I have always been a huge fan of dinosaurs and, of course, Pixar.
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It certainly was worth it, as “The Good Dinosaur” is easily the best animated film I’ve seen this year. He misses his Momma (Frances McDormand) and his two older siblings Buck (Marcus Scribner) and Libby (Maleah Padilla), who must work even harder following the death of Poppa (Jeffrey Wright). He’s the odd one out in his family; not as strong as his brother, cunning as his sister, courageous as his father or as dedicated as his mother. But they’ve shown us how good animation can be so consistently that, on the rare occasions when they don’t hit those heights (“Cars 2”, “A Bug’s Life”), the decent-by-any-other-standard outliers tend to stick out. (They’re an odd new species: Pioneerus americanus.) Arlo, the family runt, must pull his weight by killing a corn-eating varmint.
Ferocious or calm, the river is something Arlo must reckon with. Spot’s survival skills in the wild may be the only things that can help Arlo get back to his family.
Never mind that we got no movie past year. Seams are visible, especially in the early scenes, which spend a long time introducing family members we’ll rarely see.
That wrap-up may be a little misleading because despite the conventionality of the plot the film is full of fresh and surprising touches and engenders a few good, deep laughs as well. There are some amusing moments matched with a nice touch of heart that will have children of all ages smiling.
That’s not to say there aren’t aspects of the film that don’t succeed.
It’s solid proof that there needs to be more movies about dinosaurs; be they harmless creatures with human friends or vicious man-eating theme park attractions. With its conventionally cartoonish characters juxtaposed seamlessly with its realistic backgrounds, there is beauty in every frame. It’s impossible to not be drawn in by the beauty of it all.
While those films were packaged as kid’s movies, they were appealing to adults.
The story takes place in an alternate world where dinosaurs never became extinct. The characters Arlo and Spot come across are nothing more than short distractions, and don’t even make enough of an impression to keep the movie exciting. Following a tragic storm, Arlo is forced to face his fears and grow up into a dinosaur his father could be proud of. But it’s that kind of laziness that infects the entire film. While it fits in the typical Pixar mold (two unlikely male best friends get themselves into trouble and have to work together to get our of it) it somehow fails to gain traction or reveal any charm on its winding journey.
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The Good Dinosaur’s production was a highly publicized tumultuous one, complete with a director and producer change, a complete overhaul of the story, and a release date postponement of over a year.
