Last Sunday, we ventured out ona our very first trip to the cinema as a family.
The fact that the movie was going to be in 3D had us a little apprehensive. I had vivid scenes of screaming toddlers, ripping the glasses off in the middle of the movie.
Anyway, arriving at the cinema, there was a huge effort made for the special advanced screening of “Brave”.
Highland dancing, Scottish bagpipes, face painting.
There was plenty to keep the twinlets occupied and interested.
Perfect.
“Brave” is the story about a feisty red-haired princess named Merida. She is strong, tough, loves archery and doesn’t ever want to ever compromise her freedom.
She totally kicks Scottish butt.
As all good head-strong girls are typically depicted in these stories, Merida is fervently protesting the prospect of marriage. Yet, this doesn’t stop her father, King Fergus and mother, Queen Elinor from calling on all four clans of the kingdom to find their daughter a suitor.
Queen Elinor is particularly forthcoming about the marital arrangements and the mother/daughter tension rises to extreme heights.
Could totally relate.
The tears and arguments cause Merida to run away into the depths of a forest and stumble into an eccentric witch.
Starting to get a little far fetched.
Asking for a spell to change her fate, Merida soon finds herself in a far more dangerous situation than what she bargained for. With her courage and bravery put to the ultimate test, she must save her family and break the witch’s curse.
Hmmmm…okay…
Unfortunately, “Brave” won’t make it to my top 10 list of favourite Disney/Pixar flicks, which is disappointing because I am a huge fan.
For starters, it was slightly age inappropriate for the twinlets (who are almost 2 and a half). There was one particular fight scene that made them squirm.
“Brave” was a lot darker and even ghoulish which made it less appealing. It fell short of that usual Disney/Pixar colourful magic and clever quick wit that we see in classics like “Finding Nemo”, “Shrek”, “Monsters Inc.” and “Toy Story”
As nice as it is to see a tale emphasizing the importance of protecting family and virtues, I couldn’t help but wonder, why couldn’t they have chosen a different historical setting? How about adapting a story from an unfamiliar culture that is in need of the rest of the world’s attention.
In an age and society where we have indigenous groups fading fast and their languages sadly slowly turning extinct, how about trying to revive and retain some of their folklore on the big screen?
Too idealistic?
Overall, it was a memorable family outing and I was truly impressed the twinlets kept their glasses on for the entire movie. (Yay for little victories!)
Now we’re all revved up and ready for the next Disney/Pixar spectacular.
I received an invitation for my family and I to attend a special advanced screening of “Brave”. All opinions expressed in this post are entirely my own.
I’m still waiting for our first family cinema outing!
You’re a brave woman taking it on with 2 littlies, but it sounds like they did really well!
My boys would never sit and watch a whole movie at that age, and as my eldest has a heap of sensory issues with his autism, we knew the dark theatre and loudness of it all would be too much for him.
I’m hoping to take them sometime soon, but maybe this movie isn’t the one to start them off.
Thanks Grace!
Tracey @ Bliss Amongst Chaos recently posted..Things I Know ~ About Me
I was lucky to have my husband come along with me, Tracey. There is possibly no way in the world I could’ve taken the twinlets to the movies on my own!
Yes, if you know your boys won’t sit through a movie, this isn’t the one to start them off with.
Maybe the upcoming “Ice Age 4” will be a better option ?
Sounds like a fun day out even if the movie wasn’t fantastic… 🙂
Ronnie xo
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It was still an awesome day! I was so proud how well behaved the boys were. They even sat still long enough for face painting! Unheard of ! 🙂
I took both kids (almost 4 and 1) to see Puss in Boots solo … bloody disaster. Just as I got a screaming baby off to sleep ( and him spilling my precious coffee), Miss A decided she needed to go to the toilet. Yah.
Won’t be doing that again in a hurry.
That said, I think I will take Miss A to see Brave. Will definitely be leaving the baby behind though.
Sounds like a great day. I was sad to miss the Melbourne one. xx
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Spilling of precious coffee is indeed a disaster!
I think Miss A will like “Brave”. Merida’s a little heroine which I’m sure many a little girl will be in awe over.
Thanks for the honest review. I hate going to kids movies that wind up scaring my munchkins.
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Just saying it how it is. No point in me having this blog if it were otherwise 😉
Thanks for the review – all they reviewed in the news here was how much money it made. As if a parent doesn’t feel like a sucker enough…
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Love your take on this. I’d heard a fair bit about the idea of a strong female princess role model before the movie and liked that. Having two girls, I buck against the idea of soft, sappy, pinky, girly princesses. But I like the idea of writing a story around another folklore, using it as an educational opportunity. We do need more of such to impact mainstream society. Maybe you could text your writing skills and write your own, eh? 🙂
Veronica @ Mixed Gems recently posted..Blogging Lessons from Blogopolis
Brave is a beautiful and moving new fairy tale that fits seamlessly into the genre; Princess Merida is a wonderfully multi-facted heroine; the film shapes itself around problems that are familiar and understandable and will be well-understood and appreciated by kids and parents alike; the supporting characters that are given the most attention are well-crafted (but too bad for those others that fall by the wayside). The visual effects are flawless, in my opinion, the best of al thel Pixar films.
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