Visually stunning

Disney princesses have an annoying tendency to sing against beautiful backdrops and show off to the rest of us normal folk, reminding us of what we don’t have.

However, in Brave, Disney Pixar throws the clichés and gimmicks out of the window to give us a rousing good time.

As Disney Pixar’s 13th film, it is probably one of the most mature of its collection. However, it still doesn’t reach the standards of Up or even Toy Story 3.

Brave tells the story of Merida, who is voiced by the feisty Macdonald. Merida is a red-headed Scottish princess who happens to be more into bows and arrows than boys.

Her mother, Elinor (Thompson) tries to raise her to be the ultimate queen but Merida wants nothing more than to ride horseback through the woods and perfect her archery.

However, all that changes when she is told she has to marry the first-born son of any of the chiefs from the nearby towns. When she rebels, she ends up in a heated argument with her mother, which leads her to flee into the woods and stumble upon a cottage.

Realising that a witch lives there, she asks for one spell: to turn her loving mother into someone else in order to change her fate. All Merida has to do, is to make sure her mother eats a piece of cake given to her by the witch, a la Snow White.

And, it works! Her mother transforms into a bear … yes, a bear! She retains her brain and heart, but cannot speak – cue slapstick comedy.

Ok, so there’s nothing really new about Brave and although it is the first film from Disney Pixar to be set in the past, no risks were taken. But it was still one of the most visually spectacular animated films that has been released this year, as well as providing vocal talent that was a joy to listen to.

Iconic Scottish comedian Billy Connolly lends his voice to play Fergus, Merida’s father. His wit and charm provided the funniest scenes throughout the film and he definitely showcased the contrast between the difficult mother and the comforting father.

The beauty of the forests, rocky mountaintops and the colourful pallete of paint definitely swayed my vote. The scenery was eye-popping and more realistic than many in its genre.

While Brave had plenty of action and comedy, the film’s storyline was unfortunately too predictable and showed little inventiveness. Not only did they add obvious Scottish jokes about haggis and the ‘free’ life of the Scotsman underneath the kilt, they also went overboard with the ‘girl power’ message.

The movie started with an eventful and visually stunning prologue but it all went slowly downhill from there and the excitement and shock factor soon disappeared.

However, Brave still proved to showcase a sinister core, and with the terrifying situations the characters find themselves in, it felt real and heart-warming (compared to talking toys and cars).

Even though the film had its flaws, it still brought a huge smile to my face. At last, a role model who isn’t chasing after prince charming ... just my kind of girl!

*Showing in Cineco, Seef I, Seef II, Saar Cineplex, Al Jazeera Cineplex