Welcome back everyone! Today, we are going to be talking a more family-oriented film after having to cover all of the Fast & The Furious films for the most part. In this case, we are going to be talking about a film that is either a sequel, or just a spin-off film to the 2002 DreamWorks film, Spirit: Stallion Of The Cimarron. It is the one, and only, Spirit Untamed.
Plot: After ten years of being separated from her widowed father, Lucky Prescott (Isabela Merced), and her aunt Cora (Julianne Moore) go from the East Coast to the Western United States to visit him. Along the way, Lucky befriends a mustang named Spirit, along with two horseback riders named Abigail Stone (McKenna Grace), and Prudence Granger (Marsai Martin). But one day, Spirit is taking from the town, where horses are ridden, and people reside by some greedy outlaws. With the help of Lucky’s new friends Abigail, and Prudence, can they have the courage to brave mountains, and other challenges to rescue Spirit, and any other horses that were taken with him?
Okay, when I first saw this trailer just a couple months ago, I have to admit that I was a little nervous about this movie. Even though it was supposed to likely carry on the legacy of Spirit: Stallion Of The Cimarron somehow, as well as the Spirit TV show that aired on Netflix a few years ago (which I never saw by the way), it didn’t look like it was going to be even remotely as good as the underrated 2002 gem. Still, a friend of mine, and I decided to go into this film with an open mind. So now, I can talk about it. Friends, it is a little better than expected. Still, if you’re looking for a sequel to be in the same league as 2002’s Spirit: Stallion Of The Cimarron, I hate to say that you’ll be disappointed. First of all, there are some moments, where the film could be a little corny at times. Additionally, some of the side characters, they’re not bad, they’re just okay. Some of them don’t stand out all that well, at least not until maybe around the middle to end of the film. Okay, maybe that’s a little bit of a bonus, but still. There’s also the score by Amie Doherty. Okay, again, I’m not saying that the music that she composes here is bad. However, I think that she, along with the other makers of this film seemed to forget what made Spirit: Stallion Of The Cimarron really great in the first place. I mean with 2002’s Spirit: Stallion Of The Cimarron, my guess that neither the songs, or even the score by Hans Zimmer were nominated for Best Original Song, or Best Original Score respectively. In that case, both should have at least been nominated, or not won either award at the Oscars back in 2003. Here, in Spirit Untamed, which has come out nearly twenty years after Spirit: Stallion Of The Cimarron, you don’t seem to have that same feeling about either the songs, or the score. It’s still good, it just maybe could have been better. Oh, and there’s at least the animation on the human characters. Well, the animation design on them is decent. I’m not sure if was budgeting problems, or something else, but for some reason, the animation of the human characters is just not as good say in previous DreamWorks animated films, be it 2D, or 3D ones.
At this point, you’re probably thinking that this isn’t a good film, right? Well, hopefully, you can be relieved to know that this film does make up in some areas. First of all, even though the animation design on the characters was okay, the animation on the horses, other animals, and the backgrounds were much better. I mean especially when there are shots of canyons, water, forests, or even mountains, those areas where the animators still seem to nearly sprite the beauty of 2002’s Spirit: Stallion Of The Cimarron. Yes, even then, the animation in Spirit: Stallion Of The Cimarron is superior to the animation in Spirit: Untamed, but still. Also, even if this film does lack the same amount of power, and emotion that was found Spirit: Stallion Of The Cimarron, there is still some of that here in this sequel, or spin-off film, whatever one is supposed to call it. There are also some times where this film could easily feel like it could have been a live-action film. There is also the villains of this film. Okay, again, yes, many of us will probably agree that the Colonel, and the Confederate Army from Spirit: Stallion Of The Cimarron were better, and possibly even more memorable than the bandits in this movie. Still, that doesn’t change that you will probably still love to hate the antagonists here as well. Also, Lucky Prescott, and Spirit, the horse, are a couple of the few characters that will most likely be memorable, and hold this movie up as much as possible. Finally, there’s a nice message about learning to work together no matter what, and being willing to be courageous, no matter what that takes.
And that’s my review for Spirit Untamed. Sure, this film may not be quite as good as say Spirit: Stallion Of The Cimarron, or even Prince Of Egypt, or some of DreamWorks more recent works like How To Train Your Dragon, or Kung Fu Panda, or some of those. Still, at least this film is more enjoyable than say DreamWorks mediocre works like Boss Baby. Also, seeing as Boss Baby 2 is getting released next month, Spirit Untamed May at least be a gem when compared to either Boss Baby 1, or 2. We shall see after Boss Baby 2. I would say that if you want to see Spirit Untamed, probably see it at a time of day when it’s not too expensive to see it, or something like that. You’ll definitely enjoy it without a doubt. Just don’t expect to go in expecting another masterpiece from DreamWorks.
Final Grade: B
Matthew’s Animated & Live-Action Movie Reviews 