Audiences worldwide have come to expect a very high standard from the folks at Disney and Pixar, so there is no soft way to say this but: The Good Dinosaur just doesn't hold up with the rest of their achievements.
There is, however, something positive to be said about their masterful animation and graphics. There is no doubt that The Good Dinosaur offers something immersive and cinematically beautiful to the viewers. The environment that we witness is both enchanting and vivid, something that Pixar fans have become very accustomed to. Apart from the flora and fauna being so colorful and realistic (especially the water), the movie takes us into a relatively unique world where dinosaurs have evolved into the dominant, civilized species and humans (from our limited perspective) are viewed as little more than pets.
Where the movie excelled in the animation, it fell very much behind in plot, depth, originality, general appropriateness, and entertainment. Rather than really explore this potentially interesting world, the film keeps us focused on the simplistic farm-life of one family of Apatosauruses. In particular, the experiences of the protagonist, Arlo. This is a young character who, from the very start of the film, makes it clear that he is at odds with everything around him. He is timid, unsure of himself, yet sweet and eager to prove himself. While this character may connect with children, older audience members may find him quite un-relatable and therefore feel somewhat alienated from the story. To its credit, the film does offer some truly touching and sentimental moments between Arlo and his Poppa (adequately voiced by Jeffrey Wright). The lessons learned during these moments may provide some credibility to the overall experience, but are still not enough to sustain the entire story.
The film doesn't seem to know where to place itself in its story-telling. This is evident from the fact that it borrows heavily from the more classic Disney heavyweights such as The Lion King and Bambi. There are many obvious similarities between them, hence the lack of originality. Furthermore, within this somewhat deconstructed story, there are a number of images that just don't seem to belong in an animated movie aimed for children: slightly strong, inappropriate violence towards visibly cute animals, the only human character behaving in a feral and primitive manner (not to mention wearing a leafy loincloth, introducing the concept of shame), and of course a scene where the main characters are actually tripping out and hallucinating on psychedelic berries, followed by a pretty obvious drug-induced hangover.
Moreover, the film appears to come up short in the voice department. Frances McDormand's soothing voice as Momma is quite nice during the beginning of the movie, and Anna Paquin voicing a cowgirl T-Rex is funny at best. But the only real treat is hearing Sam Elliot's distinctive cowboy drawl expressing his words of wisdom, which lasts all to briefly.
All in all, The Good Dinosaur is a cinematically beautiful and pleasant film to watch. It is a warm yet unoriginal coming-of-age tale set in a relatively original environment. Although the story had a lot of potential at its core, The Good Dinosaur is unable to stand firmly alongside the long list of accomplished works by its makers. Leaving the viewers expecting much more.
There is, however, something positive to be said about their masterful animation and graphics. There is no doubt that The Good Dinosaur offers something immersive and cinematically beautiful to the viewers. The environment that we witness is both enchanting and vivid, something that Pixar fans have become very accustomed to. Apart from the flora and fauna being so colorful and realistic (especially the water), the movie takes us into a relatively unique world where dinosaurs have evolved into the dominant, civilized species and humans (from our limited perspective) are viewed as little more than pets.
Where the movie excelled in the animation, it fell very much behind in plot, depth, originality, general appropriateness, and entertainment. Rather than really explore this potentially interesting world, the film keeps us focused on the simplistic farm-life of one family of Apatosauruses. In particular, the experiences of the protagonist, Arlo. This is a young character who, from the very start of the film, makes it clear that he is at odds with everything around him. He is timid, unsure of himself, yet sweet and eager to prove himself. While this character may connect with children, older audience members may find him quite un-relatable and therefore feel somewhat alienated from the story. To its credit, the film does offer some truly touching and sentimental moments between Arlo and his Poppa (adequately voiced by Jeffrey Wright). The lessons learned during these moments may provide some credibility to the overall experience, but are still not enough to sustain the entire story.
The film doesn't seem to know where to place itself in its story-telling. This is evident from the fact that it borrows heavily from the more classic Disney heavyweights such as The Lion King and Bambi. There are many obvious similarities between them, hence the lack of originality. Furthermore, within this somewhat deconstructed story, there are a number of images that just don't seem to belong in an animated movie aimed for children: slightly strong, inappropriate violence towards visibly cute animals, the only human character behaving in a feral and primitive manner (not to mention wearing a leafy loincloth, introducing the concept of shame), and of course a scene where the main characters are actually tripping out and hallucinating on psychedelic berries, followed by a pretty obvious drug-induced hangover.
Moreover, the film appears to come up short in the voice department. Frances McDormand's soothing voice as Momma is quite nice during the beginning of the movie, and Anna Paquin voicing a cowgirl T-Rex is funny at best. But the only real treat is hearing Sam Elliot's distinctive cowboy drawl expressing his words of wisdom, which lasts all to briefly.
All in all, The Good Dinosaur is a cinematically beautiful and pleasant film to watch. It is a warm yet unoriginal coming-of-age tale set in a relatively original environment. Although the story had a lot of potential at its core, The Good Dinosaur is unable to stand firmly alongside the long list of accomplished works by its makers. Leaving the viewers expecting much more.