There are two good things to say about “The Young Black Stallion”: It’s beautifully shot, and it’s short. Clocking in at just under 50 minutes, this prequel to “The Black Stallion” and “The Black Stallion Returns” imagines the famous wild horse’s days as a colt in Northern Africa at the end of World War II. And it imagines it larger than life — the whole thing is made for IMAX theaters.
The story is of Neera, a young girl separated from her family in the desert, who befriends a wild black horse after it too is left alone in the sprawling dunes of Africa. Together they search for water and shade — with Neera always walking with the horse she’s named Shetan, never riding or dominating him — and finally make it home to the house of Neera’s grandfather, Ben Ishak.
Ravaged by war, Ishak’s Moorish home is disheveled and his cadre of horses all gone, taken by town bully Mansoor in a shady transaction. But Neera’s return spruces things up right away. The casbah regains its color, food starts growing again, and Grandpa, who appeared near death just a few minutes ago, has the energy of a 29-year-old man. She’s like sunshine in a bottle, that Neera.
Even in such a short movie, there are scenes we could do without. Most of these take place in and around the house — the intimacy of conversation swallowed up by the ridiculously gigantic IMAX screen and suffocated by interminably shlocky dialogue. (“It’s me in the flesh,” says Neera to her pal Aden upon her return. “Pinch!”)
However, there are glorious moments, most owed to cinematographer Reed Smoot. Neera and Shetan’s trek through the desert, most of which was shot on location on the Namibian Skeleton Coast, is breathtaking on the big screen. And though the sun sets and rises over the glittering sand over and over again like a refrain, each redundant shot is mesmerizing.
The film culminates in a tension-laden horse race, when the whole town gathers to watch Neera ride Shetan in a bid to win back her grandfather’s honor and horses.
This, again, is a gorgeous sequence, with Shetan’s muscular body expanding in the wind and the hypnotizing and powerful sounds of hoofs on sand a thrill.
But all this great-looking stuff might be lost on the kids, which is after all who this movie is for. And though appropriate in length for the squirmiest, I’m afraid the movie just doesn’t have enough meat to its story to capture any healthy imaginations.
And then, of course, there’s the whole Disney obsession with evil-eyed Arab antagonists, which now more than ever seems ill-advised.
The original “Black Stallion” is currently available, and I’d suggest renting it for your tots — even at 2 hours long.
Maybe after they get their first taste of Mickey Rooney and the touching relationship between the wild stallion and young boy, the kids might be interested to see where it all began. If not, then at least they’ll have seen a classic, saving the IMAX for films that really do think big.
“The Young Black Stallion”
(star)(star) 1/2
Directed by Simon Wincer; written by Jeanne Rosenberg; based on the novel by Walter Farley and Steven Farley; photographed by Reed Smoot; edited by Bud Smith and Terry Blythe; produced by Fred Roos and Frank Marshall. A Walt Disney Pictures release; opens Thursday. Running time: 49. MPAA rating: G.
Neera ………… Biana G. Tamimi
Ben Ishak …….. Richard Romanus
Aden …………. Patrick Elyas
Mansoor ………. Ali Al Ameri
