What’s most refreshing about BRAVE is what it isn’t. These fantastic actors do a wonderful job of giving these characters their distinct voices, as well as making them seem like they belong in Scotland. Billy Connolly (THE BOONDOCK SAINTS) brings his comedy skills to the voice of King Fergus, Kelly Macdonald (TRAINSPOTTING) lends her lovely Scottish voice to Merida, the always wonderful Emma Thompson (STRANGER THAN FICTION) voices Queen Elinor, Julie Waters (the HARRY POTTER franchise) is perfect as the voice of The Witch, Robbie Coltrane (the HARRY POTTER franchise) is a cut up as the voice of Lord Dingwall, Kevin McKidd (ROME) lends his commanding voice to both Lord MacGuffin and Young MacGuffin, and Craig Ferguson (THE DREW CAREY SHOW) lends his distinct Scottish voice to Lord Macintosh. While the visuals are certainly the centerpiece of the film, the voice acting is equally excellent.Īs BRAVE is set in medieval Scotland, it makes sense to hire a who’s who of British isles acting talent to voice the film’s colorful characters. Beyond the realism, the humor and caricature with which many of the clan leaders and their retinues are portrayed is done with masterful skill they are not so over exaggerated as to be distracting (with the possible exception of the enormous King Fergus), but are still tweaked enough to compliment the comic relief situations they are often used for. And while Queen Elinor and Merida still have a bit of a stylization to them, they come off as so human that you don’t even notice it. I was stunned by how real the animations for the horses and bears were, not capturing the essence of the animals, but the actual way they look and move in the real world. The animals are so life-like that the stylization of many of the other principle characters seems necessary to remind you that you are watching an animated feature and not some breakthrough new form of high definition. The art and animation of BRAVE is nothing short of spectacular. The story focuses on Merida (voiced by Kelly Macdonald BOARDWALK EMPIRE) a young Scottish princess whose wild spirit and lust for adventure butts up against her mother’s attempts to mold her into a lady and have her enter into betrothal in the traditions of the kingdom. The film is helmed by directors Brenda Chapman (THE PRINCE OF EGYPT) and Mark Andrews (ONE MAN BAND), who are both co-authors of the screenplay along with Steve Purcell (SAM AND MAX) and Irene Mecchi (THE LION KING), and it is the first fairytale to come out of Pixar. BRAVE has hit theatres and fans of Pixar are in for another visual masterpiece.
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