The Good Dinosaur Review

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This blog is unabashedly pro dinosaur. In my T-Rex Cafe Review, I shared the semi-autobiographical story of how “Lom” became obsessed with dinosaurs at a young age. In my Gertie the Dinosaur post, I ranked my 5 favorite things on earth as follows: 1) dinosaurs, 2) ALF, 3) America, 4) ice cream, and 5) beef jerky. I dubbed Baby Sinclair a “national treasure” and “hero” (among other superlatives) in my rambling post about his presence in the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights.

If I were President of the United States (hey, don’t grimace in fear!), I would exponentially increase the funding for NASA (because I’ve learned from Matt Damon that that’s where the best scientific minds are), and direct them to establish a top-secret dinosaur re-creation division. I extol the virtues of dinosaurs any chance I get, so me prefacing this review with a “disclosure” that I’m pro-dinosaur is pointing out the obvious to anyone who has read even a smattering of my posts or inane banter on social media.

From the name alone, I knew there was going to be a pretty good chance I’d like The Good Dinosaur. Unless there were some serious false advertising going on, the movie would feature at least one dinosaur. It wasn’t until I arrived in the theater and saw the first establishing shot of the dinosaur home, which is without a doubt inspired by the Moulton Barn in Grand Teton National Park (a scene on every landscape photographer’s bucket list), that I realized America’s National Parks would also play a prominent role in the film.

Throughout the film there are breathtaking vistas of locations that are unmistakably Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks. I’m a huge fan of the Art of Disney/Pixar books, and now I can’t wait to get my hands on The Art of The Good Dinosaur because I’m really hopeful there’s more on how the National Parks inspired the film. Two of my favorite things in the same movie?! Yeah, I think you know where this review is headed.

Suffice to say, The Good Dinosaur is a film well worth seeing, one that is enjoyable for its dinosaurs, stunning imagery, dinosaurs, story, and dinosaurs. Your kids will love it, and it’ll leave adults feeling nostalgic, so do not hesitate to see it. If you want my “bottom line” on it, there it is.

With that said, I do think the film is worthy of more probing consideration. If you haven’t seen the film yet, you may want to hold off on reading what’s below the next image until you do. There won’t be any spoilers, but my commentary might “spoil” your lighthearted appreciation of some good ole fashioned dinosaur fun.

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If you follow Disney, you probably know that The Good Dinosaur has been Pixar’s most troubled project (that has made it to release) to date. Not only was the director replaced (not all that uncommon with Pixar), but the film’s release was delayed over a year, which is why there was no Pixar film last year, and why both The Good Dinosaur and Inside Out were slated for 2015 release dates.

Following Inside Out–the best film of the year thus far, if you ask me–is no easy task, but if anything would be up to the challenge, it’s a movie about dinosaurs. Unfortunately, The Good Dinosaur is not up to the task and does not compete with its predecessor in just about any regard, except on the dinosaurometer. This is not really an incisive observation or even remotely adept “criticing” on my part. It’s pointing out the obvious.

Rather, The Good Dinosaur is a somewhat formulaic coming of age story for the undersized Arlo, who faces personal trauma, is separated from his family of sauropods, and finds an unlikely companion in a wild boy that he names Spot. Along their journey, Arlo and Spot encounter other dinosaurs, including Velociraptors sporting feathers. (Thanks a lot, science, for ruining Velociraptors for us!)

What also should be pointing out the obvious is that it’s not a matter of being Inside Out caliber or nothing at all. There are shades of grey in between. I realize internet culture of the day has caused people to take bold love-it-or-loathe-it stances to separate themselves from the noise of the crowd, but that’s just more–albeit louder–noise. The Good Dinosaur and Pixar certainly are not above reproach, but the early criticism I’ve heard about the film has been unnecessarily harsh. Critics and audiences understandably hold Pixar to a higher standard based on the studios’ body of work (save for Cars 2), but I think Inside Out elevated that already high standard to an unattainable level.

The narrative has been criticized for being derivative and failing to innovate. There are undoubtedly some close parallels here to other films. Close parallels in terms of narrative structure are nothing new, and many films are influenced by literature, particularly Shakespeare. Heck, The Lion King didn’t just parallel Hamlet, it borrowed liberally from it. If audiences and critics had to dismiss any story that Shakespeare did first, we’d be writing off a lot of great films.

This is all a roundabout way of conceding that The Good Dinosaur does tread a familiar path–but it does so in a way that’s distinctly its own. The central conceit of the film, a world where dinosaurs never went extinct, is intriguing and conceptually fresh. This parallel universe allows for plenty of clever gags, laughs, and contemplation of “what if” by the audience. Personally, I think that the bulk of the criticism that The Good Dinosaur borrows heavily from The Lion King is due to the fact that they’re both animated Disney films. I have yet to hear a single comparison to Wild (which itself wasn’t criticized as “borrowing from” Homeward Bound), so I guess I’m mostly dismissive of the complaints.

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The more valid criticism, from my perspective, is that The Good Dinosaur bounces from crisis to crisis along its incredible journey, which becomes a bit tedious and repetitive. In some cases, there isn’t ample payoff and Arlo doesn’t seem to learn anything or grow as a result of a particular event. For me, this is problematic because, by the final act, the outcome seems predictable, and I felt no sense of exhilaration or tension in what should have been the climactic moments of the film.

The Good Dinosaur is at its best when it feels like a love letter to the Western genre, playfully offering send ups to common film tropes from a bygone era. The filmmakers do a great job with The Good Dinosaurs‘ Western roots, and these gags, references–whatever you want to call them–coupled with the epic landscapes are the high points of the film. These are also the segments of the film when it takes more of an opportunity for character development and to explore the world at the heart of its premise.

I know I sarcastically belabored the point that I love dinosaurs at the outset, but I really think the film would have benefited from more interaction with this dinosaur society it invented, because for me, when it steers away from crisis mode and into character mode are its best moments. To be sure, there is interaction with the dinosaur society in the film, and that’s what makes the film enjoyable for me, but I would’ve loved to see more development in this regard.

Overall, The Good Dinosaur is a capably produced film. Like most Pixar films, there’s enough here to make it enjoyable for both kids and adults, although the former will definitely get more out of it. The core concept of the film is a great hook, and being a Western adds another layer to the film. Writing this is more cliched than anything in The Good Dinosaur, but for me, this movie is more about the journey than the destination, and I thoroughly enjoyed that journey, warts and all. The absolutely gorgeous scenery and some of the quirky characters encountered along the way alone make this a film that I recommend.

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YOUR THOUGHTS…

Are you looking forward to The Good Dinosaur? If you’ve seen it, do you have any spoiler-free feedback? Would you like to see it replace Dinorama in Animal Kingdom? Share any of your thoughts in the comments!

17 Responses to “The Good Dinosaur Review”
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