War Horse

Ratings: 8.8/10

Film Class: A

Genre: Drama

Despite liking horses, there's an inertia for me to catch movies about horses whenever they're out on the big screens because I didn't think any of them would be able to beat the animated movie Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron. The reason is simple, one can easily animate the expression and exaggerate the gallops of the horses when it comes to CGI but it's not that simple when they're dealing with real horses. Movies with horses always lacked that "horse factor" which I would expect to sweep me off my feet.

Not sure how much CGI was in this movie to animate the War Horse, Joey, but Steven Spielberg sure did a phenomenal job in capturing my heart to feel for the horse. Most other movies emphasized more on the lead cast, I mean after all, it's reasonable to do so since the director is probably paying more money for them, but not this director. You can be sure that for once, finally, after Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, that the main star of the movie was the horse, the War Horse, Joey. All the other actors and actresses were merely supporting cast. And that's what I loved about the movie.

Also, most movies about horses will surely be under the genre of Drama, Ie. They're dialogue driven. It's typically about bonds between the horses and the leads, about separating them and reuniting them at the end. This movie is no different. Typical plot when it comes to such movies, but the way it developed, that was the distinguishing part. War Horse, as its title suggests, is a movie about a horse during war time, to be more specific, during the war between England and Germany. And about how this strong-willed horse endured hardships to tide through the crisis.

It's also about how "angels" protected this horse, and how a chain of events lead to the ultimate ending. Typical storyline, I reiterate, but definitely not a predictable one. The events in this movie are quite "random" and unexpected, kinda reminded me of Inglorious Bastards. It even reached a point that I stopped guessing what's going to happen next and just sat back, to enjoy the movie in all its entirety. Few movies have been able to make me feel this way, me being the thinker I am, but somehow, there was too much feeling in this movie, there's just no time for thinking.

When the credits rolled, I was still trying to regain my "consciousness". I was sucked into the movie and it took me a while to get back out.

*Major spoilers ahead* There were many subplots in this movie, about the horse meeting different groups of people and how each and everyone of them started a chain event which lead the horse to where it ended at the final scene. And out of the maybe 3-4 subplots, I was fond of all of them. Those scenes acted like little episodes in this "drama series" and the movie didn't even feel that long (2.5hrs).

I was particularly fond of the Captain and the French girl's scenes. Thought I recognised the captain, he's actually the villain of Thor, Tom Hiddleston. And from this movie, it just shows how great an actor he is. He's actually also very convincing as a hero as well as a villain. And the young french girl, by the name of Emilie (Celine Buckens) whom I found from imdb, has never acted in any movies before this. Fantastic, fantastic, fantastic. The cast in this movie were just brilliant!! Apart from both of them who were exceptional, the rest of the cast were also top class.

But it wasn't just the cast, but also the graphics, the mood, the story, the development, the soundtrack, which earned this drama an "A" class. Rarely, in my opinion, that dramas are categorised under "A" class because of the nature of the genre, there would always be less CGI and "awesomeness" incorporated in them. Dramas are just on a different ballgame with Blockbuster movies packed with action and excellent CGI regardless of the storyline.

However, War Horse is different. It is in a class of its own, a "family" war movie. The only other movie which could be on par with this movie is possibly Inglorious Bastards. War Horse is a heart warming tale of a horse and its journey through the hearts and souls of people on both sides of the war during WWI. It would surely make you laugh, and possibly cry and most of all, have you remember it as one of the greatest horse movies, or movies ever made in cinema history. War Horse, I salut you.