After seeing this movie occupying a low spot on my best of the year list, many already know I like it. Still, let’s review it for shits and giggles.
What Works: The last third of this movie really, really delivers. Some of the sequences are so beautiful, I thought this movie was a worthy successor to some of the beautiful epics of yesteryear, which is what it clearly wants to be. The final shot could have been lifted out of Gone with the Wind, and the scene of Joey (the horse) loose on the battlefield and scurrying from trench to trench is better than anything in that “classic” movie. I also like the way it allowed the German soldiers to be human beings too, human beings that don’t entirely want to be in war either, even if their leaders do want them to be there. Maybe one day soldiers will stop waiting for their political leaders to declare an end to wars, and just say “Do you want to be here? No? Because I don’t either. Fuck it, let’s call a truce to this shit ourselves.”
What Doesn’t Work: You know, you could definitely criticize War Horse for some of its pacing and I can’t say I was as interested in the first act bonding between boy owner and Joey as I was in later scenes (but I understand they were necessary to set up later on). And as always with any old time war epic, you’re not going to be getting any of the freshest filmmaking techniques out there. Still, the movie is solid, four square entertainment and that’s all it sets out to be.
What I Would Have Done Differently: Ten minutes could easily be cut and I would argue that 15 wouldn’t be missed either, but the best advice is to just endure the slower parts and sit back waiting for the spectacular moments.
I saw this movie and liked it very much. Liked your review,also.