Brave - Movie Review

Pixar did it again! Another great movie and this time the protagonist is a human and female. Yes, Merida is the defiant daughter of King Fergus and Queen Elinor. With a mop of wild red hair and a burning free spirit to match, Merida sets herself to run her own fate. Angered by her sudden betrothal and parent's search for a suitor, she embarks in making her own destiny. She defies tradition and female protocol by becoming an agile archer and ignoring proper feminine etiquette. But it is this stubborn spree that turns her kingdom upside down.

Full of laughs and Scottish wit this movie is a laugh-out-loud success. The scenery is just beautiful and the animation is fantastic! There are several times when it is a little difficult to understand the characters due to their Scottish brogue, but I think that might be the point. True to their feisty nature, there are several brawls and fights.  The movie also really takes us into their culture, including some cliches and cuisine.

The only thing that a Christian family might have issue with this movie is that there are two scenes where several rear ends are exposed. Because all the men wear kilts, maybe it was bound to happen. So yes, there are several men walking around at night and their butts are in plain sight. The other scene is of the King's red-headed, trouble-making triplet boys as they run around naked in a field, but again, it is only their rear ends that are shown and briefly. Towards the end of the movie the Queen mentions that she is "naked" under a tapestry and the King tells the on-lookers to look away. There is an older very heavy set woman that also has very low cleavage. It is not sexual in any way, she is just a rotund gal. There is a key that she hides in her bosom that the triplet boys end up getting from her and a brief close up shot of one of them diving in to get the key is shown. Also, for smaller children there is a very ugly black bear that is shown several times and one scene that includes a brutal bear fight that might be a bit frightening. There is no gore or blood though, but the bear does get hit several times with multiple arrows. True to most fairy tales, there is magic, spell casting and a witch, but nothing scary.

Overall the movie was fantastic! My daughter (4) never took her eyes of the screen. The movie has a great moral ending that we can all learn from.

Some subjects you can talk about with your children: Pride, Female and Male roles, Forgiveness, What haggis is made up of, Scottish heritage, Stubbornness, What is marriage

Rating: 8 stars out of 10
Length: 100 minutes
Rated: PG for for some scary action and rude humor