Review of The Good Dinosaur (2015) by Patrick L — 29 Feb 2016

"It is an emotional and good-hearted family film but "The Good Dinosaur" is not one of the best films in the Pixar canon".

Movie Review: The Good Dinosaur.

Date Viewed: November 27 2015.

Directed By Peter Sohn.

Screenplay By Meg LeFauve, Story By Peter Sohn, Erik Benson, Bob Peterson, Kelsey Mann and Meg LeFauve.

Featuring the voices of Raymond Ochoa, Jack Bright, Jeffrey Wright, Anna Paquin, Sam Elliott, Marcus Scribner, A.J. Buckley,.

Frances McDormand, Maleah Padilla, Mandy Freund, Steven Clay Hunter and Steve Zahn.

Well this is a rare treat, two Pixar movies in one year, I'll accept that. After the genius of this summer's "Inside Out", Disney and Pixar have taken step back with their second film of 2015, "The Good Dinosaur". It is an emotional and good-hearted family film but it is not one of the best films in the Pixar canon.

"The Good Dinosaur" explores the themes of overcoming your fears and being brave but Disney has explored on those themes before in better animated movies. I'm not saying "The Good Dinosaur" is a bad movie, it just doesn't reach heights of other Pixar classics like "Toy Story", "Finding Nemo", "WALL-E",.

"The Incredibles", "Ratatouille", "Up" and "Inside Out".

"The Good Dinosaur" is about the friendship between a young Apatosaurus dinosaur and a little cave boy as they try to find their way home. The movie is set during a time where dinosaurs are supposed to be extinct but the asteroid that was supposed to hit Earth passed by our planet. That means the dinosaurs weren't wiped out after all. We first meet a family of green Apatosaurus dinosaurs led by Momma Ida (voiced by Frances McDormand) and Poppa Henry (voiced by Jeffrey Wright). They adjust to Dino life by farming and harvesting crops, Ida and Henry have three children Libby (voiced by Maleah Padilla), Buck (Marcus Scribner) and Arlo (voiced by Raymond Ochoa).

Being the smallest of the siblings, Arlo finds it difficult to do the chores and he is fearful during his jobs because he finds some of them are dangerous. His father assigns him to do a big task, capture a cave boy who has been entering their silo and eating their food for the winter. However, tragedy strikes when a flash flood sweeps Poppa away leaving Arlo to help his mother with the crops. When Arlo spots the cave boy (voiced by Jack Bright), he chases him around their farm which results in the both of them falling into a river.

Completely lost and far from home, Arlo has to overcome his fears and try to survive his journey back home. Despite finding the little cave boy partially responsible for the death of his father, Arlo decides to journey with him.

Eventually Arlo and the cave boy who he names Spot become friends as they encounter all of sorts of Dino species, a band of vicious pterodactyls led by Thunderclap (voiced by Steve Zahn) and a pair of Tyrannosaurus named Nash (voiced by A.J. Buckley) and Ramsey (voiced by Anna Paquin).

After the giant Tyrannosaurus' scare off the pterodactyls, Arlo and Spot befriend the giant dinosaurs as they meet their father Butch (voiced by Sam Elliott). Arlo needs their help in finding his way home, Butch agrees to find the safest way home but first he must help them get rid of the Rustlers who are revealed to be a group of Velociraptors. The Tyrannosaurus' soon gain the respect from Arlo and Spot who are trying to get back home to their families.

"The Good Dinosaur" I have to say is one of the most beautiful-looking Pixar movies I've seen, the photography is excellent to look at even though the screenplay is not as bold or smart compared to other Pixar films. "The Good Dinosaur" is good directorial debut for Peter Sohn who served in the art and story departments for other Pixar works. The voice cast does fine work, the actors don't serve as a distraction, they just play their characters and go along with the story.

As I said before, "The Good Dinosaur" doesn't go deep enough like other Pixar films but it is a good family movie to enjoy over the holiday season.