Sunday, August 7, 2011

Dinosaur

I was not familiar with this movie.  The only thing I knew before watching it was that the animation was unique because the backgrounds were filmed in real life, and then the CGI was done on top of them.  It sounds pretty cool, but didn't actually come off as all that impressive.  Though the animation was probably the best part - the story line really fell pretty flat.

If you're not familiar with it, it's after the meteor hits and a group of dinosaurs are trying to find a place to live - specifically, water.  Who knew a film about dinosaurs could be so boring?  The majority of the movie is them just walking around.  There wasn't much action.  I was literally falling asleep.  It was the type of movie where I kept checking my watch, waiting for it to be over.

The basic structure of the plot could have had some potential.  The problem was that most of the story was just about them "journeying"... nothing really happened until the end.  But the idea of someone who is a bit of an outsider coming in and rallying a group to believe something they wouldn't have seen before - that idea has worked in the past.   Just doesn't really work here.

Jason:  "It was slow and boring.  And the animation is dated.  It was not worth my time."

The Music
Not really a musical, just a forgettable soundtrack here.

The Villain
Kron is the main dinosaur leading the group on, and he has no mercy.  He's completely set in his ways and doesn't care about the old and weak dinosaurs, preferring to allow them to die rather than slow the rest of them down.  At first he just seems rather hotheaded and like a jerk rather than really evil, but toward the end his attitude really starts causing him to do evil things.  He can't do what's best for the group because he refuses to admit that he might be wrong and Aladar might be right.  Still, as a villain he's rather forgettable and cliche - nothing that we haven't seen before.

The WDW Connection
In Disney's Animal Kingdom, there is a ride called DINOSAUR.  It's not directly related to the film, but the name of the attraction was changed to have the same title of the film when the film came out.  Also, they've added in some references to the movie, such as a few scenes in the preshow.

Becky's rating:  4.5 out of 10
Jason's rating:   3.5 out of 10

1 comment:

  1. Perhaps the flaws you mention are the reason it isn't well known. I'd never heard of it either. What year was it made?

    ReplyDelete