War Horse

Steven Spielberg is one of the most legendary film directors for good logical reason; He keeps each plotted element well-paced with slow relaxed beats. He also does an exquisite job letting the viewer's guard down. For me, his films that I have seen, like "Jaws" and "Jurassic Park," are not a perfect masterpiece; they are creature features with a large amount of inaccuracies leading to common misconceptions that breaks new ground. One film that stands par excellence of all is a majestic, old-fashioned, feel-good fable based on a British war novel that wasn't made for groundbreaking yet false education. "War Horse" is about a horse who has been sent to France for the service of World War II by the army. Joey's owner "Albert" (Jeremy Irvine) is desperate to find him to bring him back home safely. The screenplay (Lee Hall and Richard Curtis) contains intelligent concepts; plotting situations and brainstorming ideas that will not dumb down the situation. Does Spielberg's efficient vision remain existent here? Absolutely! And I was never bored at all. This work of art has lighten me up from the beginning to the end. Spielberg has staged each and every scene with pure precision. Quite often, I have no idea what was going to happen next when each scene moves at a breezy pace that is not cursory at all. One of the great elements of the film is that the filmmakers delivered emotions that are seriously engaging with amazing gestures (mostly shown in the first act). But that's not the only feature that elicits effective emotions; the screenplay also contains some impressive close-up imagery and moving cameras for certain moments. Speaking of impressive imagery, visually, it is a spectacular movie with gorgeous cinematography that will appeal the eyes of an artist. The visuals don't stay gorgeous for long; during the war, the colors become grim. Yes, even the striking colors elicit effective emotions. There are even some comedy that is absolutely witty, and I would estimate that the filmmakers have provided the hilarious comedy five times. The scene where Joey is galloping in the middle of a war zone is exciting. The final resolution on how the movie ends really makes my happiness glow. The well-utilized tone has been manipulated at the right place and at the right time to cause a dramatic high-brow effect. Another aspect that intensifies this amazing execution is the fantastic score by John Williams, and his score is a lush orchestral sound that adds emotional gravity to the storytelling. I hugely enjoyed the story of the film overall; not only that Joey is being sent to war and Albert needs to find him, but also, throughout the film, Joey is developing a surprising amount of vigor to become a tenacious powerhouse; strength, speed, stamina, and springing jumps. Along the way Joey meets new friends that keeps him company and gives him the power. I also enjoyed the excellent performances from the cast. As mentioned before, there are times where they have shown amazing gestures, but most of their performances are taut. There is no real villain whatsoever, and most of the characters have great heart (mostly towards Joey). Thanks to Jeremy Irvine's great acting, his characterization is being real towards his Joey (showing pity, faith, and love). The performances from Tom Hiddleston as the compassionate Captain James and Benedict Cumberbatch as the firm Major Jamie Stewart are a lot of fun to watch. Celine Buckens as Emilie is a safely independent and good-natured girl who is aware of her grandfather's lies and the horses. Niels Arestrup as the grandfather gives a smooth performance as he says something about the homing pigeons, and the rest of his dialogue is nicely written. Joey the English plow horse was amazingly performed by fourteen thoroughbred horses. In conclusion: Steven Spielberg's sophisticated vision tells the marvelous war adventure about a tenacious horse in World War II, and the result is a well-wrought, enchanting, emotional roller coaster ride of a movie. Highly Recommended!

Bad squared. Some good special effects and very well done sets cannot put a dent in the absolute lack of story or message. I think Spielberg took the script from the 1980’s Black Beauty and simply added his goto ”evil Germans”. I hope he is done playing the race card from now on.

I'll be the first to admit that this sort of movie isn't my cup of tea. I do not enjoy watching movies that focus heavily on an animal that has little consequence to the outcome of the story. Yes, the horse's experiences is what the movie is all about, but it's this simplicity that left me bored throughout the film.