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Water Horse: Legend of the Deep, The
Columbia Pictures

7.6 based on 24 reviews Read critic reviews How did we calculate this? based on 24 votes Read user comments Rate this movie

FILM:

• Ladder 49
• My Dog Skip
• Tuck Everlasting

• Internet Movie Database
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• Official Studio Site

MPAA RATING: PG for some action/peril, mild language and brief smoking

Starring Emily Watson, Alex Etel, Ben Chaplin, David Morrissey, and Brian Cox

The story begins when Angus, a young Scottish boy, finds an enchanted egg. Taking it home, he soon finds himself face-to-face with an amazing creature: the mythical "water horse" of Scottish lore. Angus begins a journey of discovery, facing his greatest fears and risking his life to protect a secret that would give birth to a legend. (Columbia Pictures)

GENRE(S):	Adventure  |  Family/Kids  |  Fantasy
WRITTEN BY:	Dick King-Smith (book) Robert Nelson Jacobs
DIRECTED BY:	Jay Russell
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: April 8, 2008  Theatrical: December 25, 2007
RUNNING TIME:	111 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	USA

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

90

LA Weekly Ella Taylor

Personally, I wouldn’t take a toddler (unless he was the son of Tarantino) to this intermittently, legitimately terrifying tale of a boy and his Loch Ness monster. But everyone else should blow off "Alvin and the Chipmunks" and show up for the best kiddie picture of the season -- and, along with "Ratatouille," of the year.

88

USA Today Claudia Puig

Well-told fanciful tales aimed at children but appreciated by adults are a rarity, and The Water Horse should be savored for the exuberantly entertaining ride it offers.

88

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

Like most British family films, Water Horse doesn't dumb down its young characters or insult the intelligence of the audience. It has a lot of sly humor about what we know, or have heard, about the Loch Ness monster.

80

Washington Post Ann Hornaday

Combining the best of fantasy and somber reflection, The Water Horse is a lovely ride.

80

The New York Times Laura Kern

Ffamily-friendly escapist fare that should enthrall, without insult, fantasy-minded viewers of any age.

80

Los Angeles Times Kevin Crust

An enchanting tale of friendship and evolvingrelationships, The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep" engagingly grafts coming-of-age movie chestnuts onto Scottish folklore.

80

Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern

It declines to take itself seriously, yet manages, sometimes simultaneously, to be exciting, instructive, cheerfully absurd and genuinely affecting.

80

The Hollywood Reporter Stephen Farber

While it boasts a lower profile than many other Christmas releases, it might catch on with parents who want to take their kids to a movie that the entire family will actually enjoy. Nifty special effects and a first-rate British cast elevate this production.

80

Variety Justin Chang

Though it strikes some predictable coming-of-age notes, this moving, well-wrought adventure should appeal to fans of "E.T." and Carroll Ballard.

75

ReelViews James Berardinelli

Consider it "Free Willy" with the Loch Ness Monster. It's that kind of family-friendly movie - one that focuses on the friendship between a lonely boy and an animal.

75

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Rick Groen

It's adapted with charming dispatch from the Dick King-Smith story, and served up by the same CGI wizards who animated the critters in "The Lord of the Rings" and "The Narnia Chronicles."

75

The Onion (A.V. Club) Tasha Robinson

Few kid films manage to assemble this much ambition alongside this much sincere, sweet emotion.

75

TV Guide Ken Fox

The period detail is evocative, Watson and Etel are particularly good, and baby Crusoe -- a computer-generated image seamlessly woven into the live action -- is a slippery little star in his own right.

75

San Francisco Chronicle Steve Winn

A solidly made wish-fulfillment fantasy set during World War II.

70

Chicago Reader Andrea Gronvall

Like many fairy tales, this handsome family film concerns a child coming to terms with his fears and the death of a parent.

67

Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold

Predictable but entertaining kid movie.

67

Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov

A family film in the best sense.

63

New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman

It's a little corny and somewhat overlong, but a sweet sensibility and stirring adventure scenes make The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep a welcome gift for anyone looking to keep kids entertained over the holidays.

63

Chicago Tribune Jessica Reaves

First, a few things The Water Horse is not: revolutionary, controversial or challenging. What it is: a sweet, familiar story, beautifully filmed and lovingly told.

63

Boston Globe Ty Burr

If you want to take the kids to a cockle-warming tale of humans and computer-generated critters, do yourself a favor: Skip the singing rodents and head for the baby Loch Ness Monster in The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep.

63

Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea

Emily Watson, looking at home in her '40s frocks, plays Angus' mother - coping not only with her son's obsession with what she believes to be an imaginary friend, but also with her own worry and grief about her husband at war.

60

Empire Anna Smith

Likeable stuff despite being slow paced and rather sentimental.

50

New York Post Kyle Smith

Adults will sniff out a general air of phoniness - the period detail isn't particularly convincing, and the Scottish factor is overcooked to the point where the script starts to resemble the national cuisine.

42

Entertainment Weekly Karen Valby

Parents can trust that none of their wee ones will ask for a stuffed water horse for Christmas. The star of this Scottish fable, about the mythical Loch Ness monster, looks like a raw chicken breast with teeth when he hatches.

The average user rating for this movie is 7.6 (out of 10) based on 24 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Mary H. gave it an8:
I saw The Last Mimzy and The Water Horse on two consecutive nights, and now I have forgotten many elements of the former simply through watching the latter. The Water Horse has a few inconsistencies, but overall is the better of the two films. It is not as aimless, nor does it have the presumptive air of the former, either. The CGI is practically flawless. It works, however, in making Crusoe the Water Horse as real as possible: as we watch, we see Crusoe growing from the size of a box turtle (which it resembles early in its development) to that of a true king of the deep, the Loch Ness "monster." Having been fortunate enough to have traveled to Inverness, Scotland and visiting the Loch itself, I was delighted to see some of the places nearby, including Uruquhart Castle (the ruins on the south side of the Loch). Seeing the Loch itself gives one pause to wonder if a creature could exist, and in one of my own personal slides I have a shot with a black rock on it that I always tell people is one of the humps on the real monster. Regardless if one believes the "monster" is real or not, there is something in the air which makes one feel as though there are infinite possibilities no matter how much we think otherwise.

Jay H. gave it a7:
What a sweet and special movie. Finely acted, very professionally done. An exceptional family film, all ages will enjoy it. Good special effects.

Michael T. gave it a4:
Predictable. This movie uses the same, boy without a father finds a friend and a father and a lover for his mom, but without being all that interesting. It may seem a little trite to call a children's movie predictable, but at least Ratatouille and Stardust kept me entertained. This movie just drags on and I saw it the first time when it was Free Willy.

JGM gave it an8:
This is the type of story that, in the pre-CGI days, would have made a classic animated film. The naturalistic acting and seamless effects leave, perhaps, too little to the imagination. The story is a bit thin and the action sequences a bit too padded, but what's here is excellently done, Fans of this should absolutely seek out Brad Bird's The Iron Giant, a very similar story and a superior film.

jabez T. gave it a2:
This movie scared my 5 year old and I hated everything about it. The plot was predictable and hokey. There were completely inappropriate and incongruous story lines about adult relationships. The expected bonding and mutually nurturing relationship between child and beast is completely undermined when beasty tries to EAT the little boy! The beast changes its mind for unclear reasons, so instead of teaching that relationships are beautiful and worht trusting, the lesson is something akin to "stuff happens". I understand the need to suspend belief with this type of movie, but the ending action sequence was just plain stupid. They then left it wide open for a sequel in the most blatant way possible, one that I will certainly miss. My nine year old thought it was fair, so I'll give it a generous 2.

Billy S gave it a7:
Well, despite what some critics are saying, this is Not E.T., but it is an excellent family film about a little boys telling the tale of the Loch Ness monster and how he came to nuture and protect it the same way Elliott bonded with E.T. The story is practically the same screenplay replacing E.T. with little "Crusoe" and Henry Thomas with Alex Etel, who may be a couple of years older, but is still the perfect choice to play Angus as he was to play Damian in Millions. The kid is just wonderful. The scenes with Angus swimming with the grown creature are amazing and all the f/x are top-notch. The Water Horse stands alone as a great family film without comparisons to that other childrens buddy movie, but you don't need kids as an excuse to go see it

Chad S gave it an8:
Rather than truncate calendar time to allow Crusoe to reach adult-size more organically, the "water horse" achieves prolific weight gains as a result of his food intake. Since the monster is terrestrial-based, its wondorous metabolism and body expansion plays like a contrivance to keep "The Water Horse: Legends of the Deep" under two hours. Nevertheless, this handsomely mounted rite-of-passage story, which grounds its fantastical elements within a realistic setting(like Gullimero Del Toro's "The Devil's Backbone" and "Pan's Labyrinth"), smartly takes the time to not only consider the boy's grief(over losing a father), but also his mother's. Anne(Emily Watson) is given a reason to be pretty again. She has a choice of suitors. "The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep" is wiser than most children's films, because it knows that a mother's rehabilitated heart will help her son(Alex Etel) in the long run more than a purring water horse. Crusoe, by the way, is a triumph of CGI. The water horse is cute as a button in the early scenes, and likewise, menacing and genuinely dangerous when the "monster" feels threatened. In other words, the creature is absolutely convincing as a living entity. Like E.T.(and Godzilla), Crusoe has no visible male genitalia, and the screenwriter acknowledges this when Angus wonders aloud, "If you are a boy?" If his sister found the water horse, she'd assume it's a girl. The Scottish landscape is properly Scottish; wild and green. "The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep" is an uncommonly rich children's movie, almost on par with John Sayles' "The Secret of Roan Inish".

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