Hello there~

I'm Justinfangrrl and I'm here to give a bit of my own review on the Disney Pixar film Brave. Note that this is mainly opinion, but still a review nonetheless. Since this IS going to be MY opinion, I might stir up some contraversy or slight opinion squabbles due to some of the other opinions from various users on this spot... But I could be wrong. So just sit back, relax, and maybe even have a nice, intellectual conversation with me and fellow readers on the subject. I hope you enjoy my article. :) [slight SPOILER WARNING and kind of a long article..]
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Brave takes place in the beautiful, scottish highlands and stars a cute, spunky, sassy, freedom-loving, princess who is skilled in Archery.
If you've seen Merida in Brave, you'd know that she is like our very own Jasmine in a way... She does not wish to be a princess. Or, to be more prescise, have the duties of a princess.

When we first see Merida, she clearly explains that being the princess that her mother wants her to be, isn't what she had in mind. She'd rather be out with her bow and arrow shooting a few targets in the woods, and discovering adventure... But who woudn't?

From what I've heard, many people find Meridas' "I don't like being royalty" personality is too cliche' and overdone.And some even say that they are disappointed in the film and wish that more could've come out of it. But personally, I don't know what there is to be disappointed in...

What I believe that's cliche', is the princess meeting a prince, he kills/saves her from the bad-guy, they get married and live happily ever after and the whole nine yards.... It's been done countless times in various movies, fairytales not yet publicized by films, and even video games.
There's only a handful of tales where there is a female character who finds trouble, defeats the antagonist without any, or very little help of a prince (much less a MALE) and continues to live her life happily without him.

Merida, I believe supports the very awesome "girl power" type of story. Who doesn't love a kick-ass female protagonist? Apparently, quite a few people... Also from what I've heard, Ariel fans are a little angry that Merida was red-headed,and had wished Ariel remained the only red haired-princess, and this is the only reason they dislike Merida. But she's from scotland... Y'know... The place with the highest number of natural red-heads in the world? What can ya do? I actually LOVE her hair, and quite frankly don't care that there are TWO red haired princesses now.

Really, the only thing I disliked about Brave is how Merida's completely ignoring her princessly duties and not even trying... One can dislike being royalty, but I don't think you should complain about it so VERY much. I would find it hard to complain about this hard, due to the fact that you are indeed royalty and get a whole lot more than a human could truly need. [i.e, Jasmine and her TIGER] But like I said, you can't really blame her. I do believe that her mother was trying as a mother should, and only had Merida's best interest at hand.

The thing I especially liked about this film, is the very rare, realistic mother/daughter relationship in this pixar (and Disney) production.
Most of our princesses have no mother, or an evil stepmother who wishes to have her head on a silver platter. (With the exception of Mulan, Rapunzel, Aurora and Tiana, in which case they have very loving mothers.)
As I was watching this, this mother/daughter relationship did get me thinking; alot actually. Queen Elinor merely wanted nothing more than to raise a polite, traditional, lady-like scottish princess... Which really is not Merida's personality or wishes at ALL. If she does become queen, (which she most likely will) she wants to do it HER way. And naturally, Elinor is not amused. So, we have a problem.
I love how these two get closer to each other, and learn that compromise can do alot. But It really taught me the importance of being a big sister, and daughter and responsible person as a whole.

But it also showed me that you should really try to appreciate the things your parents/guardians do for you, and at least try to view things THEIR way... One big lesson is that you should be kind, appreciative, and respectful to people you care about and everyone... Because you don't know what the last thing you'll be saying to them.

Considering the various negative comments I've been hearing, I tend to disagree with most of them. ("too many disney cliches", "merida's personality is flat", "unoriginal", etc) "Disappointed" is not the word I'd use for this movie at ALL. I don't care much for the fact that it wasn't as "funny" as some people thought it should've been; it taught me (and Brave fans) quite a few lessons in just two short hours. And I say, if a film does such a thing, then Bravo, Brave... Bravo...

Overall, I found Brave fun, adventurous, highly-relatable on many levels, and personally educational in at least one way. After seeing Brave, I really DO hope Merida becomes an official Disney Princess. It might be unlikely to some, but hey, a girl can hope.