Brave Review

Whew! Just in time for Mother’s Day! (NOT) This month I decided to review the heartwarming Pixar classic Brave. This 2012 mother-daughter film kind of gets overshadowed by a certain Ice queen and her sister who took the world by storm the next year in 2013 but we won’t speak of that today. 

Anyways, again we are introduced to a world in which magical beings and spells exist, unbeknownst to many. First though, we meet Merida, a “wee” princess with a passion for archery. We open on the young princess’s birthday (sensing a theme here, Pixar), when her “da” surprises Merida, with a bow of her very own, much to the chagrin of the queen. Here we see some of the differences between her mother and father, an odd pairing of serious and not-so-serious. Elinor, the queen conducts herself with measure and restraint, as she believes a royal should while King Fergus, a beaming burly father is more lighthearted and insists that even a princess should know how to defend herself. 

When one stray arrow leads Merida into the woods, she happens upon a trail of will-o’-the-wisps, small glowing spirits apparently rumored to lead to one’s destiny, fate being an important motif in the movie. After being called back by her parents, Merida shares this experience with her mother who surprisingly feeds into the idea unlike the king who views the subject with amusement. The scene is then interrupted by the movie’s first surprise bear attack. Mor’du, a monstrous black bear (black in color not species) charges into the clearing to put an end to the family’s celebration. The queen quickly sweeps up Merida and rides to safety, leaving Fergus and his men to battle the aggressive beast. 

The scene changes and 10 years later, Merida’s frank commentary brings us up to speed on her father's legendary fight with Mor'du, which leaves him with a wooden leg and an even more vehement intensity in fighting. We learn the family has extended itself by three mischievous triplet boys, “wee devils” Merida calls them. Envious of their propensity for getting away with things, Merida bemoans the fact that she, as the princess, is constantly constrained by her overwhelming responsibilities and obligations. Cue the monotonous montage of princess lessons. Merida’s lessons, taught by her mother, function to prohibit the things a princess “does net” do (i.e. doodling, chortling, stuffing down food), all of which seem to come naturally to Merida. “Above all, a princess strives for perfection”, is actually one of Queen Elinor’s lines. Yikes. 

But Merida’s life isn’t all princess lessons. She describes her occasional off-day, as a day when she can change her fate. Royal stallion, Angus, and singer Julie Fowlis’s “Touch The Sky” carry Merida and the viewer through a day of firing arrows, scaling cliffs, and enjoying her freedom. 

Later when Merida returns home it’s business as usual at the dinner table as Fergus bores the young princes, Harris, Hubert, and Hamish with his Mor'du story and Queen Elinor takes in the mail, only looking up long enough to chide Merida for placing her “weapon” on the table, the bow being a clear point of contention between her desire for her daughter to be a traditional princess and Fergus’s insistence on fighting culture. Elinor then reads that the other clans have accepted their proposal and after an attempt from Fergus, explains to Merida that upon her birthday, clans will offer up suitors to compete in the highland games for her hand in marriage. When Merida blows up at the news, the queen implores her to reconsider, reminding her of a fated prince who broke off from his brethren, only to have the whole kingdom topple as a result. After reaching no avail, both Elinor and Merida retreat and contest with frustration about the other’s unwillingness to listen. 

The day of their arrival, the audience is introduced to a whole cast of hilariously outlandish characters and the over competitive, slightly petty nature of the relationships between clans Dunbroch, Dingwall, MacGuffin, and MacIntosh as clan leaders attempt to engage and aggravate each other at every turn. Things look dismal to Merida until she hears the proclaimed rule that every clan leader’s firstborn may compete in the game that she herself will choose. She over eagerly chooses archery and in a stunning turn, competes for her own hand in marriage out showing all of the competitor’s attempts. Later, behind closed doors, conflict ensues between mother and daughter when Merida angrily tells Elinor, “I’d rather die than be like you!”, tearing a rift between the two’s likeliness in the tapestry the queen has been sewing. Elinor then loses her temper and throws Merida’s bow in the fireplace, an unforgivable act which drives Merida out in tears. 

Frustrated and upset, Merida rides into the woods on Angus before the unnerved horse throws her off into a circle of large runed megaliths. As she takes in the scenery, Merida again sees a wisp beckoning her further into the forest and this time she follows. When the trail leads her to a presumed wood carver’s cottage, Merida is quick to realize that the woodcarver doubles as a witch and bargains for a spell to change her mum. After a bit of convincing, the witch conjures up a small cake, remarking that Merida is the second to ask for this spell; the other was a prince, before vanishing along with her carvings and cottage. 

Back at the castle, the clans are in turmoil as they argue over the suitor dispute. Merida returns to find her mother and offers her the cake as a peace offering. Rather than changing her mind, however, the cake has a nauseating effect and Elinor becomes ill before falling to the floor of her chambers and reappearing into view as a large, black bear! Merida is shocked and curses the witch for giving her a “gammy spell”. Elinor, while a bear, is still visibly herself and attempts to cloth herself in curtains and affix her royal crown on her furry head. Her delirious antics insight a large search of the castle headed by King Fergus who believes the sounds to be Mor'du. With the help of her brothers, Merida manages to sneak her mother out to the forest, leaving the three boys alone in the kitchen with the half eaten cake. After some disagreement, the Merida and Elinor resign themselves to following the trail of wisps that return to the witch’s cottage, only to find it deserted apart from some cryptic instructions in a cauldron to “mend the bond torn by pride” in order to reverse the spell, which will become permanent when the sun sets on the third day. Discouraged and wet from rain, Merida builds shelter for herself and her mother. Not speaking, the two drift off into a cold, lonely sleep in which Merida dreams of being a child comforted by Elinor during a storm. Back at the castle, no one has noticed the queen or Merida’s absence.  

After a well meant attempt at a civil breakfast, Merida leads Elinor to a stream where she catches and cooks for her a fish. Several more requests lead to the insistence that her mother catch her own fish and the queen reluctantly sets down her crown to partake. While it doesn’t come at all natural to Elinor, her daughter’s lighthearted encouragement and her own hunger eventually win out to catch fish after fish. The pair ends up in a water war, splashing each other, and playing in a way that starkly contrasts their recently tense relationship. In the midst of this bonding time, complimented by Fowlis’s bright vocals in “Into the Open Air”, Merida suddenly notices a change in Elinor’s behavior and sees that her mother has become a bear on the inside, shown in her now feral, black eyes. This effect quickly fades as the queen’s expressive eyes reappear but Merida realizes that the effects of the spell are becoming permanent. The two follow another trail of wisps which leads them to the ruins of the castle where Merida discovers the fate of the fabled prince who used the same spell to receive the strength of ten men and carve out his own destiny by taking over the land on his own. He is revealed to be the same bear that attacked them years ago, Mor'du. Narrowly escaping from him in his lair, Merida and Elinor come to realize they must return to the castle to “mend the bond” in the queen’s tapestry to break the spell. 

Upon arriving, they find the clans on the verge of war and, borrowing a move from her mother, Merida walks calmly between them before giving in to her frustration and shouting for silence. She then begins to tell them that she has resigned to honor the promise of betrothal but is stopped when Elinor, hiding in the shadows, motions for her to break the tradition and write her own story. The clan leaders’ sons wholeheartedly agree, much to the surprise of the clan leaders who then break out in celebration. As Merida is attempting to stitch the tapestry, Fergus goes to tell the queen that their suitor problem is solved. When he finds the queen’s dress and claw marks, he grievously presumes that his wife has been killed by Mor'du. Meanwhile, in the tapestry room, Merida scrambles to find the sewing materials and then to quiet her mother who has become feral again. Too late, Fergus hears the noise and bursts in to save Merida from what he believes is the monster that killed Elinor. Returning to her body once more, the queen sees herself attacking Merida and Fergus and retreats to the woods, hotly pursued by the vengeful king and the clans. Locked in her room, Merida receives help from three strikingly familiar bear cubs and escapes. With the boys, she races out on Angus to stop the mob from hurting her mother while hastily sewing up the tapestry. In the circle of megaliths, Elinor finds herself trapped and overpowered by the force of the clans. As King Fergus prepares to make the final blow, Merida arrives and draws a sword against her father. Before she can convince him that the bear is his wife, Mor'du appears, locked in combat, and lunges at Merida. Seeing this, Elinor breaks through her restraints and engages the larger, vicious bear. With just seconds till sunset, the bear queen knocks down one of the megaliths onto Mor'du and we see his spirit float off as a wisp. Merida throws the tapestry over her mother, just as the sun disappears, and so do the queen’s eyes. She cries and holds her, understanding that she has lost Elinor forever. But the fates are in her favor and the mended bond breaks the spell, turning the queen human again under the astonished eyes of the clans. The family reunites in happiness as the three cubs revert back to the unabashedly nude triplets. From here, Merida speculates on fate as something that lies within all of us and ends with the memorable remark that “You just have to be brave enough to see it.” 

While this movie touches on personal expression and freedom, it is really about the restrictions that we ourselves create within our relationships. The moral is to be brave to overcome such obstacles, as Merida and Elinor both did in humbling themselves to understand the other’s point of view, and recognize the love that’s more important to you. 

Onward Review

Whether within the worlds of toys, automobiles, or even our emotions themselves, Disney’s Pixar Animation Studios is constantly cooking up more ways to transport and invoke strong feelings in their audiences through relatable situations and personal journeys of growth. Most recently, Pixar has extended its universe into that of magic and lore in its newest movie Onward. The 2020 film stars Chris Pratt alongside Tom Holland as diametrically opposed brothers sent out on a quest to find a phoenix gem in order to complete an ancient spell which allows them 24 hours with their deceased father. Although the premise suggests a more downbeat atmosphere, the humorous and heartfelt moments throughout bring light to a rather serious topic of grieving and living after the loss of a loved one. 

The film takes place in a world where magic has been displaced by technology and industry, perhaps mirroring our own attachment to the digital sphere. Unlike our world, however, this one is inhabited by the beings of medieval myth, and creatures like mermaids, centaurs, and goblins  are shown now living domestic, mundane lives, detached from their magical ways and the spirit of adventure that had accompanied them. This has been the state of things for several centuries leading up to present day. 

We then open on main characters, Ian and Barley Lightfoot, two teenage elves living in suburban Mushroomton with their mother, Laurel. It is Ian’s birthday and as the day goes on, he is established as a typical teen lacking the confidence to assert himself in school and on the road as he attempts to pass a driving test. Using intel from others, Ian makes an organized effort via list-making to be more like his dad, who he never had the chance to meet. Shown as a rather eccentric and unpolished addition to the family, Barley is the antithesis of Ian, bold, outgoing, and inexplicably obsessed with ancient times and a game called Quests of Yore that emulates several real life immersive roleplaying games. It is revealed through dialogue that Ian and Barley’s dad, Wilden Lightfoot, got sick and died when Barley was very young and before Ian had been born. 

   Sensing Ian’s internal grief after a day of failed confidence building, Laurel unveils to the boys a present from their father which turns out to be a magical wizard's staff and incitement gem along with the instructions for a visiting spell. After numerous tries from Barley to summon the spell and ensuing disappointment in both boys, Laurel leaves to pick up Ian’s birthday cake. Rather halfheartedly, Ian begins to read the incantation aloud, invoking the spell and his father Wilden Lightfoot before losing control of the magic and breaking the phoenix gem. It is then revealed that Ian’s spell did work partially conjuring only the lower half of their father. Although Wilden can’t hear the boys, Barley finds a way of communication via “playing drums” on his feet as he did when he was a small child. It is then decided that they undertake a quest to find another phoenix gem to cast the spell again and retrieve the rest of their father before their 24 hours are up. 

Throughout their journey, several more characters are introduced and established including Laurel’s boyfriend, practical police officer Colt Bronco, a mighty manticore, and a whole motorcycle brigade of fiesty sprites. We also delve further into the lives and minds of our two protagonists as Ian grapples with his desired relationship with his dad as well as his magical abilities which are honed with encouragement from Barley and instructions from his Quests of Yore guidebook, which we learn is so based on reality that even the spells are accurate. Along the way, the audience witnesses both clash and affection between the two brothers which comes to a climax when, distressed and frustrated with his brother and their seemingly counterproductive progress in the quest, Ian explodes at Barley calling him a screw-up and accusing him of destroying his one chance to get “the thing he never had”. He leaves Barley to spend the last few hours of the spell with partial Wilden.

 Later, when Ian reviews the list he made of everything he wanted to do with his father that day, things like playing catch and having a heart-to-heart, he realizes the familiarity of them. They are familiar to him because they’re all things he had done with Barley on their quest and throughout his life. It suddenly dawns on him that Barley, quirky and goofy as he is, has always been there for him to encourage and believe in him the same way that a father does. Meanwhile, at the top of an ancient fountain that's about to be demolished, Barley finds the phoenix gem needed to complete the spell. The final battle scene comes when Barley and Ian are confronted by the dragon-like curse that accompanies the gem. The boys are aided by Laurel and the Manticore who team up to produce the weapon needed to slay the curse. At a critical point in the battle, Ian steps up to defend himself and his brother with magic, leaving Barley to say goodbye to their father in the final moments before the sun has set and the spell ends. His decision to give up this chance to see Wilden is indicative of his appreciation for his brother and he even tells him, “ I never had a dad, but I always had you.”

Onward is relatable and funny, giving us complex, realistic characters learning and achieving greatness in their roles as parents, step-parents, and siblings. The animation is sound and the elements are enchanting. Unassumed by the masses, this movie is a gem that reveals hidden relationships within family and reminds us that the love given to us by anyone is enough to fill a void when traditional figures are absent.