Review of War Horse (2011) by Chris F — 09 Aug 2012

One of the worst films I've ever seen. Made me nearly as angry as Love Actually - and surprise surprise, Richard Curtis's sickly vile hand left slimy pawprints all over both of them. It's like getting someone who knows nothing about war to imagine what war must be like, then letting him imagine it filtering through the mind of something he knows even less about, ie, a horse.

I know Spielberg has been floundering for years, but who would believe he could sink so low? This film doesn't work on any level, even if you let yourself believe for a couple of hours that horses can have the brains and emotions of Lenny from Of Mice and Men.

Maybe in a cartoon, but I'd find it hard to stomach even a cartoon with such a simplistic, sickly, predictably manipulative storyline. I haven't read the original, but if that is what Michael Morpurgo wrote, I have very little respect for him.

If he didn't write it, and didn't denounce this travesty, I have even less.