Then the film’s quartet of writers, including co-directors Mark Andrews and Brenda Chapman (both first-timers), begin taking one rote turn after another, beginning with that old standby, the arranged marriage. The humor is sharp, and in the case of a kilted Scot flashing a fellow tribal leader, cheeky. You thoroughly enjoy spending time with her early on, watching her scale mountains and race atop her trusted steed during respites from getting to know her gregarious, bear-hunting dad, King Fergus (voice of Billy Connolly), her blanketing mother, the persnickety Queen Elinor ( Emma Thompson), and her mischievous triplet brothers, who also are adorned with Day-Glo ginger manes. And you couldn’t ask for a better role model than Merida (voice of Kelly Macdonald), the young Scottish princess with the long flaming-red hair and a proficiency in archery that makes Katniss from “The Huger Games” look like an amateur. With its array of buffoonish adult characters, impish children and nearly non-stop action, “Brave” is most assuredly kid-friendly. Kids, however, will love every second of it, particularly if they’ve never seen a Disney princess movie before.
But as the movie grinds on, adults may catch their minds beginning to wander. In fact, you’ll be so busy marveling at the technology behind the gorgeous Scottish Highland backgrounds and the finely detailed features on the bears, horses and people in front of it, that you might not notice the pedestrian nature of the story. It’s by far “Brave’s” most bankable asset, saving the movie from a fate worse than “Cars 2.” But the animation is pure state of the art. Even the young girl’s unruly mane is the color of rust. And the plot – involving a wicked witch, an endangered parent and a race to reverse a spell – is decidedly oxidized. It’s slavishly old-fashioned right down to making the heroine a teenage princess like in so many Disney movies before. If you dare call yourself “Brave,” you’d better be willing to take some risks, which the latest entry from Disney’s Pixar Studio regrettably isn’t willing to do.
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