Brave Reviewed
Monday, June 25, 2012 at 9:49AM 
Ah, I love the Pixar films even though I have to share the theater with a bunch of kids. I've been looking forward to this film for quite a while and when I got the green light from Rotten Tomatoes (meaning higher than 50%), I headed over to the cineplex with Mrs. Foxtrot. Check out the trailer and I'll get into it:
On a scale of Toy Story 3 to Cars 2 Brave is somewhere in the middle. This is by no means Pixar's best work, but it isn't awful either. The CG is stunning; everything looks gorgeous and shiny and extremely polished. The voice acting is quite good, and the characters really come to life on screen.
The biggest problem with Brave is way too many gingers the story. When you think about how great the story was in Finding Nemo and Toy Story 3, great expectations are assumed for anything Pixar. This story isn't bad, but it is shallow and weak. There is really only one "twist" if you want to call it that, and when it happens it is more used for humor than a hinge point. The story is pretty much "on the nose" for the whole movie, but still incredibly entertaining. I hate to stay it, but How To Train Your Dragon is a far better film in the same genre. If Brave had the same quality of story telling that How To Train Your Dragon had, it would have been a home run.
As a quick side note, Pixar always starts their movies with a short film, and La Luna preceded Brave. I dont' want to spoil it because it is so short, but it really was fantastic. I'm amazed that fun little story with literally no speaking can be so damned enjoyable.
If you are a Pixar fan boy (or have kids) this is good film worth seeing. It is very entertaining with a fair mix of humor and serious moments. The CG is top notch and you can friggin' count the whiskers on the horse's face! The story is weak for Pixar, but still better than Cars 2 :)
