Saturday 12 December 2015

The Good Dinosaur (December 2015)

Official Australian release date: 26/12/15. Viewed: 13/12/15.
Director: Peter Sohn
Actors: Raymond Ochoa, Jack Bright, Jeffrey Wright, Frances McDormand
Genre: Comedy/Adventure
Rating: PG       


‘The Good Dinosaur’ is a fun kid’s movie that has a few strenuous moments, but I saw it with a five-year-old and she was fine, so its PG rating for “some scenes may scare young children” is probably fair. Fairly simple plot – the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago just misses Earth, hence allowing mammals & dinosaurs to evolve and coexist.

The story follows Arlo (Ochoa), an Apatosaurus, and his anthropomorphised family, of which Arlo’s the runt of the siblings. Wright & McDormand are mum & dad, who spend their time farming. Arlo falls in the river and gets swept away and begins a quest to get back home and is aided by an unlikely partner – Spot (Bright) the human, who’s really more of a puppy! Plenty of similarities to ‘The Adventures of Milo and Otis’ and ‘The Lion King’, with Arlo having to find his own courage before he can find his family.

There’s actually not that many dinosaurs (a few T Rex, Pteranodons, Velociraptor and Triceratops) as the film really sticks with Arlo & Spot. The backdrop they’re set against, which looks like the mountains of Canada, is superb, with all the scenery seemingly vividly real – truly exceptional CGI, with the only things looking cartoony are the characters! Some sad bits, some funny bits and some lessons for good measure.

Overall: Well-made family film.

Gav's Rating: 3.5 stars.   

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