Feel the wind in your hair – review of “Spirit Untamed”

Neverending story?

But it was already there – a film for adolescents about a wild mustang who is kidnapped and wants to regain freedom at all costs. Moreover, the country of production is the USA again, so everything is correct. Copy? No, not this time, my friends. The first Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron appeared in theaters in 2002 and immediately became a hit, then in 2017 an attempt was made to repeat the success – the Spirit series: Spirit Riding Free, despite eight seasons, was not well received (I would rate this proposal as underdeveloped and simply not pretty). And finally, 2021 has come, and with it the new Spirit and – importantly – from the same wild valley: Spirit Untamed. This time, however, American creators offer us a slightly different look at the problem of an unmanageable animal: Lucky Prescott, an inhabitant of a large city, moves to his long-lost father (or rather unknown), Jim, and it is there that he meets the hound named Ghost. At first, she doesn’t realize that taming a rebellious animal won’t be her only concern, but she’ll also have to save his herd from soulless cowboys looking to auction their horses for a bargain price.

Better not to touch, not even come near

There is only one Spirit, although such thinking will characterize most adult audiences. The youngest viewers, because this proposal is addressed to them, will probably not associate the adventures of the animal hero from 2002. Well, most of them do not even need to know that such a film was made! A reviewed Spirit Untamed is a bit of a production by force – graphics attract attention, history tries to get involved, but … Until the heart breaks, when we see a girl rushing on a wild horse, across even wilder areas, bareback, with a mission to save the entire herd (WILD !!!) horses at the hands of bad guys. And what’s more, her friends travel with the girl: Prudence Granger and Abigail Stone, their age is similar, which means not too much. It cannot be denied that the course of action is predictable from the very beginning to the end. Nothing will surprise the viewer, because the story is simplified to the limit and extremely naive. Another drawback of this proposal is related to the characters – in the first Spirit the tame was an Indian named Little Stream from the Dakota tribe, in the latest version – there are young heroines; and the whole movie is actually more for girls. Among the advantages of the production, I could point out the fact that the title character does not speak, which does not give a comic effect and saves the adult viewer from disappointment. The soundtrack is also interesting. Polish dubbing is likeable, although only in the original we will hear the voices of Julianne Moore or Jake Gyllenhaal.

What am I doing here? Uuuu …

Animation boasts a lot of computer-generated effects. Selected shots will surely appeal, but – as adult viewers – we are aware that it is only part of the creation of the world. The animation features many plot gaps, irrational solutions, absurdities (for example, those related to catching wild horses in the USA) and heroes who are introduced somehow by force and do not let them like (even the protagonist may not win the viewer’s sympathy). I am also not sure if the subtitle of the animation is correct – as a recipient we do not know where this path to freedom begins. Stop clipping coupons for movies that don’t need sequels!

For the film Spirit Untamed, we invite you to the Cinema City cinema network!