The Water Horse

AFTER a long hard day, there's nothing like a feel-good movie to unwind.

Take, for example, The Water Horse: Legend Of The Deep.

Expect breathtaking scenery

Expect breathtaking scenery and top-notch special effects in this family-oriented fable inspired by the legend of the Loch Ness monster.

Like Pan's Labyrinth (2006), the film pits a child's immersion in a fantasy world against the harsh backdrop of war. Scottish lad. Angus (Alex Etel) finds renewed vigour in a world gone wrong, after bringing omean egg that hatches into a fast-growing creature he affectionately names Crusoe.

But The Water Horse doesn't detour into grim territory, preferring instead to keep the story wholesome.

Secondary characters - from a stressed-out mum (Emily Watson) to a roguish handyman (Ben Chaplin) - muster enough interest to provide complementary rather than peripheral support. Deserving special mention is Crusoe's archenemy, a bulldog that ably holds its own against CGI wizardry.