The Intense Dinosaur

   
It has been over 24 hours since I saw The Good Dinosaur, and I don’t quite know what to make of it. 

I checked out the film yesterday during a matinee. The theater during my 1:20 show was mostly empty but those in attendance was made up of mostly families with young kids. 

The film was worthy of seeing in theaters for sure.  The landscape visuals are simply outstanding and hard to believe they are CGI. I’m still not a fan of the character designs, but I suppose that is an subjective opinion. 

The movie has its heartfelt moments, and I am thankful that Disney and Pixar are above the annoying slapstick comedy that fills so many other animated films. As some other reviews of this film have mentioned, there are plot points that do seem borrowed from other Disney films. **Minor spoiler, Arlo has his Mufasa moment, and there were other plot points that reminded me of Brother Bear. 

Most Disney and Pixar films I typically want to see at least twice in the theater. Honestly, I don’t think I will rush back again for this film. Why? 

It wasn’t fun to watch.

 I think back on the film and I don’t remember laughing all that much. I guess Disney and Pixar films can have more serious themes, but there needs to be balance. Brother Bear was able to do this well, balancing between scenes filled with joy and others that yes, were quite sad. I don’t think The Good Dinosaur has that same balance, in fact it’s kinda intense, especially for young kids IMHO. Watch the pterodactyl eat the fluffy cute animal, see the T-Rex talk about chewing off her own tail. 

Clearly Pixar struggled with this film and they tried to rework the story. It is much better than most other animated films, it just doesn’t quite live up to Toy Story, Up, and other classic Pixar films. 

Curious to know what you thought?