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Private Ryan) and there’s a curious interest in seeing the cavalry charge tactics at the start of the war superseded by hideous trench warfare by its end, and it’s pleasing to see both the British and the Germans humanised equally.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.

Tyrannosaur Review

With every passing year, each franchise sequel is promised to be ‘darker’ than its predecessor. Harry Potter, Batman, Spider-man, Twilight, etc, all make promises about their increasing darkness, that if they were actually true, we’d all have been watching blacked out screens with just the audio track playing long ago. Pah. Those films aren’t ‘dark’.Tyrannosaur is ‘dark’. Tyrannosaur is grim. Proper grim. It’s the kind of film where you end up rooting for its main character only because he’s somewhat less of a total bastard than other characters in it. The kind of film where we are introduced to said main character by him viciously kicking his dog to death. It’s a credit to both Peter Mullan’s powerful performance and Paddy Considine’s script that we do eventually sympathise with Joseph, a cantankerous and violent old stick, who hates the world and almost everyone in it.

Following a few acts of vandalism and assault, Joe takes refuge in Olivia Colman’s charity shop. Colman plays Hannah, an earnest Christian woman, who at first appears normal, but is slowly revealed to be as troubled as Joe. The pair begin a tentative friendship through which you might expect each to find redemption; and they do, in a manner of speaking, though not before some surprising and unpleasant twists and turns.

As well as writing the script, Tyrannosaur is Considine’s first full length directorial effort too. You would think he’s been at it for years; such is the confident and dignified air the film exudes.Tyrannosaur is reminiscent of his cohort Shane Meadows’ flicks, which is no bad thing. There’s also the visual articulation of social realists Ken Loach or Mike Leigh. Being one of Britain’s best actors, it’s a shame Considine does not elect to get in front of the lens as well, but he clearly knows how to get the best out of those he is filming. Mullan (who has appeared in almost every half-decent British film in the last twenty odd years) and Colman (whose comedic talents are well known from her role in TV’s Peep Show – she doesn’t really have cause to utilise them here though) both give truly excellent performances. Eddie Marsan too is simply brilliant as James, Hannah’s utterly despicable husband (if you thought Joe’s introductory scene was bad…). In a career that has seen Marsan play more than a couple of bad eggs, James may just be the worst of the bunch.

You could perhaps criticise Tyrannosaur perhaps for throwing too much doom and gloom at the screen – you’ll have to endure animal abuse, domestic violence, alcoholism, racism, assault, cancer, death and child abuse – but whether you can stand all that is really a personal choice rather than an indicator of the film’s quality.

Personally, I thought it was excellent. Tyrannosaur has already picked up a clutch of awards at various film festivals, all of which are thoroughly deserved. Considine long ago proved himself to be a most impressive actor; he’s now demonstrated that he can both write and direct with finesse too. Some guys get all the luck.