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AARON HEDGES

Contributing Columnist

Pixar Animation Studios continues to set the animation standards high with their recent release of “Brave.” While they stumbled with their prior effort in “Cars 2,” Pixar redeems itself nicely with this remarkable film.

“Brave” is a story that we know little about due to the subtle nature of its advertising. I am glad this was the case as I was pleasantly surprised by not only its story but its overall top-notch quality as well!

In brief, “Brave” is a story about a headstrong Scottish princess named Merida who wishes to decide her own fate when it comes to many things – particularly marriage. In an effort to write her own story (rather than having her parents write it for her), she agrees to a deal with a strange and reclusive witch who resides in the mysterious forest. However, she doesn’t quite understand the enormity of what she asks for until it’s nearly too late.

Once Merida realizes that she’s made some wrong choices, she quickly rushes to fix the problems her pride had created. This solution can only come through the mending of an important, relational bond with her mother. In doing this, she not only realizes how much her mother loves her, but how much she loves her mother as well.

“Brave” boasts some of the best animation we’ve seen to date. The beautiful landscapes of medieval Scotland are breathtaking. In fact, the animation was so precise that I nearly forgot I was watching a Pixar film. The colors were vivid and the character designs were some of the best we’ve seen yet from this studio.

At the end of the day, “Brave” may not necessarily be the best Pixar film to date, but it’s certainly better than some. I would highly recommend this to any family looking for a night out at the theater or any Pixar fan in general. Nonetheless, I will say that there are two particular scenes that were harmless enough, but some may find offensive if they’re sensitive to bare rear-ends. One such scene briefly showed the result of a group of Scottish men using their kilts as a rope to escape a tower and the other scene was of three young baby boys goofing around.

Aside from that, “Brave” was a great time at the theater and I’m grateful to have seen it. I will likely be adding this to my personal library once it is released to home video.

Rating: 8/10

Aaron Hedges is the Pastor of Student Ministries at Temple Baptist Church. You can contact him at aaronhedges@roadrunner.com, by visiting www.lightbrigadeyouth.org or by following him on Twitter @fieryshrub.