BRAVE

If you’ve seen any of the trailers for the new Disney Pixar animation ‘Brave’, you’re not mistaken in thinking that they don’t highlight the actual plot of the film, choosing to focus more of the film’s Scottish element and its heroine Merida - the reason being that um, the story isn’t very good. ‘Brave’s’ very safe and very unoriginal plot is more Disney and less Pixar - with princesses, mighty beasts and magic having never been a part of the Pixar world, choosing the imagination over fantasy any day.

Merida may be a Princess but is a tomboy at heart, relishing her freedom and days off from her lessons where she can ride freely through the countryside on her horse Angus and practice her archery. But Merida has a fast-approaching duty - a competition between the firstborns of the three clans of the empire for her hand in marriage, something Merida deems unfair and isn’t ready for, much to her mother’s chagrin. One day out in the forest, Merida spots the will ‘o the wisps - magical blue lights that show the way to your destiny. Following the wisps, Merida encounters a witch who grants her an ill-fated spell that turns her mother into a bear. Merida and her mother must work together to repair their relationship in order to reverse the spell before it becomes permanent.