Film Review: "Spirit Untamed" (2021).

"Adventure awaits" in Spirit Untamed. This computer-animated adventure film co-directed by Ennio Torresan Jr., in their feature directorial debuts, written by Aury Wallington and Kristin Hahn, based on Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (2002) by John Fusco and Spirit Riding Free (2017) by Wallington, and produced by DreamWorks Animation. It is the second theatrical film release of the Spirit franchise. Lucky Prescott never really knew her late mother, Milagro, a fearless horse-riding stunt performer from Miradero, a small town on the edge of the wide-open frontier. Like her mother, Lucky isn’t exactly a fam of rules and restrictions, which has caused her Aunt Cora no small amount of worry. Lucky has grown up in an East Coast city under Cora’s watchful eye, but when Lucky presses her own luck with one too many risky escapades, Cora picks up stakes and moves them with back with Lucky’s father Jim, in Miradero. Lucky is decidedly unimpressed with the sloppy little town. She has a change of heart when she meets Spirit, a wild Mustang who shares her independent streak, and befriends two local horseback riders, Abigail and Pru. Pru’s father, stable owner Al, is the best friend of Lucky’s father. When a heartless horse wrangler and his team plan to capture Spirit and his herd and auction them off to a life of captivity and hard labor, Lucky enlists her new friends and bravely embarks on the adventure of a lifetime to rescue the horse who has given her freedom and a sense of purpose, and has helped Lucky discover a connection to her mother’s legacy and to her Mexican heritage that she never expected.

In early October 2019, DreamWorks Animation announced that a spin-off film of 2002 animated film, as well as an adaptation of its spin-off TV series, was in development, with Bogan and Torresan Jr. serving as co-directors from a script penned by series developer Wallington. The film would be produced on a lower budget and be made by a different animation studio outside of DreamWorks, similar to Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie. Production on the film was shifted to work remotely and completed during the COVID-19 pandemic. In early May 2021, Amie Doherty was hired to compose the film's score. The film was originally scheduled for a May 14, 2021 release date before being pushed to June 4, 2021.

The film stars the voice talents of Isabela Merced, Jake Gyllenhaal, Julianne Moore, Walton Goggins, Eiza González, Andre Braugher, Mckenna Grace and Marsai Martin. The confident performances display a diverse group of characters led by a heroine who showed courage, selflessness, and a tireless sense of adventure.

This sweet little 3D animated spin-off to the 2002 2D animated film treads lightly on the factual strife between between Latin Americans and White Americans, and that it raises issues, such as migration and assimilation. However, the film is less about social commentary and more about a girl, her horse, and real, complicated friendships and life lessons learned in a refreshingly sincere manner. Overall, the film is an adventurous, kid-friendly film.

Simon says Spirit Untamed receives:

Also, see my review for The Croods: A New Age.