Brave certainly took an unexpected turn. It is, essentially, a film about a mother/daughter relationship. It almost certainly changed story direction during pre-production, and that included the initial director stepping down/being fired.

I’m not sure the film needed to be epic as such, it’s just that it clearly seemed…uncertain? Hesitant? Not sure of the word I’m after there.

I was thinking today – the epic scale of storytelling in HTTYD2 was what I fully expected from Pixar/Disney’s Brave.

I recall writing in the comments section of your review of Brave that I was disappointed with how that turned out.

It’s a pity, I think they squandered an opportunity with a character like Merida who could’ve been on par with a character like Hiccup. Hiccup was intelligent and resourceful in both of his films as he struggled with less self-serving or self-inflicted obstacles.

I may agree with you on that, and yes it was far from a letdown. If you’re ever going to go epic on a film, this is the way to do it.

Epic is certainly the word. As i mentioned above, my only reservations stem from the fact that there’s SO MUCH epic, and it looses the quieter moments that worked so well in the first film. It was far from a letdown, however…

Cinematography with Roger Deakins was beyond excellent. I don’t know if this, being an animation, allowed him to demand ‘perfect’ lighting setups without being restrained by daylight and night hours, weather notwithstanding, but the cinematography in this film was just beautiful.

The animation in the first film was already excellent, this second film took it up a notch in the detail.

Looking forward to the third instalment, although it’s going to be a heart-aching ending from what I’ve read.