‘Centurion: The Dancing Stallion’ Review: Romance on the Ranch

The artwork of Mexican horse dancing turns into the backdrop for a formulaic household melodrama in “Centurion: The Dancing Stallion,” which stars a secure of equine and human performers gamely mounting a Nicholas Sparks-like story line full with romance throughout social courses, a conniving antagonist and grave well being crises.

The film begins because the breezy Ellissia (Amber Midthunder), the daughter of a ranch proprietor (Billy Zane), is coaching to compete in an area horse dancing competitors. The occasion could sound like enjoyable and video games — the animals are clomping crowd-pleasers — however there are additionally stakes: Ellissia’s household insists a high prize will put their ranch “on the map.” She finds a staunch supporter in Danny (Aramis Knight), a hunky secure hand tasked with caring for Ellissia’s latest mount: the finicky white magnificence Centurion.

The director, Dana Gonzales, appears at instances to embrace an environment of camp. A near-constant stream of slow-motion montages amplifies bouts of motion or histrionics, and establishing photographs of the homestead, the barn or the outlying fields appear to look each few scenes, even when the characters have barely moved places.

During its climax, “Centurion: The Dancing Stallion” quite ambitiously aligns the fates of Ellissia and Centurion, intercutting their struggles as they confront parallel medical emergencies. The sequence briefly gestures on the intriguing concept of a psychic alliance between the pair, much like the one in “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.” But then the second passes, and any difficult questions are pushed apart in favor of third-act mechanics.

Centurion: The Dancing Stallion
Rated PG. Running time: 1 hour 38 minutes. Available to hire or purchase on most main platforms.