War Horse

I thought Steven Spielberg couldn't top himself after seeing "The Adventures of Tintin", but I stand corrected, for when I saw "War Horse", I was simply in awe. Don't get me wrong, Tintin was incredible. I suppose these are two very different films in that Tintin was like watching an animated Indiana Jones which made it fun, and "War Horse" was an incredible, serious, well shot epic.

Young Albert Narracott (Jeremy Irvine) enlists in the military during WWI after his beloved horse Joey, who he's raised from a young horse so as to plow the field at his father's farm, is then sold to the cavalry by his father, Ted (Peter Mullan), for the need of money, to Capt. Nicholls (Tom Hiddleston) of the cavalry. Nicholls promises Albert he will treat Joey well and will return him to Albert, but somehow Albert finds it difficult to believe.

Albert's hopeful journey takes him out of England to Europe as the war carries on. Meanwhile, Joey ends up in different hands on both sides of the war. A grandfather (Niels Arestrup) and his granddaughter, Emilie (Celine Buckens) find him abandoned in France. The Germans eventually use Joey to pull artillery wagons, etc. Will Albert and Joey finally reconnect?

Others to round out the cast are Emiliy Watson as Rose, Albert's mom, David Thewlis as Lyons, Benedict Cumberbatch as Maj. Jamie Stewart, Toby Kebbell as Geordie soldier, and Matt Milne as Andrew Easton.

This film was brilliantly directed by Spielberg ("Jaws" '75, "Raiders of the Lost Ark" '81, "E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial" '82, "Jurassic Park" '93, "Schindler's List" '93, "Saving Private Ryan" '98, "The Terminal" '04, "Munich" '05).The way Spielberg showed connection between Joey and Albert was amazingly moving without exuding sappiness, which made it much more realistic. The emotions the different characters emitted was strong and gave the film the feel the writers were undoubtedly striving for. It seemed like this was based on a true story instead of a novel because of the painstaking realism. It was equally well written by Lee Hall and Richard Curtis based on Michael Morpurgo's novel.

The cinematography by Janusz Kaminski ("The Rain Killer" '90, "Schindler's List" '93, "Jerry Maguire" '96, "The Lost World: Jurassic Park" '97, "Amistad" '97, "Saving Private Ryan" '98, "A.I. Artificial Intelligence" '01, "Minority Report" '02, "Catch Me If You Can" '02, "The Terminal" '04, "War of the Worlds" '05, "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" '07, "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" '08, "Funny People" '09, "Do You Know" '10) will undoubtedly be nominated come Oscar time.The way he treated the lights and darks in strategic places just gave the right feel of this film.

Spielberg is a consummate filmmaker, and even though he has created so much great work in his illustrious career, "War Horse" really shines. This is one of the best films of the year, and trust me, you've got to see this on the large screen for the sweeping epic that it is.

Out of 4 stars: 4                       Rated: PG-13                         146min.