Review of Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (2002) by Elisa L — 11 Sep 2008

Spirit is funny, emotionally involving and suspenseful, it gallops and soars and delights. As unusual as it sounds, Spirit is an honest to goodness Western - with a few unique touches. Politically correct to the extreme, the film presents Indians as the good guys while the Cavalry soldiers come off as incredibly callous and even evil. The main difference between this movie and other Westerns is, of course, the fact that we're seeing everything through the eyes of a horse. And it works. Though it would seem that a movie without a speaking central character would be impossible to get into, that's hardly the case. Spirit (the horse, not the movie) almost instantly becomes a compelling figure, one that we want to see succeed and run free.

The film runs a brisk 81 minutes, a running time that makes it almost impossible to become bored. And although it may take some folks a while to get used to the idea that there aren't any pop culture references or wacky sidekicks, Spirit is a well intentioned and genuinely thrilling movie that's appropriate for all ages. It's only demerits come in the form of one too many Bryan Adams songs.