7. Brave
The Hype: It's Pixar. I could almost leave it at that with a "Nuff said." Even the troubling behind-the-scenes stuff, with original director Brenda Chapman getting replaced, couldn't dampen enthusiasm.
The Reality: Brave is still the best movie on this list. It's lovely to look at, has great voice performances, and some spectacularly-put-together sequences. It's also stunningly lazy on the story front, especially considering that it's Pixar. It goes through the motions of character arcs and story beats, but there's not really anything going on in
Brave's head. There's no investment in the characters, no urgency to the plot, nothing to anchor and audience to it. It's a bizarrely hollow film.