Review of The Good Dinosaur (2015) by Sv G — 24 Feb 2016

I remember saying at the end of my Inside Out review, which, even with some of its flaws, was a welcome return to form for Pixar, that I sure hoped that the comeback to greatness continued with this movie, Pixar's first time putting out two films in a year.

Well, I am sad to report that this movie is a B-team effort from Pixar films. This film's story is incredibly basic and simplistic and it pales in comparison to what Inside Out suffered, which was one of the most interesting looks at mental instability in any mainstream film in ages, while also managing to appeal to a broader crowd with its incredible visuals and storytelling.

This movie, on the other hand, is the exact opposite. What you see is what you get, there's no hidden meaning behind the story. And there's nothing that's wrong with that, as Pixar hadn't made a movie like Inside Out prior to it coming out and Inside Out isn't even the best Pixar movie, but The Good Dinosaur, as cute as it is, and it is cute, feels uninspired compared to Pixar's best.

There's no other way of looking at it, this is Pixar's third "worst" film after Cars 2 and Cars. The animation, at least for the landscapes is amazing. Like legit, it's beautiful.

And there's attention to the little details, like the water falling off the dinosaur's body, as an example, but the character designs themselves are really nothing special. There's no great amount of detail put into them.

As much as I hate to do this, but the How to Train Your Dragon series does a fantastic job at creating a whole different set of dragons. Not one dragon in that franchise looks exactly the same. And this film doesn't feature as many dinosaurs, but the ones they do feature look absolutely generic as fuck.

You'd think that Pixar would create better looking characters than these, but they don't. This is what I mean when I say that this was Pixar B-team. But, and I'll be honest, I think that dividing those resources, splitting two teams for two different films, ended up hurting both films.

Inside Out clearly got the most amount of time and effort put in, like there's no way to deny that. If you suggest otherwise then you must be some kind of Pixar apologist. If they had left this movie for another time and focused all of their efforts on Inside Out, then that really would've ended up being one of their best movies.

Inside Out suffered because there were certain narrative soft spots once Joy and Sadness were separated from the control center and other emotions were left in charge. A lot of those segments felt like they were repeating the same thing in different settings.

It was repetitive. If you had one large team to focus on just Inside Out, I can guarantee that those problems wouldn't have been there. And maybe if they do that and dedicate their A-team to The Good Dinosaur for release at a later date then this movie would've also reaped those benefits.

The story is, as I said, very basic and simplistic about overcoming one's fears. In large parts, as well, this ends up feeling like the first Ice Age where Arlo bonds with the human boy before the sentimental conclusion where they're forced to separate to go be with their respective families.

It literally plays out exactly like you would expect, which isn't something that you can say a lot about Pixar movies. Not that I'm suggesting that Pixar makes unpredictable movies, but there's also some unexpected elements to their films that make watching them, for the first time at least, a joy.

The Good Dinosaur, however, lacks that. It just feels like a collection of different stories told by other people made under the Pixar banner. There's just no magic or wonder to anything that you're watching here because it feels like you've seen it before.

Don't get me wrong, this movie is good and it is cute. I liked the relationship between Arlo and Spot, it was sweet. But there's no real sense that you're experiencing something new or even that exciting.

Before they started putting out so many sequels, which I hate because it makes them look real greedy and there's no real creativity in that, you're just going to the well with what you know works, there was a certain sense of discovery, because you're watching something new.

A new world that Pixar has created. This film, while still something new in the Pixar universe, just doesn't really inspire that much greatness or wonder. Like I said, it's a B-team effort. I'm not saying that there aren't some amazing artists that work at Pixar, I'm just saying that this movie was handed to the next level down, the artists who aren't quite there yet, and I think it does show in the end result.

And I hate to seem like I'm bagging on Pixar, because I legitimately thought this was a good little movie, but, and I know they've had a rockier track record since Cars 2, Pixar movies should be better than just good.

This is perfectly solid family entertainment, but it seems like something that kids would enjoy more than the adults. Adults will enjoy it as well, but maybe not as much as they might've enjoyed Inside Out.

Good movie, but everything from the animation, to the voice acting, to the storytelling, and I feel this bears repeating, is Pixar B-team. If Inside Out was taking 4 steps forward to repairing Pixar's reputation, The Good Dinosaur would be taking 6 steps backwards.

Like I said, it's a good movie, but it doesn't really as much hope in future Pixar projects like Inside Out did. Finding Dory is next, so ugh. Not looking forward to that in the slightest.