User blog:LexiLexi/Brave Review Roundup

The reviews are in! What did critics and viewers think of Brave and Princess Merida? It doesn't hit theaters until June 22, but when you get the chance to see it for yourself, vote at the bottom: what did you think of Brave?

Hitfix.com
Score: B+

""Brave" indicates that the best way for the company to continue to hold their place at the top of the industry is by taking a chance on new voices and new types of stories. This feels like an experiment in some ways, and one that has paid off handsomely.  At a time when the entire industry seems to be running scared, making only the safest of safe bets, "Brave" is exactly that, and Pixar should reap the rewards from this act of creative courage in the weeks ahead."

Huffington Post
"“Brave” is amazing to look at. Watching its blend of imaginatively cartoonish humans and brilliantly photo-realistic settings, it’s hard to remember that “Toy Story,” the first computer-animated feature, came out less than 20 years ago. In the intervening decades, we’ve come to take this sort of eye-popping beauty for granted."- Marshall Fine

Pixarplace.com
"After a few days of reflection, Brave is without a doubt a great film, one Pixar should certainly be proud of. But as a whole, it is no Toy Story or Monsters, Inc.. Some say that it seemed forced or that the connection with the characters just isn’t there, both arguably valid points. For us, we just didn’t leave the theater reminiscing a certain scene or quoting a specific line. Brave was an excellent film, just not Pixar’s best."

IGN
Score: 7/10

" That Brave will be a success is a foregone conclusion; one trip to any Disney store will illustrate just how many kids already know who Merida is and can’t wait to see Brave. However, there was a time not so long ago when people of all ages were amped for Pixar movies. Grownups will appreciate the artistry that went into making Brave, but they’ll likely leave yearning for the transcendent Pixar they fell in love with."

Indiewire
Score: B

"This doesn’t feel like “WALL-E,” it feels like “Tangled.” And “Tangled” (and “Brave”) are perfectly fine animated movies, with “Brave” at times reaching staggering emotional depths in the mother/daughter relationship, but it’s not enough. It’s too unfocused and cute and lacking in memorable set pieces (an enraged, enchanted bear named Mordu can’t even scare up any excitement). In the end, “Brave” stops just short of being truly magical."

Screencrush
Score: 6/10

"‘Brave’ does a nice job to paying homage to the tropes of the great Disney princesses while sprucing up their old formula with a little feminist spunk. But it also follows Merida down some strange detours, detours often undertaken at the behest of ghostly will-o’-the-wisps that pop up in the forest whenever is convenient to lead our heroine to “her destiny.” That about sums it up, doesn’t it? The character doesn’t find her destiny, it’s shown to her."

NoHo Arts District
Score:3/5 stars

"Beautifully looking and deeply rich in Celtic culture it really lacks the full spectrum of the movie by grabbing you in the beginning and holding you. It’s a mother and daughter film definitely and the best scenes are really only with them together."

Rotten Tomatoes
Score: 71%

"In addition to being fast, funny, and unpretentious, Brave is a happy antidote to all the recent films in which women triumph by besting men at their own macho games..."- David Edelstein

"A film that starts off big and promising but diminishes into a rather wee thing as it chugs along, with climactic drama that is both too conveniently wrapped up and hinges on magical elements that are somewhat confusing to boot."- Todd McCarthy

"While not one of Pixar's best, Brave has considerable merits: gorgeous setting, novel type of heroine, and reworking of sociological concepts, such as the looking glass self and tradition vs. modernity."- Emanuel Levy

"Everything about the first act of Brave suggests a story of independence and following your own path, so it is disappointing when it instead becomes a moralising tale about the importance of obeying your parents."- Thomas Caldwell

Hated It
So far, Brave has not received any overwhelmingly negative reviews. If any come up, they will be posted here.

So, what did you think of Brave? Loved it! Liked it, but it wasn't amazing. Meh. Hated it.