Review of War Horse (2011) by Thedude74 — 05 Jan 2012

Here's the pitch: "Black Beauty meets All Quiet on the Western Front". Hmmm . . . a very odd movie. Starts out as a super slow, cheesy kids movie. Then settles into the horrors of war, including executions, trench warfare, and mustard gas.

Then, wants to revert back to a happy, feel good classic cinema event at the end. I don't know. Who is the target audience? You can't take your kids to it because of the war stuff. Not enough plot or story to be effective as a drama.

Too heavy handed and cheesy to be a true gritty commentary on the horrors of war. I don't know. Just felt like it tried to be too many different things and wasn't good at any of them. Midway through, started joking with my friend that the movie was really about a cursed horse who brings ruin, death, or despair to any who's path it crossed.

That made it a lot better, and held pretty true throughout. I understand what Spielberg was trying to do, create a package that has something for everyone, nods to classic cinema, cheesy feel good pull your heart strings stuff, and also comments on the horror of war, but I just felt like all that stuff shouldn't really go together in the same movie, they just didn't coexist well.

And, in the end, there just wasn't enough of a plot, and it was too cheesy and heavy handed. If you really like horses, or have never seen a horse, and want to feel like you've sat through both a kids movie and Saving Private Ryan in one sitting, then maybe this is for you.