Não é o pai da Merida contra a mãe da Merida?

“Hey folks, Harry here… TheGoonie has had a very rare and amazing experience recently… He’s seen PIXAR’s BRAVE. Now, when I say this is an early screening, I’m not kidding… BRAVE won’t be hitting theatres until JUNE 22nd– unless Pixar decides to make a go of the film at Cannes next year. Less than 20% of the film has finished animation, TheGoonie does a very good job of letting us know up front the condition of the print. You should also know that PIXAR is the best studio in the world for using the Test Screening process to decode the problems with their early print of films. They nip and tuck and rework last acts and twist and tern– and then the final product seems effortlessly genius. This review is part of that process. There are very few spoilers in the below. You get a loose sense of thing, but TheGoonie gave a lit of thought to the problems that currently exist in this particular version of the film. Everything seems easily work-out-able. This is a very different film for PIXAR– and I hope they redefine the “animated PRINCESS” film– and I have to say– I like the idea of the Mom (?) being a heroic figure. We don’t have a lot of those in Disney’s animated history.
First and foremost I need to say that this was a very early test screening. Only about 15-20% of the animation was finished. About 40% was just storyboards. The rest were animatics, unfinished animation, and finished animation without lighting. The release date is a ways off, and I’m sure they’re planning to make many changes, regardless of what sort of scores they get back from these screenings. But I thought people might be interested to know what the film is like in its current state.
Brave is Pixar’s first journey into the fairy tale format that makes up most of Disney’s library. However, this is where the problems begin. We’re quickly introduced to Merida, a young rebellious princess who lives for those moments when she doesn’t have to learn proper princess etiquette from her mother, and instead roam the Scottish countryside and practice her archery. This trope of the rebellious princess, done so many times before, feels stale here. It hits every beat it needs to and never in a new or refreshing way. It just felt like scenes from The Little Mermaid, Mulan, Aladdin, or The Princess Diaries blended together and sprinkled over a Scottish setting.
We quickly follow this stereotype by another. Merida soon learns that she is to be married to one of the suitors from the realm’s three other clans. Oh, how rebellious princesses hate those arranged marriages! And Merida is no different. Again, I was able to predict nearly every coming beat, from the introduction of the less-than-stellar suitors, Merida’s flawed plan to disrupt tradition, her and her mother’s argument, where they both do and say things they quickly regret.
Now the second big problem with the movie is the structure of the plot. Everything I’ve described thus far occurs in the first 30-40 minutes. And, like I was at the time, you may be thinking the movie is about these suitors trying to win Merida’s hand, and her doing everything she can to prove that she’s her own person and should be allowed to live her own life. Not so much. About halfway through the movie, we finally reach the second act where we learn that the plot actually hinges on yet another fairy tale trope, the hasty magical wish with disastrous consequences. I won’t say exactly what befalls our fair Scottish kingdom, but suffice it to say that Merida and her mother have to flee the castle and are forced to deal with each other on new ground, in a bizarre new situation.
This is where the heart of the story lies, and the potential for the movie to be great. Merida and her mother have a few wonderful moments in the wilds of Scotland, their relationship and understanding of each other dealt with in Pixar’s subtle, moving style. But this section feels so rushed due to the overlong first act, and hampered by the baggage of the aforementioned clichés, that it never has a chance to fully develop. Not to mention that we’re then introduced to yet more sub plots that I was never really sure what the story was supposed to be about. When the resolutions come, they feel rushed and forced, plus the consequences of Merida’s actions are never really addressed.
And this brings us to the third problem. The film is called Brave. The poster shows a young girl with a bow, walking into some mysterious setting. The film is obviously about some adventure, or journey right? The whole setup in the beginning about Merida’s love and skill of archery must have some pay off! But not so. There’s no real journey or adventure. Just Merida and her mother wandering around, hiding in the woods. Merida never does anything especially “brave.” She helps her mom in the woods out of a sense of guilt for having caused the problems in the first place. I suppose she puts herself in harm’s way a couple times near the climax, but it feels more that it’s out of desperation, not so much any noble or honorable sacrifice. And though she fires a few arrows in the course of the movie, nothing ever hinges on her archery skill. It’s her mother who gets things done in the end. In fact it’s her mother who has the greatest character arc and does anything that can be considered especially “brave.” So maybe that’s the fourth issue I have with the film, confusion over the protagonist.
Now not all is lost! I do want to mention what I liked. The parts of the film that were fully finished were stunningly gorgeous. The Scottish culture and countryside are on full display from bright and jovial to dark and mysterious. Just look at the poster and know that every frame of this movie is likely to look as beautiful. Pixar’s humor is also intact with a slew of fun and interesting characters filling in the supporting slots. Merida’s father and younger brothers especially are a joy to watch whenever they’re on the screen. The voice acting, by and large, is top notch as to be expected (there was one significant exception, but I have to believe that it was a temp track). And again, there is the makings of a great mother/daughter story here.
Remember, this was a test screening, meant to find out what audiences liked and disliked about the film. They’re planning to make changes, to fine tune it, and make it better. That’s the filmmaking process. Hopefully many other people felt the same way I did, and said so on their score cards. Shortening the first act, enhancing the second, and finding a fresh approach to such well-traveled fairy tale tropes could make this yet another great Pixar film. But it does worry me that a company who is usually so focused on story, began production with one that was so inherently flawed.“

A parte em que ele fala da confusão do protagonismo entre a mãe e a Merida deixou-me preocupada.... E ainda por cima o filme chama-se Brave e tem falta de "bravura"? Mau...