Movie Review: 'Spirit: Stallion of The Cimarron'

Horses don't have eyebrows, but they do in the new animated film Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron from DreamWorks SKG. Animators explain that they just couldn't get the facial expressions to express emotions right without adding eyebrows to the faces of Spirit, his girlfriend Rain and other horses in this action-packed and touching new film.

Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron follows the adventures of a wild and rambunctious young mustang stallion as he journeys through the untamed American frontier. Encountering Man for the first time, Spirit is captured but defies being broken and develops a friendship with a young Lakota Indian brave. The courageous stallion gains the love of a beautiful paint mare and becomes a true hero on his way to regain his freedom.

There is no creature that symbolizes the pride and freedom of the American West like the wild mustang horse. Horribly, true, free-range mustangs are almost extinct in modern day America, victims of greedy meat-packers and ranchers who simply don't want their cattle disturbed. DreamWorks has used a combination of traditional animation and computer-generated graphics to convey an emotional and moving story that is a tribute to these magnificent animals and a treat for all ages.

From the first sweeping animated vistas that recreate Yellowstone and Yosemite National Parks from an eagle eye view, to the loving, intimate scenes depicting Spirit and his herd, this beautiful film holds you spellbound. The choice not to have the horses speak but just neigh and knicker in soft equine tones, was brilliant. We know what is in their brave hearts. They don't need to speak. A narration by Matt Damon (as the "voice" of Spirit) sews the story together to good effect. His voice perfectly represents the "spunk" and pride of his character.

The score by film veteran Hans Zimmer (Gladiator, The Lion King, Pearl Harbor, Hannibal, Black Hawk Down, etc.) and songs by award-winning singer/songwriter Bryan Adams (Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman from Don Juan DeMarco, Everything I Do from Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, etc.) give the film a Copelan-esque Americana quality that both moves the story forward and enhances the action. There are, perhaps, a few too many Adams ballads, but it's a small flaw.

Camera angles copy live action perfectly, especially shots from a "buried camera" angle that shoot up as galloping horses pass overhead as well as sweeping bird's eye fly-bys. Action sequences, including the downhill tumble of a steam engine, are fantastic. Sound engineers are to be congratulated as well on these efforts.

John Fusco, a screenwriter with great expertise in Western lore (Thunderheart, Young Guns) wrote a novella-style script that the animators built upon. The few human characters aren't so much cliché as they are a compilation of all Old West denizens. Spirit's main nemesis, a tough, cruel Custer clone, represents all the insensitive brutes who ruled both man and animal with iron fists and stone hearts. But even he bows to the superiority of the stallion in the end. The Indian boy who befriends the battered horse is a reflection of a proud, soon to be defeated people.

There is great humor in the film, although it is really a drama, and there are moments of heartbreak, but most turn to joy. Be sure to take your younger brothers and sisters but explain to them that anything sad will end up "happy". The 8-year-old I took got upset but by the end of the film was crazy about it. So were my friends, a 16-year-old and her mom.

America, indeed the whole North American continent, was built on the backs of these wonderful animals and they are recreated here with loving detail. "Spirit" gives us all a look into the souls that make them so special. Don't miss this one.

I give this one 5 out of 5 stars. It's an animated masterpiece!

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Lynn Barker is a Hollywood-based entertainment journalist and produced screenwriter.