Director: Elaine Bogan, Ennio Torresan
Distributor: Universal Pictures Home Entertainment
Duration: 88 minutes
Spirit Untamed (Blu-ray) – Movie Review
Fans of the original Spirit movie from 2002 will certainly consider it to be a very memorable experience. The movie revolved around Spirit, a young wild horse, that refused to be tamed by any man. Even though at certain points in the story he had no other choice than obey the orders of the humans, the story ended happily with Spirit returning back to the wild. Now, a new movie has been released, and it seems to be a more casual experience, trying to embed the feeling and atmosphere of the original movie. Even though we had our doubts about this seemingly watered-down version, we found ourselves enamored by most of what it had to offer.
Spirit Untamed’s story revolves around Lucky (Isabela Merced), who lost her mother at a very young age. Due to this, her father couldn’t take care of her, and she has been living with her aunt Cora (Julianne Moore) and grandfather James (Joe Hart) since she was a baby/toddler. Sadly, she happens to be quite the handful and is interfering with her grandfather’s political campaign. Lucky and Cora then decide to spend to summer at her father’s (Jake Gyllenhaal), who is happy to see Lucky return home, but is also very anxious. His anxiousness goes off the charts when Lucky wants to start riding horses as well, as her mother was a famous horse rider, who sadly died during a stunt. Lucky is mainly drawn to Spirit, a horse that gets captured by some lowlife thugs, and she soon finds herself bonding with the untamable animal. While she is working on both her bond with Spirit and her father, criminal ringleader Hendricks (Walton Goggins) is already planning on selling Spirit and trapping the rest of the wild horses of Spirit’s herd.
Overall, the flow of this movie is actually quite good. You’ll get a short but clear introduction, to then focus on the main event, without dragging out things too much. The movie is very lighthearted and is mainly a tale of friendship, but also of letting go. We do have to mention that there is hardly any depth to the story, making this a very superficial experience. This works well for a younger audience, as the main message is conveyed very clearly. The movie is still also very accessible for a more adult audience and is still nicely put together.
This new rendition of Spirit has a very impressive cast backing things up. With massive stars such as Jake Gyllenhaal, Andre Braugher, Julianne Moore, and Walton Goggins supporting a production such as this, you can’t really go wrong in terms of quality. That being said, the main stars of this movie are Isabela Merced, Marsai Martin, and Mckenna Grace. This trio of actresses is responsible for bringing Lucky, Pru, and Abigail to life. On top of the story that revolves around Spirit, these young actresses shine while portraying young girls who are slowly but surely becoming friends with one another. They do so with grace, and they manage to convince the audience of their friendship.
The Blu-ray edition of Spirit Untamed comes with loads of special features. These features consist of run-of-the-mill behind-the-scenes clips, as well as entertaining activities for children. As was the case with the physical release of The Croods: A New Age, a lot of the extras here are directed towards a younger audience. Especially the arts and crafts portions of the extras, as well as the music videos, are clear examples of child-friendly special content. We loved the meaty additional content, and it definitely makes it worth considering purchasing a physical copy of the film, rather than a digital download.
Conclusion
Spirit Untamed actually surprised us quite a bit. The movie is not really that much like the original, but it does respect the original’s source material and keeps the general thought behind it intact. This movie is an old-school animated film, that might be a bit light on content, but will certainly entertain a younger audience. Adults looking for a lighthearted animated movie will also easily be able to enjoy this one; if they don’t mind the somewhat shallow story. We suggest picking up a physical copy of the film if you’re interested, as it comes with loads of special features making it worth every penny.
Spirit Untamed (Blu-ray) - Movie Review,
No Comments