War Horse (2011) Review

By Jason Haskins

War Horse is the newest Steven Spielberg film—his first since the disastrous fourth Indiana Jones film—and supposedly his return to artistic form, helming a movie based on a book that was a play. The basic plot is that a young boy befriends a horse that is later sold by his father into war and the ensuing bravery the horse, Joey, faces amongst the horrors of World War I and the people he affects.

Throughout the film’s 2+ hours you meet a large cast of characters Joey coincidentally meets on his adventure back home and a fellow horse warrior he travels with for a time. In typical Spielbergian fashion, things come full circle, animals do get harmed for the sake of tearing at the audiences’ heart strings, and father/son feuds occur.

The largest problem with this movie, especially deep in Spielberg’s illustrious career, is that it’s all so typical. That’s the biggest description for this movie. If you’ve seen one horse movie, you’ve seen them all. The play may be a big triumph at the theatre, but it doesn’t go over very well in the theater. (Get it?)

Call me heartless, but this movie didn’t really have the emotional impact I thought it was going to have. The first World War is an epic backdrop for a story, but not a horse story. How can you really care about the plight of this horse when there are thousands upon thousands of people dying all around it? It’s like if Spielberg made Schindler’s List again, but focused on a poodle caught in the midst of war. At the end of the day, who cares about a stinkin’ horse? Especially considering Spielberg’s cheap attempts at sentimentality and purposely forcing the audience to feel certain ways—spoon-feeding every possible trick in the book and dumbing down the entire context of World War I in the process.

This, of course, plays out over the film’s 2+ hours. 2! HOURS! Of horses. And War. I was bored. I almost fell asleep because I found the entire story overly dull, despite the odyssey of the horse. Even the music from mainstay John Williams was trite and dishonest, using a theme that wasn’t just familiar, but beaten at you constantly for thematic depravity. The performances weren’t anything to write home about, especially from Jeremy Irvine, the horse’s master, who’s laughable at best as he screams for Joey through every scene. This touchy/feely sensation was distracting and something I didn’t take lightly.

Now, there are some things to like about this picture. The cinematography was pretty good and has some brilliant moments that makes everything look like a large watercolor painting. However, the large use of CGI destroys some of the balance of the movie—diminishing the capacity of my enjoyment of the elegance onscreen. Spielberg’s return to cinema has left some casualties, particularly his reputation. He used to be a name I could use with a fondness and I still say that 2005’s Munich is one of the best modern movies he was responsible for, but War Horse is cheap and lifeless. Don’t expect a Seabiscuity Paths of Glory. This is more like horse shit.

1.5 out of 5 stars

More Spielberg at Cinemecca:

Jaws (1975)