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Last year, Dreamworks hit big with its first major animated film.
You might remember “Shrek” provided you haven’t been in a coma the
entire time. I mean that movie was funny and entertaining and even
had a message about learning to love you, no matter what you looked
like on the outside.
So why do they follow-up with Spirit? I understand that it had all
the potential of an interesting cartoon. First, it involved horses,
so you clench the under-ten female crowd right off the bat. In order
to rope in the boys, you add some Indians, a little action and the
US Calvary. Then, just in case you’re worried about the soccer-mom
crowd, you throw in five bazillion Brian Adams songs.
Maybe it’s the Brian Adams songs. It’s a theory I’ve been mulling
over, but really he’s sung theme songs for Kevin Costner’s “Robin
Hood,” for “Don Juan DeMarco” and for Kiefer Sutherland’s “Three
Musketeers.” The Brian Adams song stamp doesn’t exactly scream
“GREAT!”
But still, this is a film about a horse played by Matt Damon. Not
that the horses talk. NOOOOOOO – they do voice-over. Really, this
was the thing I kept grappling with throughout the entire film.
Spirit was a great wild mustang and all. I could have dealt with the
horses not talking. In fact, that would have been a great thing – to
capture the emotion and resolve of a wild mustang that can’t be
broken through facial expression and action. But no, someone at the
studio got all smart and decided voice-over would explain why the
horse didn’t talk.
I guess the idea of Little Creek telling the story was simply out of
the question.
I really don’t know what else to say about this film, as it fell so
short of anything that it should have been. A story about one of the
last of the wild mustangs as America began to build the railways
that would destroy the Old West was a fantastic idea. Unfortunately,
we’re stuck with what appears to be a story written over a weekend
with a plot so contrived that even Evan Marriott found it to be a
little too much to believe.
But at least you’ll have the Brian Adams songs.
The Usual:
What It’s Worth: You will receive many karma points for the endless
viewing that young nieces, cousins and daughters insist on so they
can watch the horses. In that sense, there is no way to measure its
value so it must be worth nothing (I’ve gone Zen already!).
Main Reason To See This Film: You insist on seeing all
Oscar-Nominated films.
Main Reason Not To See This Film: There are so many better films out
there.
MPAA Rating: G
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