Sunday Matinee

Brave
★★★

This will not be a helpful review.

Almost everything I want to say in a review of Brave I can’t say, because I’ll give away a key element of the plot. Much of this review will only make sense after you’ve seen the film.

I thank the previews for only giving us the set up: Merida has been groomed by her mother since birth to be a princess. Her mother is about to set up Merida into an arranged marriage. This creates friction within the family, and because Merida is a princess, this has political ramifications, too.

But one day, Merida has a chance to change her fate.

I realized watching Brave one reason why Pixar’s movies have continued to lead the pack in the animated movie game. It’s not the eye candy, which Brave has in abundance (and in 3-D abundance!). A lot has been written about making Merida’s hair as lively as it looks (and it is a marvel). But other animation studios provide us with eye candy. And other animation studios match Pixar for humor.

But perhaps nobody matches what Pixar does without words. We saw this in Wall•E, and we see this again in Brave, although it’s more subtle here.

Watch what characters in Brave do when they’re not talking. There’s a lot of “not talking” here. This is a film about family members not listening to each other, after all. Pixar’s directors and animators may be without peer at conveying things with expressions and body language. Their ability to that makes this movie work.

And maybe I do have one helpful thing to say in this review. Do not leave when the credits roll; stay to the bitter end!

This movie pulls off the trick of pleasing the eyes and the belly… while almost completely bypassing the brain.

The Madagascar movies have always weak plots and not the greatest characters. And this one… doesn’t bear close examination. There are canyon sized gaps in the logic. You’ll find a lot of the regular characters don’t have much to do, or have a strong story arc. 

But I’m here to argue that this is the best of the Madagascar movies.

For one, the crew has a memorable new adversary, who is one half Cruella DeVille and one half Terminator T-1000: Captain DuBois (voice of Frances McDormand). She’s introduced in a fantastic opening set piece, a chase scene that makes it clear that for the first time, our regulars face a palpable threat.

But DuBois’s obsession helps ramp up some completely unhinged humour. This film struck me as the funniest of the three. (I love those penguins.)

This one has more spectacle than the first two movies. There’s a circus set piece, set in bright fluorescent colours and that pops off the screen, thanks to some excellent 3-D work. (Though the “in your face” effects are a little overused.)

And the biggest surprise is that this one actually has got more heart. There is some great stuff here about going home that is surprisingly affecting.

And incidentally, I appreciate it tremendously that the previews did not give too much away about this movie.

After years of misfired sequels and cross-overs, this prequel to Alien is the most interesting take on the universe in years. The return of original director Ridley Scott may have accidentally highlighted some of the film’s shortcomings, though.

After starting with a truly intriguing opening, the film settles into a very familiar groove. It feels like the original Alien. You’d think would be good - indeed, it’s one of the reasons you’d want Ridley Scott back. But it’s more than just the look and feel. Plot beats from Alien get reused: a small crew, alone on alien planet, start getting picked off one by one. Fortunately, the film last third veers to do something different than Alien - but even some of those elements feel like they came from Scott’s other SF opus, Blade Runner.

Prometheus doesn’t repeat Alien or Blade Runner - but it does rhyme.

There are a few other weak points in the script. Certain character actions seem unmotivated, and exist purely to advance the plot (though none are as bad as going back for the ship’s cat). Compounding the familiarity issue, the archaeological elements are reminiscent of Alien vs. Predator. And don’t get me started on scientific plausibility.

While I was hoping for more originality, this film is has much to offer. There are truly intense and scary scenes. The performances are strong. Noomi Rapace is a solid lead. Michael Fassbender makes a suitable robot, pitching his performance right into uncanney valley. My favourite, though, was Charlize Theron’s surprising turn as the striking Ms. Vickers.

And this film looks fabulous in 3-D. The scenes consistently have real depth throughout. I think it’s one of the better looking live action 3-D films in a while.

Ultimately, Prometheus ends on just the right note. After a fairly grim set of events, the resolution feels like something that bears allegiance more to classic, optimistic science fiction than horror. Just like the myth it takes its name from, the finale is about yearning for more.

What’s missing from this movie?

Snow White & The Huntsman has visual spectacle, which was obvious in the preview. It looks great on the big screen.

It has a good cast, which was not so obvious from the previews. Kristen Bell and Chris Hemsworth are very watchable as the two leads of the title. Charlize Theron, with the help of some superb make-up and opulent costumes, is usually convincing as the evil queen Ravena.

What’s missing?

Love.

When you think about fairy tales as told the last few decades, one of the important elements is true love’s kiss. But this film is much more interested in power plays and storming the castle than relationships. I don’t think the word “love” is uttered once by any character in this movie.

The soft writing extends to other points in the story, too. Some things simply happen for no reason besides plot convenience, like a horse standing around in an improbable location just for a character to make good an escape.

When I saw the previews for this film, I thought, “This will either be great or it will be wretched, no in-between.” Well… It certainly isn’t wretched, I’ll give it that. But it’s too bad that the script doesn’t get as much attention as the visuals.