Spirit: Untamed Spoiler-Free Movie Review

Spirit: Untamed - Image from DreamWorks Animation

Full of adventure and heart, the next chapter in the Spirit family, Spirit: Untamed from DreamWorks Animation releases to theaters June 4, 2021 and is a story your little ones will fall in love with!  While the classic animation screams children's film, the enjoyable tale will keep the entire family entertained along the way.

Spirit: Untamed Movie Review

Spirit: Untamed follows the young girl, Lucky Prescott, back to her roots.  When her mom passed away, Lucky went to live with her Aunt Cora, but is now returning home to reconnect with her father and her past.  She has a wild and adventurous side that is matched by an equine friend, Spirit.  Spirit is a horse that can't seem to be tamed by anyone, until Lucky comes into his life.  But danger is lurking just around the corner and it's going to take Lucky and friends working together to save Spirit and his herd.  

Spirit: Untamed - Image from DreamWorks Animation

The voice cast is full of stars including Jake Gyllenhaal and Julianne Moore as well as young talent in Mckenna Grace (Captain Marvel) and Isabela Merced (Dora and the Lost City of Gold).  They do a beautiful job bringing these characters to life and really pull you into the story as well.  The storyline is a wonderful mix of heart and adventure as Lucky reconnects with her family and her heritage.  But perhaps the most compelling scenes are the moments between Lucky and Spirit.  It's amazing how an interaction between girl and horse can be captured to elicit such raw emotions like love, compassion, and friendship through animation.  There are some natural parallels that I felt between Black Beauty with the connection between girl and horse, but don't get lulled into thinking this is something you've seen before!  

This movie exceeded my expectations.  I was expecting a healthy dose of "just another cartoon kids movie," but was pleasantly surprised with the depth of plot and character development.  My little one actually missed screening this with me ahead of the release, but I am definitely planning on taking him opening weekend to check it out!  Join me and check this out with your family in theaters when Spirit: Untamed releases June 4, 2021.

Want to win a chance to see Spirit: Untamed in the theaters!  Check out my giveaway on Instagram!

About Spirit: Untamed (from DreamWorks Animation)

An epic adventure about a headstrong girl longing for a place to belong who discovers a kindred spirit when her life intersects with a wild horse, Spirit Untamed is the next chapter in the beloved story from DreamWorks Animation. 

 

Lucky Prescott (Isabela Merced, Dora and the Lost City of Gold) never really knew her late mother, Milagro Navarro (Eiza González, Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw), 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 fan of rules and restrictions, which has caused her Aunt Cora (Academy Award® winner Julianne Moore) 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 both back with Lucky’s father, Jim (Oscar® nominee Jake Gyllenhaal), in Miradero.

 

Lucky is decidedly unimpressed with the sleepy 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 Stone (Mckenna Grace, Captain Marvel) and Pru Granger (Marsai Martin, Little). Pru’s father, stable owner Al Granger (Emmy winner Andre Braugher, Fox’s Brooklyn Nine-Nine), is the best friend of Lucky’s father. 

 

When a heartless horse wrangler (Emmy nominee Walton Goggins, FX’s Justified) 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. 

Spirit Untamed is the next chapter in DreamWorks Animation’s beloved franchise that began with the 2002 Oscar-nominated film Spirit: Stallion of Cimarron and includes an Emmy-winning TV series. The film is directed by Elaine Bogan (Netflix and DreamWorks Animation Television’s Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia) and is produced by Karen Foster (co-producer, How to Train Your Dragon). The film’s co-director is Ennio Torresan (head of story, The Boss Baby), and the film’s score is by composer Amie Doherty (Amazon’s Undone, DreamWorks Animation’s Marooned).