The Young Black Stallion Review

The Movie Show has resisted covering Imax films because they tend to be a visual experience rather than a movie. But with Australian Simon Wincer directing the first dramatic Disney film for Imax we thought we'd check it out. First let me say the screening was 25 minutes late - a regular occurrence at screenings late in the day from what I could gather. So check the screening time close to the event is my advice. The film is The Young Black Stallion, supposedly a prequel to Carroll Ballard's lovely 1979 film The Black Stallion. The Imax format is a huge high screen in 70 mm and a 45 minute film. There's not a lot of character development or depth of themes possible with those constraints. The visuals are pristine but with this film the screenplay is merely a sketch of a story. A young girl Neera is separated from a camel train in the deserts of North Africa en route to her grandfather's house. She meets up with the young black stallion whose mother has been captured by bandits. They make it home together and she rides the horse in a race to re-establish her grandfather's fortune. It seems to me that everything truly dramatic has been subsumed to the visuals and that in fact some of the opportunities for really exciting use of the format have not been made use of. The acting is perfunctory at best, its shortcomings merely highlighted by the grandness of the presentation. Not a revelatory or even exciting experience at the cinema.