I just got back from watching War Horse. Overall I thought it was a decent movie, a tasteful representation of something atrocious. The story line, while a tad bit cliche at times, was interesting enough to hold my attention throughout the film. At first I was a bit apprehensive about watching it, but given the whole concept of the movie it wasn't overly saddening. 

      For all you fellow animals out there, I am pleased to announce that the main horse, Joey, does not die. His friend and others are not as fortunate. Throughout the movie Joey touches the lives of many different people, giving us a sense of how the war affected everybody. Even though many of the characters don't get much screen time we still get a good sense of who they are, a great job on the writers part. Aside from the cheesy enemies meeting to detangle Joey scene, and how every person who encounters him manages to be kind, I thought that the movie was extremely well written compared to all the crap that the film industry has produced in recent years. 

     A few scenes were difficult to watch, such as when the horses were forced to pull the artillery up a hill and a horse dies of exhaustion. It is also during the same scene that they show hordes of dead or neglected horses. The other most upsetting scene to me, was when Joey's friend dies and the tank nearly squishes Joey, therefore running over the black horse's body. Well, actually the whole movie is full of depressing scenes, and if there's a brief moment of happiness it is trampled on by something awful. 

     To end on a happy note, the closing scene was a wonderful reunion between the family and Joey. 

     If you want to know anything else feel free to ask.