RBR: Brave

After a rare mistep for Pixar last year with the ill-conceived Cars 2, the animation king looked to right their wrong with this tale about the relationship between a Scottish queen and her rebellious daughter. While Brave has the right look of a Pixar film, there's something off about this picture. This feels like Disney made an unfair trade with Pixar by giving them one of their simplistic princess stories while keeping the genre-bending innovative story (Wreck-It Ralph) for themselves. As a result, this is a film that's hard to hate because it's technically sound and has a nice message, but is also difficult to embrace, especially for someone in my demographic. The first half of the film which deals with Merida, the film's central character, and her problems assimilating to the princess lifestyle are solid. However, the film sort of goes off the rails after an ill-worded wish (how many times are we going to see that trope used) changes Merida's mother and their relationship. It would not have been the direction I would have gone with and it just doesn't seem to provide a lot of humor and/or dramatic tension. This seems to be a movie that will appeal to only a very small segment of viewers who are old enough to not be scared by some of the more tense moments and young enough to still find the story's cliches to be fresh. While I haven't lost my confidence in Pixar, I certainly hope that they have not grown complacent into thinking this is an acceptable quality level for future films. Rating: *** 1/2

2012 Movie Preview (#24 - 19)

24. Bernie (March)

Plot: Jack Black plays Bernie, the beloved mortician in a small Texas town. MacLaine is the town's richest, meanest widow, and even she adores him. No one will say a bad word about Bernie - even after he commits a very nasty crime.

Personal opinion: Not a whole lot to go on yet with this movie, but from the sparse details this sounds like it could be a unique comedy. I think what intrigues me the most is that this will mark the first time that Jack Black has teamed up with director Richard Linklater since they worked on School of Rock. It's been a while since Black has had a film that he's been funny in and that's been successful, perhaps this is the one that finally returns him to comedic prominence.


23. Total Recall (August 3rd)

Plot: The new story involves the nation states of Euromerica and New Shanghai, with Douglas Quaid (Colin Farrell) a factory worker in the latter who begins to believe he is a spy, although he doesn�t know for which side. Vilos Cohaagen (Bryan Cranston) the leader of Euromerica who, under the cover of protecting his people, is secretly readying an invasion of New Shanghai.

Personal opinion: I just saw the original 1990 film for the first time earlier this year, so I can't say I'm a longtime fan. However, I enjoyed the film more than I expected and I thought the film posed a lot of interesting ideas. Now that technology and visual effects have dramatically improved, I'm really curious if they can improve on the story. Colin Farrell isn't the best actor, but I have to believe he'll be an upgrade over Ah-nuld.


22. Butter (March 16th)

Plot: In small-town Iowa, an adopted girl discovers her talent for butter carving and finds herself pitted against an ambitious local woman in their town's annual contest.

Personal opinion: I'm always in the mood for quirky comedies and this one seems like it will fit the bill. With an odd subject matter and a whole host of funny people comprising the cast, including Jennifer Garner, Hugh Jackman, Olivia Wilde, Ty Burrell, Rob Corddry, and Kristen Schaal this seems like a movie I could really enjoy. I doubt it will do huge business at the box office, but I'm not really concerned about that. If it used the butter carving competition wisely and not as a gimmick, this could be really good.


21. The Raven (March 9th)

Plot: When a mother and daughter are found brutally murdered in 19th century Baltimore, Detective Emmett Fields (Luke Evans) makes a startling discovery: the crime resembles a fictional murder described in gory detail in the local newspaper, part of a collection of stories penned by struggling writer and social pariah Edgar Allan Poe. But even as Poe is questioned by police, another grisly murder occurs, also inspired by a popular Poe story. Realizing a serial killer is on the loose using Poe's writings as the backdrop for his bloody rampage, Fields enlists the author's help in stopping the attacks. But when it appears someone close to Poe may become the murderer's next victim, the stakes become even higher and the inventor of the detective story calls on his own powers of deduction to try to solve the case before it's too late.

Personal opinion: Based on the trailer that was released already for this film, it seems as if they're trying to model this somewhat after the recent Sherlock Holmes movie. If they're successful at emulating that model and can create a decent mystery this has a chance at being a sleeper hit next spring. I like John Cusack and appreciate how he frequently takes unconventional roles and this one seems to be no different. I look forward to watching his interpretation of Poe and hope this movie is able to be more than campy schlock.


20. Brave (June 22nd)

Plot: Merida is a skilled archer and impetuous daughter of King Fergus (voice of Billy Connolly) and Queen Elinor (voice of Emma Thompson). Determined to carve her own path in life, Merida defies an age-old custom sacred to the uproarious lords of the land: massive Lord MacGuffin (voice of Kevin McKidd), surly Lord Macintosh (voice of Craig Ferguson) and cantankerous Lord Dingwall (voice of Robbie Coltrane). Merida's actions inadvertently unleash chaos and fury in the kingdom, and when she turns to an eccentric old Wise Woman (voice of Julie Walters) for help, she is granted an ill-fated wish. The ensuing peril forces Merida to discover the meaning of true bravery in order to undo a beastly curse before it's too late.

Personal opinion: This year, Pixar proved it was fallable with Cars 2 being a misfire. They'll quickly get a chance to reclaim their glory with this film, though. On the plus side, they are doing an original story and the trailer shows that this should be another visual wonder. This film doesn't rank higher on my list however for two primary reasons: first, while I have no problem with the film having a female protagonist it just doesn't appeal to me personally and secondly, the Scottish environment and characters doesn't feel fresh after Dreamworks' How To Train Your Dragon. Pixar still has the best track record out there for a movie studio so if anyone can make this work, it's them.


19. Haywire (January 20th)

Plot: In "Haywire," an electrifying tale of espionage and betrayal, a female covert ops specialist (Carano), who works in the deadly world of international operatives, strikes back after discovering she's been double-crossed by someone close to her in the agency. The film is produced by Gregory Jacobs ("Ocean's" Trilogy) and written by Lem Dobbs ("The Limey").

Personal opinion: A film about a female spy who kicks a lot of ass isn't exactly original (see Salt, Columbiana). But when I saw the intense trailer for this, I began to think that this film may have some things going for it that will hopefully allow it to stand out amongst those others. First of all, this movie is being directed by Steven Soderbergh and he doesn't strike me as someone who does a film simply for a paycheck. Another plus is the cast. You've got guys like Michael Douglas, Antonio Banderas, Bill Paxton, Ewan McGregor, and Michael Fassbender in this to improve the film's credentials. The wild card though is Gina Carano. Having an MMA fighter with no real acting experience as the lead could be a problem. As long as they spend more time with her beating people up and not talking though, they should be fine.