Okay, so I was practically drug into the theatre to see this film; therefore, I had very low expectations of it prior to seeing it. As a result, the fact it was a "decent" movie should have made it a better experience; however, it wasn't. It was simply average, and inferior to similar films, "ET", "Free Willy", etc...
First off, the pacing. It was horrible. I took my 4yr old and nine year old to see it. The 4yr old fell asleep, while my 9yr old thought it was OK. In the beginning, I couldn't figure out it if was trying to appeal to adults or children. Was it trying to teach history, or the difficulties of being a family during this time in history? Admidst all this, they threw in the "slapstick" of the dog chasing "The Water Horse" through the house multiple times as a plot trapping to wake the kids up. At the half way point, I felt like I was a jockey in a horse race whose horse couldn't figure out if it wanted to race or gallop because it knew it was going to lose no matter what, so it just kept mixing it up. Run, Walk, Gallop, Walk, Run...uggh...it got tiring - as the jockey along for the ride, I wanted to dismount!! However, right as I was about to fall asleep...BAM! "The Water Horse" got a second wind and started racing for the finish...determined to still come in last, but at least finish with pride. As soon as the the "household pet" got to big for the bathtub and had to be released into the wild is when the movie FINALLY picked up. It became "forced" magic as the boy rode him through the depths of the loch (this would have been a good trick, but it was already revealed with more of a bang in ET), and tried to save him from the impending doom of the bad people with guns (again ET). At the same time, not even this was enough to keep it from stumbling along the way. I almost put my hands over my eyes and peeked through the cracks of my fingers. I just couldn't bare to watch this "horse" stumble and break its leg. Fortunately, as sappy as it was, the "horse" reached the finish line without too much damage. But its not a race I will ever bet on again! Was it good? No! Was it enjoyable? Eh. Was it for Kids? Not really. Was it for adults? No. So who was it for? Not really sure! I just know it wasn't for me, and I think Hollywood really misjudged the audience for this film. In the end, it was too slow and typical, as it had been done better many times before.
First off, the pacing. It was horrible. I took my 4yr old and nine year old to see it. The 4yr old fell asleep, while my 9yr old thought it was OK. In the beginning, I couldn't figure out it if was trying to appeal to adults or children. Was it trying to teach history, or the difficulties of being a family during this time in history? Admidst all this, they threw in the "slapstick" of the dog chasing "The Water Horse" through the house multiple times as a plot trapping to wake the kids up. At the half way point, I felt like I was a jockey in a horse race whose horse couldn't figure out if it wanted to race or gallop because it knew it was going to lose no matter what, so it just kept mixing it up. Run, Walk, Gallop, Walk, Run...uggh...it got tiring - as the jockey along for the ride, I wanted to dismount!! However, right as I was about to fall asleep...BAM! "The Water Horse" got a second wind and started racing for the finish...determined to still come in last, but at least finish with pride. As soon as the the "household pet" got to big for the bathtub and had to be released into the wild is when the movie FINALLY picked up. It became "forced" magic as the boy rode him through the depths of the loch (this would have been a good trick, but it was already revealed with more of a bang in ET), and tried to save him from the impending doom of the bad people with guns (again ET). At the same time, not even this was enough to keep it from stumbling along the way. I almost put my hands over my eyes and peeked through the cracks of my fingers. I just couldn't bare to watch this "horse" stumble and break its leg. Fortunately, as sappy as it was, the "horse" reached the finish line without too much damage. But its not a race I will ever bet on again! Was it good? No! Was it enjoyable? Eh. Was it for Kids? Not really. Was it for adults? No. So who was it for? Not really sure! I just know it wasn't for me, and I think Hollywood really misjudged the audience for this film. In the end, it was too slow and typical, as it had been done better many times before.