Coming on the heels of “Inside Out”—a critically acclaimed animation and box office behemoth—Pixar’s “The Good Dinosaur” has as if received a tall order to match, if not at least never plunge, from the thematic level that Inside Out achieved.
That barely sounds fair, considering how the film seemingly appears more obliged to please the kids than the older audience. Anybody looking for some visceral depth and cerebral profoundness will find this cutesy dino film, disappointing. So unless you still have that heart of a little kid in you, you may want to lower your expectations for it.
This is nowhere near the thematic range of the “Toy Story” films, or “Inside Out,” but it won’t harm to hope for some cathartic sense because there is definitely some moving sentiments to find here, and if you really still have that childish heart within you, then be ready to melt.
The very premise of the film emerges from the question: “What if the meteor that made the dinosaurs extinct, missed the earth?”
The narrative mines that possibility seemingly in the context of an extremely imaginative little kid. The film begins with the meteor bypassing the earth. It jumps forward into several million years later, when humans are already inhabiting the earth, alongside the dinos, except we are basically just pets if not pests, to them.
It follows a family of corn-farming Apatosaurus whose field is persistently trespassed by a nimble thief, who is actually just a little kid, named Spot—a name given by his capturer, Arlo, who at the time, is struggling to earn the approval of his father who tasked him to capture and eventually kill the thief. It turns out the young beast doesn’t have the heart to kill, that even at second chance, he still couldn’t do it. So comes a perilous disaster that will take Arlo away from his family, the humble and kindhearted behemoth finds an unlikely friendship in Spot, whom he surprisingly shares the same family issues, with.
As they travel together back home, what have initially looked a mere attempt to get back to their families, becomes a thrilling journey about finding one’s own self, of conquering fears, assuming bravery, and forging friendships. It’s hard to shrug off these heart-tugging sentiments even at the presence of the film’s overpowering visuals that magnifies the wonder in every breathtaking sequence whose beyond 3D appearance might make you think whether it is still an animation film you are currently seeing.
That it is not in the same league of Pixar’s previous animated gems, is arguably not a question. “The Good Dinosaur” lacks the ingenuity and sophistication one might expect in a Pixar film, but it has something so charming and tangible, that is never less for recommendation.
RATING: 7/10 (JE)
