DVD: Kiara the Brave

Studio: Phase 4 Films

Director(s): Smita Maroo

Cast: Matthew Warzel

Genre: Fantasy

Run Time: 90 minutes

MPAA Rating: NR

Common Sense Says: Confusing action-fantasy with no relation to Pixar movie.

Common Sense Rates It:

Parents need to know
Parents need to know that not only does Kiara the Brave have nothing to do with the Pixar film Brave, it is also a confusing and dull film of subpar animation. Your children would be less confused reading James Joyce's Ulysses than they would be trying to sit through this. There is some cartoon violence -- characters fighting with fists, feet, and sorcery to save a land called "Dream Zone." Also, a pair of dragons sing a duet (one sings, the other raps) about "dung sauce." This really makes no sense; avoid it.

• Families can talk about bad movies. What makes a movie "bad"? What could have made this a better movie and story? Is a movie's quality subjective, or is there an objective way to tell if a movie is truly "bad"?
• Do you think this movie was released to compete with the Pixar movie Brave? Are there other movies that capitalize on more popular movie titles?

What's the story?
Honestly, there really isn't much of a story to this one. It starts with the planets in the solar system talking about...something. Then, the audience is taken to the Dream Zone, where King Maximus rules. But in the Netherworld is King Maximus's evil brother, who wants to take over the Dream Zone. The evil brother's son wants to do good, and he is taken by a wizard named The Mesmerizer, who rescues the boy from a pair of dragons who want to eat him while they sing and rap about "dung sauce." The boy goes to a sorcerer's school, where he meets Kiara. Together, with the other aspiring wizards, they prepare to do battle with the Netherworld, under the clarion call of "Kid power!" Or something.

Is it any good?
In the words of '80's humorist and movie reviewer Joe-Bob Briggs, KIARA THE BRAVE has "no plot to get in the way of the story." Talking planets, an old wizard, a king with an evil brother in a rival kingdom, two talking lizards, dragons fond of singing about "dung sauce," and a girl named Kiara who joins with her fellow students at a sorcery school (sound familiar?) to battle evil. Something like that. Combine this with subpar animation and you get something that is so boring and confusing, it's pretty much unwatchable.Evidently, the packaging prominently features the word "Brave" in the hopes that people will think this has something to do with the Pixar film Brave. It doesn't. At all.