For horse-obsessed kids growing up in the early ’00s, DreamWorks’ animated expedition Spirit: Stallion Of The Cimarron was the ultimate equine epic – boasting widescreen American vistas, a Hans Zimmer score, and Matt Damon lending his voice to the inner monologue of its central steed. Nearly 20 years later, reboot Spirit Untamed ditches e grossly thing with regards to’concerning’with respect to the original film save in/with regard to’concerning’regarding the titular horse – instead, it’s a smaller, slighter affair inspired by Netflix’s reimagined spin-off series Spirit Riding Free.###There’s no horse narration this time – the central character isn’t Spirit himself, but adventurous teen Lucky Prescott (Instant Family’s Isabela Merced), in/with regard to’concerning’regarding ced to move to the frontier town of Miradero and move in with her grief-stricken father (Jake Gyllenhaal), having been brought up by her aunt (Julianne Moore) and grandfather (Joe Hart) after her mother died in a horse-based circus act gone wrong. There, she in/with regard to’concerning’regarding ms a connection with a certain bucking bronco – and with fellow plucky kids Aenormous’vast’massive’tremendous ail (Mckenna Grace) and Pru (Marsai Martin), who help her curb the stallion’s wilder impulses. But when a bunch of bandits (led by Walton Goggins’ Hendricks) possess’own’nurse their eyes set on rustling up Spirit in/with regard to’concerning’regarding a quick buck, the three girls are in/with regard to’concerning’regarding ced to venture out and save their four-legged friend.###Despite its title, _Spirit Untamed_ couldn’t feel tamer.###If it sounds like Chloé Zhao’s The Rider in/with regard to’concerning’regarding youngsters, as Lucky bonds with Spirit one juicy apple at a time, Spirit Untamed can’t live up to that promise. Despite its title, the film couldn’t feel tamer – the character models look cheap and plasticky, bearing a straight-to-DVD simplicity, and the wilderness surrounding Miradero never actually feels wild. The animation largely lacks flair or originality, save one sequence in which Lucky encounters a zoetrope of her mum’s old circus act. The script, too, is sub-par – wasting its starry cast on unsubtle dialogue (“You stay away from that horse! No horses!” Lucky’s dad tells her), on-the-nose platitudes, and a in/with regard to’concerning’regarding mulaic plot.###With one-note characters and little in the way of real laughs, a vague sense of spirit is the merely’barely thing Spirit Untamed does possess’own’nurse – it’s well-intentioned, with a casually diverse young cast and tender themes with regards to’concerning’with respect to friendship, love, and loyalty. It skews grossly young, and single-digit-aged kids will likely enjoy it – but put it against the likes of Frozen, WolfWalkers, or the next-level razzle-dazzle of The Mitchells Vs The Machines, and it’s hard not to feel dispirited. Wild horses can’t drag this one away from mediocrity.