (and ageism) prevalent in the story was realistically depicted, and I was longing to see how Merida would be able to overcome the traditions and customs of her clan which demanded that she stifle her emotions, behave with overwhelming propriety, marry while young and surrender her dreams.  But then she meets the witch.

As soon as the witch was introduced, I realized that the filmmakers had surrendered the fight.  They could not, or perhaps chose not, to continue with the premise they had created.  They could not devise a way in which Merida, with little or no help, turns the tables on the conventions of the era and persuades everyone to just let her be herself.  Instead, they turned her mother, the Queen, into a bear.

The second half of the story is fanciful, exciting and entertaining.  It is creative in its depictions of how the mother-daughter relationship is changed, and how each of them learns tolerance and understanding of the other.  The finale is emotional and certainly packs a dramatic punch.  But no manner of disguise or razzle-dazzle storytelling can obscure the fact that it is all nonsense.

The crowded theatre where we saw the film was indicative: bored kids were moving around and chattering throughout the second half; they weren’t buying it any more than I was.  The filmmakers, chiefly original director Brenda Chapman and the men who took over when she left the project, Mark Andrews and Steve Purcell, took the easy way out.  It was easier for them, dramatically, to use magic and the impossible to wrangle the story into something manageable.  Instead of persevering with a powerful premise, creating a sharply delineated story of a young woman determining her own fate, they decided to turn the Queen into a bear.  I was so disappointed. Brave should have been the best Pixar film since The Incredibles, but it missed its opportunity.  It’s still good, but it could have been great.  ☆ ☆ ☆.  15 July 2012.