Simon Dillon reviews the Scottish medieval fairy tale

A year ago the unthinkable happened. After an unbroken, decade long run of masterpieces, Pixar finally came unstuck with the singularly underwhelming Cars 2. As a result, I approached Brave with a certain degree of trepidation, hoping last year's misfire was nothing more than a blip. Whilst Brave is not quite the return to form I hoped for, it is a huge, huge improvement on Cars 2 and emerges as a solidly satisfying fairy tale, albeit a slightly predictable one.

How much the plot changed in the course of the film's troubled production history is unclear (writer/director Brenda Chapman was replaced by Mark Andrews). It concerns Scottish medieval princess Merida - a free spirited lass who is none too impressed by her mother's insistence that she marry one of the suitors from the respective clans they rule (the Dingwalls, the Macintoshes and - hilariously for movie fans - the MacGuffins). Since said suitors are such prize nitwits (indeed, all the men in this film behave like they're in an Asterix book), Merida takes matters into her own hands to prevent the marriage, thus angering her mother who fears war will result if she doesn't marry one of them. All of this builds to Merida's encounter with will-o'-the-wisps and a Macbeth-esque witch who offers her a spell to change her fate. Needless to say, events go pear-shaped after that.

Vocal performances are all good and include Billy Connolly, Robbie Coltraine, Julie Walters and - best of all - Emma Thompson and Kelly MacDonald as Merida and her mother respectively. Patrick Doyle contributes a suitably Celtic hued music score, and needless to say the animation is staggering. Whether it's flickering torches, lightning illuminating dark forests, tartan textures or ripples on the surface of a loch, the attention to detail yet again leaves one reaching uselessly for inadequate superlatives.

There are flaws. Some of the slapstick is overdone (even for this kind of film), and there are uneven shifts in tone. The climax doesn't contain enough crisis and the film lacks the applicability of Pixar's best work. Some have also criticised this because it doesn't feature a Prince Charming, but frankly that is ridiculous. This is a story focussing on mother/daughter relationships and doesn't need a love interest to clutter the narrative.

Morally Brave is somewhat unclear, though arguably no more so than Disney's The Little Mermaid in its message encouraging children to both follow their own path and honour their parents wishes. My eight-year-old reiterated the more obvious message on the way out of the cinema: don't follow those weird blue things into the woods, and don't talk to witches.

All things considered, Brave is a good rather than great Pixar film. But it's still a massive step up from Cars 2 and an enjoyable night out for all the family. One more thing: if you do see it, don't arrive late and miss the short film La Luna beforehand. It's a surreal, whimsical gem.