Review of The Good Dinosaur (2015) by Johari Y — 10 Jan 2016

In a year that already featured one flawless Pixar film, there simply isn't room for two, but I never could have predicted that this would be the worst Pixar film I've ever seen and I had almost no enjoyment sitting through it.

Plagued by numerous behind-the-scenes problems including the release date being pushed back, re-casting most of the voice talent, a change of director, and a completely re-written third act, the final product added up to nothing more than a big, fat, MEH.

The premise is actually amazing; what if the meteor that wiped out the dinosaurs missed and they evolved into intelligent beings and ran the Earth? Well, that could've led to many comedic possibilities and fresh ideas, but instead we get a couple of dinosaur farmers and a role reversal between a human (the dinosaur) and a dog (the human) that isn't nearly as "cute" as the filmmakers think it is.

A COLOSSAL flaw with the film is the unlikable nature of the protagonist, Arlo, who is a complete coward throughout and his main function is to irritatingly scream like a baby and then fall down a hill/crevice/slope/whatever and rinse and repeat.

There also seems to be an identity crisis in who this film's audience is when it's too lame for adults, and at times too harsh/violent for kids and I would be amazed if kids were not bored 15 minutes in.

There are a few moments of that Pixar magic with the character interactions, in particular a scene where Arlo and the boy, Spot reveal what happened to their families that is very heart-wrenching and there are occasional chuckles, but nothing I'll remember longer than a few days.

The animation is actually the highlight of this film with photo-realistic looking environments and though Pixar has always stated, "story comes first", I find that hard to believe with this offering and I think realizing they had a dud on their hands, the company decided to wow us with the exceptional visuals instead.

I am beyond disappointed with this movie and it proves to me that Pixar is far from immortal and should have just shelved this project all together.