Review: "War Horse" is formula Spieberg and trots along

"War Horse" PG 13
The years of World War I are told through the exploits of a spry horse named Joey who at first is adopted into an English family and then goes on to become a war horse, and is captured by the Germans for a time, and then escapes to be found by a family, and then other things happen to the horse building up to the finale. Sea-biscuit goes to war or black stallion's friend goes to war, as this Oscar bait movie goes. The camerawork and special effects are excellent as usual for the 'war epics' Spielberg does, however it is lacking in the heart department. Sure there are wrenching moments but with stuff blowing up and long stretches of countryside and dialog, it becomes mundane, like most of the middle of the better Saving Private Ryan. (Yes, different war). The accents are so oddly placed that you kind of get lost in what they're saying, so the emotion of the moment is kind of lost. Sure it's accurate (except for the Germans sounding English) but it's not Spielberg's best. It seems based on a 1982 book of the same name. (Not reviewed). You do feel for the horse when it gets trapped in some barbed wire, but then the moment is lost when the trench soldiers crack jokes and toss each other clippers. Yeah. Then along comes the rather incredible coincidence that brings the horse and his former master together again, using bombastic John Williams score to force the audience to feel sympathy. And what's with the sepia toned sunset (it's at the end)? It goes on so long you're like, you can't tell what's happening or see the people clearly. This time it doesn't work though. So it's not a bad rental, it just could have been better.