Review of Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (2002) by Stefan G — 04 May 2014

This is one movie that shouldn't have existed. It tries not to be an overbearing animal rights flick, but that's exactly what it is. The film seems to have a left wing bias in favour of Native Americans (even though they show the Native Americans also roping the horse over to their village), and I say this because they're the only people whose soft side the film is willing to show.

In contrast, all the American settlers are depicted as cruel, one-dimensional characters who only care about enslaving that one horse. To be fair, the animation is pretty good, and at least DreamWorks didn't resort to Disney conventions like talking animals and comical sidekicks, but it doesn't mean anything as long as the film constantly tries to preach to you.

Overall, it might be fine for kids, and anyone who enjoys seeing hearing Bryan Adams trying and failing to sound like Def Leppard, but for intelligent adults, it'll prove to be too politically correct and too preachy to enjoy at all.

Perhaps the worst part is the blatant false advertising. On the poster, the film is advertised as "a motion picture experience for everyone". If what I said just now has any meaning, then that statement is completely wrong.