To be totally honest, I walked into this movie not actually expecting to like it. I went with my daughter (11) who had never seen any of the Spirit TV show or movie on Netflix and two of her friends who were massive Spirit fans.

But to my surprise I actually really enjoyed it. The kids (probably much more the film’s target demographic) absolutely loved it.

So what’s Spirit: Untamed about?

Lucky is a young girl who lives with her Aunt and Grandfather in the big city. Her mother has passed away and her dad is estranged. A little bit wild and mischievous she is always getting into trouble. After one too many mishaps she is sent to stay with her dad (voiced by Jake Gyllenhaal) in the country for the summer (with who she hasn’t had contact since she was a baby).

On the way to her dad’s house she meets Spirit, a wild untamed mustang. The film shows the parallel journeys of her gaining the trust of the horse, while her dad also gains her trust. She learns about her mother, makes some new friends and has some pretty wild adventures.

Who should go watch it?

This is a great movie to take kids to. There were some pretty young kids in the theatre who seemed fine with the action scenes that had me gripping my seat (OMG will the horse be ok?). My daughter reassured me that obviously it was all going to work out ok, because it’s a kids film! Maybe it’s that I grew up with Bambi I was much more jumpy than most of the kids there. Would I go without kids? It’s not something that I have been recommending to my adult friends – but if they did go I am sure they would enjoy it…

So this is a sequel? Do I need to see the first movie first?

The original film came out in 2002, and this seems to be more of a spin-off or a franchise rather than a direct ‘what happens next movie’. Apparently (according to Google), even the original Spirit horse is a different horse in this one. So you should be perfectly fine if this is your first Spirit experience (like me!).