The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep (2007)
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The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep Movie Review
The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep is a 2007 family fantasy film directed by Jay Russell and starring Alex Etel and Emily Watson. It’s a nice little children’s flick.
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“There’s more to that photo than meets the eye“
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Set in the early 40s Ireland, it follows a friendship that develops between a young boy and a water horse, also named the Loch Ness Monster. This is a movie that I remember fondly from my teenage years when it first came out, but unfortunately it suffered a bit upon a revisit as it’s simply not all that magical.
The film is incredibly charming and endearing thanks to its very well utilized setting and likable characters. It’s also quite magical at times with the diving sequence being truly enchanting. However, the whole war angle got tiresome pretty quickly, and especially that action-heavy, childish villains finale was very typical and bothersome.
The first act thus remains the best one as it’s very magical and sweet whereas the second act involved way too many dog chase scenes that are so made for children that adults could not find them all too enticing.
Alex Etel is very cute in the main role, and quite serviceable overall. I also really liked Ben Chaplin who is immensely likable in his endearing role. And of course Emily Watson is as great as she always is, and she delivered the movie’s best performance.
The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep features stellar special effects for 2007. The creature must have looked amazing back in its day. However, it feels quite dated nowadays as it’s filmed almost entirely in nighttime with the creature also feeling rather rubbery in its appearance. But what I liked is its portrayal as this potentially savage, wild beast. That made it different from the usual kid-friendly, cute creature flicks.
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The movie is absolutely gorgeously shot as it utilizes on its Scottish surroundings, especially the lake and the castle to the fullest, most charming capacity. The interiors and the exteriors are both lovely, and the score is also quite good. I wish I could say the same for its excruciatingly slow pace. It made the film much less enjoyable as an experience.
The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep features strong for its time, but now dated VFX. The pace is way too slow and the third act is rather typical. But the first act is very endearing, some scenes are enchanting and the film benefits from an evident storybook quality to it as evidenced by terrific cinematography that utilizes on its charming Scottish setting to the fullest degree.
