War Horse

"Young Albert enlists to serve in World War I after his beloved horse is sold to the cavalry. Albert's hopeful journey takes him out of England and across Europe as the war rages on." -IMDb

Official movie poster (yes, it's a great Christmas movie, well done)

After about more than a year's worth of whining about "WHEN THE HECK IS THE MOVIE COMING TO MALAYSIA?", I finally watched War Horse. Even though the entire movie is centered on that ruddy horse, Joey, it still messed with my head and feelings for so many reasons...ugh, war movies. Remember Braveheart? FREEDOOOOOOOM....!...of tears. 

Jeremy Irvine plays Albert, Joey's human-half in life and is actually pretty good at it. Taking into account that the movie was based on a children's book, think of the love and unbreakable bond shared by Albert and Joey as would that between a child and his beloved pet. It's sweet yet impassioned in all the right ways. I think I just used a wrong word. 'Impassioned'. I hope you're not thinking of Daniel Radcliffe riding a horse naked right now. 

Bromance with a difference: Jeremy Irvine as Albert (L) and Joey. 

So is this movie worth watching? Yes, for entertainment, historical and moral values. Speaking from a mainstream viewer's point of view, well...let's just say the only love story here is the one between the boy and his horse. But there are loads of bombs and gunshots though. I may have lost interest at one point (same case as when I watched Inglorious Basterds but that's a story for another time), but I'm glad I kept watching. War movies reminded me of how much devastation can be brought to every single person. If watching it on-screen looks bad enough, imagine being there when shit actually went down. "The war takes everything from everyone." Politicians, take note.

Plus, it's also really, really inspiring, It's like one of those Chicken Soup books that make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside, it's just a story about a horse's journey through World War I and how he found his way back home. A story of courage, of love, of an unbreakable friendship. Whether or not Albert survived the war, you'd have to see for yourself. Oh, wait, I'm supposed to talk about the acting in a movie review, yes? There are a lot of people involved in this movie, man, and they did a really good job. But the horses, ultimately, stole the show. That's some serious equine acting there and I can't for the life of me imagine why they weren't given a special Oscar. Seriously, what were you guys doing at the Academy?

Officer of the British Cavalry, from L-R:
Benedict Cumberbatch rockin' a 'stache, Patrick Kennedy
and Loki. Okay, no, Tom Hiddleston. And horses.

I vaguely remember learning in Film Studies class that Steven Spielberg optimizes the mise-en-scene technique in film-making, which in my terms means pretty things on screen all the time. Or whatever. I think it's supposed to refer to the way things are positioned and placed in each scene so that they correlate ...or something like that. What I'm trying to say is, War Horse is really pretty. I especially love the cavalry charge, the way the entire sequence was executed was just so...painfully and dramatically beautiful. Benedict Cumberbatch's incessant hollers of "BE BRAVE!" is a nice touch though.

I hope that's helpful enough. Damn, I really suck at doing movie reviews. That sounded more like a retarded commentary than anything discernible. So let me leave you with a nice picture of the sexy men of War Horse.

The men of War Horse, clockwise from top-left: Robert Emms, Toby Kebbell, Matt Milne, Patrick Kennedy, Tom Hiddleston, Steven Speilberg, Benedict Cumberbatch, Jeremy Irvine, David Kross