Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron Review
by Karina Montgomery (karina AT cinerina DOT com)December 10th, 2002
Dreamworks has rallied as a Disney competitor with the excellent Prince of Egypt and Shrek, and the beautifully rendered Road to Eldorado and Antz. Now, Spirit is a sweet fable about wild mustangs in the old west. It is a compliment to their team of animators that this film looks every bit of a triumph of hand animation as any Disney classic. This should not be surprising, given that Spirit's lead animator is a Disney veteran! It's beautifully drawn, the acting (vocal and drawn) is exceptional, and what kid could resist the tale of a horse who beats the odds?
The only, and I repeat only, problem in this film is Bryan Adams. It is this Canadian rocker and nothing else that bumps this heart-swelling fable from Matinee with Snacks all the way down to Rental. Ouch. Hans Zimmer's pretty and tearjerky score helps, but cannot save it.
Like with Disney's Tarzan, the songs were written to use as emotional, rather than being sung by characters. Tarzan had Phil Collins and Spirit has Bryan Adams. Both musicians are generally found in the same bin in the used CD store - so what makes the final result so different? I have no intrinsic bias for or against either musician.Trying for objectivity, I watched a little Tarzan to figure out why Phil's songs worked (or at least did no damage) while Bryan's literally had me holding my head and shouting at the screen "No, Bryan, stop it please!"
The least well-matched song in Tarzan, "Song of Man" underscores a positive montage of Tarzan proving himself and winning the respect of his ape family. Collins' music is not trying to be the main crux of the scene (as in a music video) and his lyrics are good. Then I watched my least favorite Adams number, "You Can't Break Me," wherein the refrain "get off my back" is repeated endlessly, loudly mixed, and it's during a scene where Spirit is being forcibly and cruelly ridden by dozens of Union soldiers. The music is too loud and it just doesn't blend. As it should be, it's difficult to watch a man trying to tame a creature so wild and beautiful, so why make it worse?
I can only assume the producers were nervous about the horses' lack of dialogue, or had no confidence that their animators would get enough emotion in their performance. This was a huge mistake.
Brilliantly, the horses only speak horse - neighing, whickering, snorting - it's all tone and their facial expressions and body language that get the story across, and they didn't need any music to assist them. What could not be conveyed by neighing is handled in a mostly unobtrusive voice-over by Matt Damon. Major kudos to the horse character teams, and my condolences for what Adams did to your hard work. Did I mention how I did enjoy Hans Zimmer's contribution?
Spirit's story, while admittedly tainted with the didactics of an IMAX movie, is interesting, moving, exciting, and (in the right parents' hands) could open up discussions about the use of other species to further our own and animal's feelings. Screenwriter John Fusco tempers his more obvious lessons with some unspoken statements about choosing versus being forced to be ridden, conforming. Dreamworks still shoots a little lower in the age demographic than Disney has lately, so we can't fault them for the "lesson" aspect.
Despite everything, the sweeping vistas and sweet story still made me cry, so clearly something was working. I am serious - rent the DVD, turn on the English subtitles, put on your favorite Hans Zimmer score, and then you will really enjoy this movie. Bonus feature, nicely done: How to draw Spirit.
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These reviews (c) 2002 Karina Montgomery. Please feel free to forward but just credit the reviewer in the text. Thanks.
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