The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep
It is a whimsically
charming idea to make a film about the Loch Ness Monster which, depending
on who you talk to, is either a majestic and mysterious monster or one of
the great hoaxes perpetrated on the world.
The creature is never referred
to by its popular name in this movie, but instead is known throughout the film as a water
horse (which, I suppose makes sense the people who actually live on Loch
Ness wouldn't likely refer to it as the Loch Ness Monster.).
The Water Horse: Legend
of the Deep is an interesting mix of the legend of Nessie, wartime drama
and a variation of ET: The Extraterrestrial. Not exactly a
great mix of those ingredients but it passes the time and kids will love
it.
In the years of World War
II, a young boy named Angus (Alex Atel) lives near the Loch with his mother
(Emily Watson) and older sister. Mom works as the housekeeper for a
local mansion. His father has been killed in the war and Angus, who
was never an outgoing boy anyway, has retreated into himself.
One day while visiting the
Loch (he likes the beach, despite the fact that he is afraid to swim) Angus
finds what he believes is a huge rock. He decides to take it home (you
never really know why) and is shocked to find that it is actually an egg.
Eventually it hatches and Angus cares for and befriends the cute little
squirmy animal which is born.
In the meantime, a local
military unit takes over the mansion, so Angus has to hide his new friend
from his mother and the soldiers with the help of his sister and a friendly
new handyman (Ben Chaplin). This becomes progressively harder and it
grows by leaps and bounds. Within a week Angus realizes he has to
return his friend to the Loch to save his life.
Not exactly stunningly
original stuff, but it is acted rather charmingly and the actual Water Horse
though undoubtedly all done with CGI goes from adorable little baby to
rather awe-inspiring young adulthood.
Still, if you don't see the final
twist coming from the very beginning, then you aren't trying very hard.
However, The Water Horse
is not about shocking surprises. It's more about the wonder of nature,
the allure of legend
and the trust of a child.
Jay S. Jacobs
Copyright ©2008 PopEntertainment.com. All rights reserved.
Posted: January 1, 2008.
