War Horse

My pick of today's cinema releases is Steven Spielberg's epic adaptation of Michael Morpurgo's novel and of course the huge stage hit, War Horse. Most likely you'll know the story already, but briefly it's set just before and during World War I, and it's about "Joey", a very special horse, and Albert, the boy from a poor Devon family who trains him. When the war starts, Albert's father sells Joey to the army, leaving Albert devastated. Joey fights his way through the battlefields of Europe, touching many hearts along the way, but Albert never gives up hope of finding him again.

As you might expect from Spielberg, this is just beautifully filmed, it's spectacular and breathtaking in places, and features a very good cast, from newcomer Jeremy Irvine who plays Albert, his parents played by Emily Watson and Peter Mullan, to Benedict Cumberbatch (who seems to be in everything these days!) and the fantastic Tom Hiddleston as Captain Nicholls. The look in Hiddleston's eyes, riding Joey mid-battle, is just crushing! Underpinned by a reliably excellent score from John Williams, this is a very moving tale of friendship and loyalty, courage and sacrifice, and even if it does get a little too sentimental at one point, it's still very much worth seeing on the big screen.

UK release date: 13th January 2012