This "Legend of the Deep" is Mighty Shallow

Today’s post begins with a fractal called Waves and Whirlpools. I thought it would be a suitable choice for a review of The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep.
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One of Robyn and my Christmas Day traditions is that we always go to see a movie: this year we chose to see The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep. I was so utterly uninspired by the movie that I didn’t end up writing the review until today. (Then again, if the title of this post didn’t tell you how I feel about the movie you’ve been living under a rock way too long!)
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This movie was based on a book by Dick King-Smith (author of the charming children’s book Babe). Not having read the book I can’t tell you how close the filmed version of The Water Horse comes to the source material so I can’t compare the two. The story takes place in World War II Scotland (Loch Ness to be exact) where you Angus isn’t fitting in well. He is drawn to the water yet fears it (for reasons unexplained). Once day he finds something strange and brings it home. This sets up the “boy meets creature/creature causes chaos/boy sets creature free/boy saves creature from bad guys” plot that is familiar from so many other movies of this sort. (In this case the bad guys are British Soldiers stationed in Scotland to hunt for submarines.) There is a sub-plot involving a mysterious new arrival and the Commander of the British forces that isn’t fully developed (and seems mostly there as filler for older viewers who want more content) but you‘ve seen this all before.
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There are no surprises ANYWHERE in the story but all the parts are ably acted (by a bunch of Brits I’ve never heard of before). The rugged New Zealand scenery stands in wonderfully well for Scotland--and the movie is gorgeous to look at. The colors are a bit solemn but the shots are nothing short of picture postcard perfect. The eponymous “Water Horse” is wonderfully realized with a combination of CGI and models: the scenes shot in the Loch are far and away the best reason to see this movie.
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In the end The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep is a pleasant, if unremarkable family film. There is little originality and not much magic in movie but it is good fun for the entire family. The kids will like the "water horse" and their parents won't be bored beyond belief. I can’t recommend it but this movie is not a turkey of colossal proportions either.
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FINAL GRADE: C