Review: With ‘Good Dinosaur,’ Pixar lays an egg

Posted on December 4, 2015

By MARK VIOLA

After several years wallowing in a creative slump, Pixar Animation returned with a bang this past summer with the imaginative, emotional “Inside Out.” With two movies scheduled for release in 2015, however, the question quickly became: Can they keep up the momentum?

Well, with the release of “The Good Dinosaur,” the answer unfortunately is no. This new film is a fun adventure and should entertain kids too young to go see the live-action dinosaurs of “The Lost World,” but a scattered and inconsistent story, coupled with flimsy characters, leaves it pretty underwhelming as a Pixar film.

“The Good Dinosaur” is based on the premise that 65 million years ago the asteroid which wiped out the dinosaurs instead passed the Earth by, allowing the giant reptiles to live on for millions of years more.

Unfortunately, both the film and the story never seem to find a consistent flow or tone and this results in a muddled mess, with nearly all of the problems resulting from a very weak script.

So I’m not completely negative, let me say this is a beautifully animated film with the landscapes appearing almost photo-realistic at times. The dinosaurs are more cartoony, but surprisingly it doesn’t feel jarring with the backgrounds.

Unfortunately, the positives end there. The story itself is very basic and if you take away the dinosaurs, you are left with a boy lost in the woods who must overcome his fears and find his way home. Now, that can be a compelling plot line, but here the filmmakers feel it is necessary to remind us every few minutes that this is the story.

Despite piling criticism on the movie, I do think “The Good Dinosaur” will entertain kids (although parents should note there are some intense moments). I just hold Pixar to a higher standard than that.

The film is rated PG for peril, action and thematic elements.

(This is a abbreviated version of the full review available in our printed or e-edition papers.)

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