War Horse Review

The ultimate horse opera! The mane event! Saddle up for Steven Spielberg’s War Horse!

Exuberant intro over, now let’s settle down and review the film. War Horse is based on the children’s novel by Michael Morpurgo, and has previously (and currently) has enjoyed universal praise as a highly successful and innovative stage play. The narrative follows Joey, a horse that is bought to work on grouchy Peter Mullan’s farm. There he becomes the companion of Mullan’s chirpy sprog, Albert (Irvine) and together the pair manages to save the family farm from the grasp of unpleasant landlord David Thewlis. Shortly after, the First World War breaks out and Joey is shipped off to fight in France. There he will come to know several owners from all sides of the fighting – but will he ever meet his beloved Arthur again?Who can possibly say? The impressive cast also includes Emily Watson, Benedict Cumberbatch, Tom Hiddleston, Toby Kebbell and Niels Arstrup.

After the generally but not wholly positive response to The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Superfluous Subtitle, one imagines that War Horse is perhaps intended as the more heavyweight counterpart to the bearded one’s other family friendly film released in the latter part of this year. It’s a tricky balance to pull off – mixing heavyweight emotional heft with child-friendly wonder but Spielberg, as you might expect, mostly manages to do so. There are some rather hammy parts and subtlety is not always on the menu – which is perhaps a hangover from the theatrical origins of the film, but by and large War Horse ably caters for both children and adults.

There are some great things to say about the film. The horse is a uniquely cinematic animal – they look great charging across a screen – and Spielberg captures his equestrian thespians beautifully. Most of the actors give strong accounts of themselves. Hiddleston and the reliably good Watson are particularly strong. The battle scenes are scintillating (reminiscent, perhaps, of a gore-freeSaving Private Ryan) and there’s a curious interest in seeing the cavalry charge tactics at the start of the war superseded by hideous trench warfare by its end, and it’s pleasing to see both the British and the Germans humanised equally. Lastly, the emotional journey from utter distress when Joey enters ‘neigh’-man’s land in the final part of the film to cathartic joy at its conclusion is judged almost flawlessly.

Unfortunately, given the amount of characters in the film, it’s almost inevitable that a number of them pale in comparison to others. Mullan’s, for example, is denied the complexity required to make it work: the character’s often inscrutable actions and emotional distance are inadequately explained away with the clichéd ‘he saw bad things in the Boer War’ excuse. Likewise, Arestrup and newcomer Celine Buckens’ ever-so-French grandfather-granddaughter double act feels trite and somewhat stereotypical. It’s a wonder Gerard Depardieu doesn’t turn up at some point and offers to sell them some onions and cheese (that said Buckens still manages to be rather charming in her brief role). The film is also rather too long and there is an almost entirely unnecessary penultimate scene that does nothing except stretch the already strained believability of the film for a moment of serendipity.

Having said all that, War Horse still stands up as very decent family film, from which younger viewers may learn much about friendship, loss, trust and loyalty. Older viewers are likely to find much to enjoy too and everyone is advised to bring a tissue, or failing that, blinkers.