Brave

Brave is a nice coming-of-age story about a child that does not get along with a parent and is not growing up to be the ideal person that the parent had hoped the child would be. The child just isn't turning out to be the viking his father wants him to be . . . oh wait, wrong coming-of-age story with a strained parent-child relationship. No dragons in this movie, only bears. And it's not the father-son relationship this time, it's the mother-daughter one. So all of you ladies out there who felt robbed after How to Train Your Dragon, Pixar has finally come through for you.

Of course it's not exactly the same, but it really is. A boy who does not fit the stereotypical male role, not the tough, masculine, viking-type, but the scrawny, intellectual and curious type. A girl who isn't exactly lady-like and doesn't want to be, but would rather be out shooting arrows and living the life of a clansman. A father who does not understand his son. A mother who does not understand her daughter. A problem that can only be solved in the child's way so that the parent has to finally give notice to who he/she has been all along and what he/she has been trying to say all along. In the end (spoiler alert - oh wait, you probably already saw How to Train Your Dragon so it may not be quite the spoiler) the family is reunited with a new understanding and appreciation for each other.

And after seeing it, I'm not sure why it was called 'Brave.' Oh sure, I could make something up and draw a connection between the plot and the concept of bravery, but I feel that any such connection has to be read into the movie so much that it loses legitimacy as a title. The daughter didn't seem to have to learn to be brave, she was quite brave from the start of the movie and was definitely not a characteristic that she was lacking in. (She was probably the only one brave enough to go head to head with her mother the queen, for starters.) The mother did not seem to be lacking in bravery either (no problems taking on entire room of clansmen) and the moments when one might argue that she acted with the most bravery, I would probably respond that it wasn't from a discovery of bravery, but was an instinctive and motherly response. No other character seemed to have to learn bravery, nor would it matter, because the rest were so minor that it would not make sense to derive a title from their story. Maybe 'How to Train Your Bear' would have been more fitting . . .

I am curious if my opinions/perceptions would be different had this come out before How to Train Your Dragon, or if I were a girl. Naturally I can connect more with and understand better the character of Hiccup than the character of Merida. I would love to hear how the ladies out there respond to the show.

Of course all that being said, it's not a bad show. Predictable - yes. Done before - yes. But still cute. And the Celtic music is really nice and something different from other Disney or Pixar films. Worth seeing - probably, but not necessarily one I would go see in theaters again.

The short at the beginning (La Luna), however, is wonderful. It is simple and very endearing and heart-harming. (Probably not very masculine words for a guy to be using when describing a movie, maybe I need to go find my own dragon to train.) I must say, though, it is easily one of my favorite Pixar shorts, if not my new favorite. You just can't help but smile and feel good inside after watching it. A must-see!