I’ll admit that I’m rather unfamiliar with the entire Spirit franchise despite the success it’s had over the past nearly two decades. Yes, I said decades. Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron first came out in 2002, back when traditionally animated films were still the industry standard. There have also been 12 seasons of Netflix’s Spirit Riding Free animated series. There’s no doubt that kids love Spirit. Spirit Untamed is more closely related to the series than the original film and follows the young Lucky Prescott as she connects with the wild horse named Spirit. The film is a fine distraction for its younger audience, but beyond that it’s just another basic animated film.
Lucky Prescott (Isabela Merced) never knew her mother growing up after she tragically died in an accident during a horse-riding stunt performance. After living with her aunt since the incident, Lucky is finally moving back in with her father, Jim (Jake Gyllenhaal). But it’s a strange new environment for the both of them, and Lucky isn’t exactly doing so well fitting in. That is, until she meets the newly captive horse named Spirit. Spirit isn’t exactly fond of his new environment either and the two form a unique bond. Meanwhile, horse wranglers want to kidnap and sell Spirit, but Lucky’s not going to let that happen so long as she’s around.
Spirit Untamed is honestly pretty tame. It has heart and a comforting story about a girl and her horse, but it never really does anything that’s too exciting or memorable. It does just enough to capture the attention of kids for almost 90 minutes and that’s it. The animation and voice acting are acceptable. The characters all look great, but the environments often look very basic and devoid of any finer details that bring these worlds to life. And while I’m sure it’s nice to have big name stars like Jake Gyllenhaal, Julianne Moore, and Walton Goggins, they don’t necessarily make the film that much better. It’s simply just fine.
If you have kids who are really big fans of the Spirit franchise, then Spirit Untamed is probably worth watching, but for general audiences there are much better kids movies out there. You’re better off just sticking with the Netflix series.
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Spirit Untamed
Summary
I’ll admit that I’m rather unfamiliar with the entire Spirit franchise despite the success it’s had over the past nearly two decades. Yes, I said decades. Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron first came out in 2002, back when traditionally animated films were still the industry standard. There have also been 12 seasons of Netflix’s Spirit Riding Free animated series. There’s no doubt that kids love Spirit. Spirit Untamed is more closely related to the series than the original film and follows the young Lucky Prescott as she connects with the wild horse named Spirit. The film is a fine distraction for its younger audience, but beyond that it’s just another basic animated film.
