Spirit Untamed - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Spirit Untamed



Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras: :
Final Score:


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Movie
It’s been 19 years since 2002’s Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, but for some reason Dreamworks studio decided that it was time for a sequel. Or well, at least a sequel in name, as Spirit Untamed only has basic principals of the first movie in it’s story line and the name of the horse, while the rest of the story is a completely original and unrelated tale to begin with.

The story revolves around Lucky Prescott (Isabela Merced), the daughter of a female stuntwoman and an eccentric railroad inventor (voiced by Jake Gyllenhaal) who is sent to live with her grandparents and aunt Cora (Julianne Moore) after her mother falls off a horse and dies. Years later she’s brought back to the world of the old west to be reunited by her father, and is promptly at odds with the man she barely knows. Her father wants her to be safe, and as a result of his wife dying from an accident on a horse, refuses to let Lucky anywhere near the beasts. However, Lucky is a wild spirit (wink nudge) and is stifled by her father’s over protectiveness. Against his wishes she decides to befriend a mustang stallion, whom she dubs Spirit, anyways.

However, her own safety is not the only thing at play here in regards to Spirit. The wrangler, Hendricks (Walton Goggins), is a bit a criminal as well. Not only is he trying to “break” Spirit for the local rancher Al Granger (Andre Braugher, of Brooklyn Nine Nine fame), but he has a plan to round up the rest of the wild mustangs and sell them off for a profit elsewhere. When Lucky watches his plan in action, she and her young friends Prudence Granger (Marsai Martin) and Abigail Stone (McKenna Grace) are off across Heck mountain to stop Hendricks and his men, with parents running hot on their heels.

Spirit Untamed runs a gambit of female empowerment, girl movie, coming of age, and adventure all at once, sometimes bouncing between the genres at whim. The story is a bit too cookie cutter for my tastes, with the animation and story tropes filling out the obvious check boxes and not trying to be anything special. The story is cute, Isabela is solid as Lucky, but you can pretty much predict every beat in the film before it happens. Plus it feels a lot more “kiddy” than even the original felt. The movie does have some charm, and the tech specs are good for it, but at the end of the day this is a generic animated DTV film sequel akin to the Disney animated sequels from the 90s and early 2000s.




Rating:

Rated PG for some adventure action




Video:

While the story may not be super fresh, the 1080p Blu-ray encode certainly is. The disc comes with a stellar 2.39:1 AVC encode that really sparkles right from the digital tap. Colors are bright and vivid, with pinks, reds, golds and every other major shade coming into the image with deep saturation and well balanced tones. The details are revealing in every aspect, although the cheaper animation style doesn’t always lend itself towards a myriad of extra details that more high budget film might have. Clothes, hairs on Spirit’s body, and other textural details are resplendent though, and I didn’t see more than a glimpse of banding or crush either (there’s a nighttime fire scene where banding is noticeable, the rest of the time I couldn’t see any). The western grays and browns are appropriately balanced with the more vivacious end of the color spectrum, and all in all this is a great looking disc.






Audio:

The 7.1 DTS-HD MA track does a good job with the spacious western environment, bringing out all the musical ambiance as well as location based surround activity (the falling rocks when Spirit escapes with Lucky is a treat). Subs are a bit on the light end for this one, but still solid. They were working and adding a lot of low end to the movie, but I felt it could have hit a bit harder when it did hit, and used a little more extension. Dialog is crisp and clear as a bell, and the general opennesss of the western film is quite nice. Music is light and spirited (see what I did there?) and while it may not make the top 10 list of best 7.1 films, does enough good to check off more than enough boxes to be solid.









Extras:

• DELETED / EXTENDED SCENES
• FINDING YOUR SPIRIT: Meet the cast and filmmakers behind SPIRIT UNTAMED and discover how they brought this incredible story to life. Find out how this film fits into the overall Spirit story and learn the secrets behind the animation process.
• BEHIND THE VOICES – THE CAST: It's always fun to see the people behind the voices. In this series of short featurettes, we not only meet the cast but we discover what characteristics they share with their on-screen personas and how they inhabit them.
• COWGIRLS RULE: This featurette goes into more detail about the female-focused story and explains why it's not just a "girls like ponies" movie.
• DRAWING SPIRIT - SPIRIT UNTAMED: A unique look and chance to learn from one of the talented artists how they bring the characters, both human and equine, to life.
• CREATE YOUR OWN INDOOR 'CAMPFIRE:' Using crepe paper and LED lights, build your very own campfire at home!
• HOW TO UKELELE: Discover how to create your very own ukulele at home. Then, learn some simple chords so you can impress your friends and family around the campfire.
• SNACK TIME – S'MORES: During their adventure, Lucky and her friends enjoy a campfire snack that we all know, and love-s'mores! This tasty "how to" feature will teach viewers to safely make their own traditional toasted treats along with a selection of not so traditional recipes.
• ABIGAIL'S HAND SHADOW SECRETS: Ever wish you could tell stories using hand shadows, just like Abigail? Well now you can! With the help of a hand shadow master, a simple lamp and an old sheet, anyone can learn how to create cool creatures with nothing but your two hands.
• HOW TO ZOETROPE: Lucky Prescott discovers her mother's horse-riding talent when she finds a zoetrope at her father's house. This "how to" video teaches fans of the film how to build their own and bring it to life using the drawings they learn in the "drawing spirit" feature.
• SING-ALONGS: Watch these fun lyric videos featuring songs from the film and sing-along around your own 'campfire'.
• FEATURE COMMENTARY: Commentary with director Elaine Bogan, co-director Ennio Torresan, and producer Karen Foster.

Final Score: ​

Spirit Untamed is a generally fun enough movie, with just the right amount of heart and fun to keep kids entertained, but nothing noteworthy that makes it come up to par with the 2002 original (which is one of my favorite Dreamworks films), let alone other Dreamworks movies in general. Cheap, cute, a bit bland, but still worth it as a rental if you have kids who like horses. The Blu-ray is fantastic in the video department though, and the audio is no slouch either. As I said, rental if you have the kids who like this type of film.


Technical Specifications:


Starring: Isabela Merced, Marsai Martin, McKenna Grace, Jake Gyllenhaal, Julianne Moore, Andre Braugher, Walton Goggins
Directed by: Elaine Bogan, Ennio Torresan
Written by: Aury Wallington, Kristin Hahn, Katherine Nolfi
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 AVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA 7.1, French, Spanish DTS-HD HR 7.1
Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish
Studio: Dreamworks/Universal
Rated: PG
Runtime: 88 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: August 31st 2021

Recommendation: Rental

 

[Epoxy1]

You liked this a little better than I did. I found the story to be uninteresting and predictable. Plus, the animation seemed more two dimensional versus what we've seen from other Dreamworks titles. Maybe it was intentional to give it an "Old West" look?

 

[Michael Scott]

You liked this a little better than I did. I found the story to be uninteresting and predictable. Plus, the animation seemed more two dimensional versus what we've seen from other Dreamworks titles. Maybe it was intentional to give it an "Old West" look?

yeah, it was pretty rote. Just a little kids movie, wasn't on par with the original, that's for sure