War Horse

A roller coaster of emotion, War Horse captivates and entertains the way Steven Spielberg knows how. Following a young man and his horse, we are brought through the last war where horses played a real role in battle.

The start of the movie is drawn out, but this was to build the characters and their relationships. The characters are nothing we haven't seen before, an alcoholic father who hides his emotions, a hardworking mother, an evil landlord, and our young hero: Albert played by Jeremy Irvine. Albert's father buys a horse and Alberts works at raising him, naming him Joey.

Irvine really brings his character to life. Incredible in his movie debut, he makes us love his horse the way he does. He truly takes us on the journey of ups and downs. He does have some inconsistencies, but not enough to really take away from his performance as a whole. Emily Watson, as his mother, is spectacular as always. Even with her minimal lines and screen time she brings power to the family. I can't talk about the acting without mentioning Niels Arestrup who played Emile's grandfather. He played his role with such sentiment it was impossible to not like him.

While the human actors do a great job propelling the story, the war horse Joey steals the show, as he should. Spielberg gives him personality and makes him seem like a human being. He becomes attached to others, holds strong bonds, and fights for what he wants.

Steven Spielberg does a wonderful job with this movie as he does with nearly every movie he touches. This is in his specialty area in my opinion: war movie. He takes a plot, that honestly didn't really appeal to me, and makes it into a great war movie. He makes the war scenes feel real and puts us right in the action. Using a few techniques he perfected in Saving Private Ryan's opening scenes, the camera shakes as bombs drop and shots are fired and makes us feel like a part of the action.

The infamous pair of Spielberg and Williams strikes again. In all the movies I've seen that John Williams has scored, I have loved all the music and this score is no different. Almost forcing the audience to feel a specific way at different parts of the movie, this score does what it is supposed to.

Overall, War Horse was a good movie deserving of nominations, but no wins. The original score category will be a tough one this year with Howard Shore, Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross, and John Williams most likely in there. Not to mention the incredible score in Drive, my personal favorite of the year. War Horse is definitely worth checking out if you like Spielberg, Williams, or war movies.

7/10