It's a mess of a movie, too frightening for the wee ones and a sleeping pill for adults. It's childlike wonder blared at top volume and there's no need for such disorder to steal free time from your holiday season.
The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep (2007)
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Reviews Counted:81
Fresh:59
Rotten:22
Average Rating:6.5/10
Consensus: The Water Horse is a fine family film. It takes a classic tale and infuses it with extra imagination, sly humor, heart, and inventive special effects.
Rated: PG [See Full Rating] for some action/peril, mild language and brief smoking.
Runtime: 1 hr 52 mins
Genre: Childrens
Theatrical Release:Dec 25, 2007 Wide
Box Office: $40,412,817
Synopsis: Based on the novel by BABE author Dick King-Smith, THE WATER HORSE: LEGEND OF THE DEEP is set in Scotland during World War II, and focuses on Angus (Alex Etel), a young boy who discovers an unusual... Based on the novel by BABE author Dick King-Smith, THE WATER HORSE: LEGEND OF THE DEEP is set in Scotland during World War II, and focuses on Angus (Alex Etel), a young boy who discovers an unusual egg at Loch Ness. When the egg hatches to reveal a dinosaur-like creature, Angus finds that he has a unique pet--a mythical "water horse," which he names Crusoe. Complicating matters are Crusoe's fast growth rate and soldiers stationed near the lake, factors that make it very tricky to keep the friendly beastie a secret. A thoroughly likable family film directed by Jay Russell (TUCK EVERLASTING), THE WATER HORSE provides an intriguing spin on the classic boy-and-his-dog tale. While Etel, who won over audiences in MILLIONS, ably carries the movie, he is supported by a topnotch ensemble that includes Emily Watson as his mother, newcomer Priyanka Xi as his sister, and Ben Chaplin as a good-natured handyman. Primarily sharing the screen with Etel, however, is the Loch Ness Monster-in-the-making, which is wonderfully rendered by Weta, the company behind the digital effects for THE LORD OF THE RINGS films. Both cute and--in his larger state--intimidating, Crusoe strikes up a surprisingly believable relationship with Angus, providing the heart of this beautifully photographed story. [More]
Starring: Emily Watson, Alex Etel, Ben Chaplin, David Morrissey
Starring: Emily Watson, Alex Etel, Ben Chaplin, David Morrissey, Brian Cox
Director: Jay Russell
Director: Jay Russell
Screenwriter: Robert Nelson Jacobs
Producer: Robert Bernstein, Douglas Rae, Barrie M. Osbourne, Charlie Lyons
Composer: James Newton Howard
Studio: Columbia Pictures
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Reviews for The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep
Spends too much time on dull shenanigans by military men and sound effects of the screech-knock-bang variety.
An endearing kids' adventure like the kind of movies Disney used to make in the '70s and Amblin made in the '80s.
Snug and amiable, this is a comfy easy chair of a movie... one easy to let yourself sink into and enjoy in spite of yourself...
a small, personal film spruced up with a touch of the marketable. 'Lovely' is the best word to describe it.
Nessie lays an egg literally and figuratively in this inoffensive, visually attractive but highly derivative family movie about a boy and his beastie.
The most wondrous film of it's kind since E.T. The Extra Terrestrial touched down.
It declines to take itself seriously, yet manages, sometimes simultaneously, to be exciting, instructive, cheerfully absurd and genuinely affecting.
By the end of the The Water Horse...Russell's film has pretty much morphed into Free Willy IV: Lassie Go Home.
Kids could go with the dino-pet theme pretty easily, and adults won't hate it, but the few E.T. moments do not excuse the predictability and choppiness found throughout the entire picture.
It's a movie for kids, and I suppose they will like it well enough, its pedestrian story notwithstanding.
The best kiddie picture of the season -- and, along with Ratatouille, of the year.
The Water Horse's framing device lends just the right measure of nostalgia and fairy-tale wonder.
Alex Etel's adorable acting makes this one of the most charming of the year's kids' movies.
Family films that won't make adults gag are always in short supply, so a pleasing British fantasy, The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep, is a welcome addition to the holiday season.
Though it strikes some predictable coming-of-age notes, this moving, well-wrought adventure should appeal to fans of E.T. and Carroll Ballard.
Despite the occasionally charming or amusing moment, an air of familiarity hangs over the proceedings.
The star of this Scottish fable, about the mythical Loch Ness monster, looks like a raw chicken breast with teeth when he hatches.
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