Running time: 83 minutes
Starring: The voices of: Matt Damon, James Cromwell, Daniel Studi
Rating 7 out of 10
The spirit of the Wild West lives on in the new full-length animated feature from DreamWorks, the studio behind the Oscar-winning fairy-tale Shrek and, before that, The Road To El Dorado. Spirit: Stallion Of The Cimarron centres on a brave and energetic mustang stallion called Spirit, whose heady days on the frontier are cut short when he is captured by the US Cavalry.
Despite the best efforts of a grizzled Colonel (voiced by James Cromwell) to tame Spirit, the horse refuses to bow down to his human captors, and is subsequently rescued by a brave Indian called Little Creek (Daniel Studi).
Free once more, Spirit falls in love with a beautiful paint mare called Rain, but their happiness is threatened, as ever, by the nasty White Man.
Computer animation has become increasingly prolific and popular in recent years, with the likes of Shrek, Monsters, Inc. and Ice Age dazzling audiences. Indeed, the three nominees for this year's inaugural Best Animated Film Oscar were all created on hard drives.
Spirit: Stallion Of The Cimarron is unlikely to buck the trend, despite some luscious hand-drawn visuals and good old-fashioned morals. The animation in Spirit is top notch with a couple of virtuoso sequences, including a terrifying train wreck and a heart-stopping canyon-to-canyon leap.
Invariably, computers are used to add sheen to the more ambitious scenes, which seems a pity for a film, which extols the virtues of Mother Nature and endurance against adversity.
Unlike so many animated animal characters, Spirit, Rain et al aren't cute and never speak, so the film might appeal to parents, dragged along to see the film by their excitable offspring.
