Monday, November 30, 2015

Pixar Delivers Yet Another Fantastic Film With 'The Good Dinosaur'



Pixar continues its streak of great quality animated features with The Good Dinosaur, a film about a juvenile Apatosaurus named Arlo who gets washed away many miles downriver and has to embark on a perilous, life-changing journey back home to his family while being accompanied by a newfound friend – a feral, orphaned boy named Spot.

The Good Dinosaur is far from equaling Pixar’s earlier offering this year, Inside Out.  However, it is nonetheless fantastic.

Its best attribute is the incredible animation.  The environment is gorgeously rendered and seamlessly detailed that it looks very realistic.  However, the cartoony depiction of the characters, especially the dinosaurs, is somewhat out of place with the realistic environment.  But it’s easy to get over this minor flaw.  Overall, this movie is delicious to watch.

The story is pretty good as well, but it’s not quite original.  There are some significant plot details that reminded me of Lion King and The Land Before Time.  Still, it has a rewarding amount of charm, depth, feels, and humor in its narrative.  And for a generally family-friendly movie (i.e. targeted for kids), it has some surprising adult-oriented facets.

Also, I notably liked the themed personalities of the dinosaurs.  The movie features Apatosaurus farmers, Tyrannosaurus cowboys, Velociraptor hillbilly-bandits, Pterodactyl cultists, and a Styracosaurus guru.  I find this aspect very clever.

I had a great time with The Good Dinosaur.  It’s a superb animated feature, though it does not offer enough to bring itself among Pixar’s elite.

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