The Good Dinosaur

[kevinknapman]

Saw a preview of Pixar's latest The Good Dinosaur at the BFI Southbank on Saturday. Finally making it to the big screen after its much publicised troubled production history (complete change of story and voice cast with the director also replaced).

A 'what if?' tale that tries to imagine what might have happened to the dinosaurs if a meteor hadn't wiped them out, combined with a 'boy and his pet trying to make their way home across perilous terrain' narrative.
In a clever bit of role reversal the 'boy' is a young dinosaur called Arlo, the 'pet' a feral human child christened Spot.

Young dinosaur Arlo lives on his family farm with his parents, brother and sister. The 'runt of the litter' he feels the need to prove himself and make his mark. When his father dies in a flash flood after Arlo's unsuccessful attempt to catch a critter that has been stealing their food, he finds himself swept away by the same river. Stranded miles away he reluctantly teams up with the critter he holds responsible for his father's death, a feral human child, and tries to make his way home.

In terms of story, this is Pixar at it's most conventional and over familiar. The ghost of The Lion King and its story of a son trying to prove himself casts a long shadow over The Good Dinosaur. This includes a 'ghostly' visit from the father at a key point and a group of villainous pterodactyls that serve the same purpose as the other film's hyenas.

If the story is less than groundbreaking, visually it shows Pixar going from strength to strength. It's depiction of the wide open spaces and power of nature is often breathtaking.
The relationship between Arlo and Spot is also enjoyably and movingly told with the initial emnity between the two leading to touching friendship. The reversal of roles also allows for a considerable amount of cute comedy.
There's also a nice nod towards westerns with a group of T-Rex cattle ranchers (one of which is voiced by a suitably gruff Sam Elliott).

So though it lacks the complexity and inventiveness of Inside Out, 2015's other Pixar offering, there is still much to enjoy here. It's certainly beautifully animated and frequently funny.

Thankfully the traditional short is also a winner. After the woeful Lava, Sanjay's Super Team is the enjoyable story of a young Indian boy who finds that the gods of his father's religion can be just as heroic as the tv cartoon superheroes he worships.

[prettyxcool]

Saw this tonight at Vue West End. It was lovely to see jeanelle there too with valda.

Not as many children as I was expecting for an earlier screening. Adults actually outnumbered the children, of which there were only a handful. Presumably, parents were too busy working to bring their children to the screening.

Did not feel it is as good as Inside Out. It a shame, as the animations and visuals are absolutely stunning. Some scenes looked so real, it did not even look like animation.

Unfortunately, the story was a bit bland and uninspiring, although the role reversal and interaction between the cave boy and dinosaur is lovely to watch. The dinosaur can talk perfectly, whereas the cave boy just grunts and make noises, sniffs and walks on all fours, like a dog, becoming like the dinosaur's pet in the story. 6/10

[LatrellBrown]

Great Visuals from Pixar once again and based on a young dinasour that lives on the family farm but never feels accepted in comparison to his other siblings.

In conclusion this is a PG rated film with great Visuals but a predictable story line.

[valda]

I hope that parents are sensible when taking children. The ones near me were scared and crying. It was rather brutal in parts But ultimately beautiful to look at and even better, no insipid songs 7/10

[yogi]

Some of the visuals are breathtaking and at times don't even look like animation and they'll live long in the memory. Unfortunately the story or characters are less special.

Not one of Pixar's best, for me it was definitely The Average Dinosaur 6/10

[katy.white]

Beautiful animation but sadly a poor storyline and the characters haven't left any lasting memory. Just a 5/10 from me

[Jia]

Not impressed; not a movie I will remember years later (like Toy Story for example). Have seen better job done by Pixar but my nephew (aged 4) loved it! Only 5/10 from me but probably a 10/10 from the nephew!