Pixar has been so consistently great, churning out one classic
after another for so long, that the rare missteps are conflated. The vaunted
animation studio has had very public issues developing The Good Dinosaur; struggling
to crack the prehistoric tale's storyline and firing director Bob Peterson when
they couldn't figure it out. Even with veteran animation Peter Sohn and a Pixar
brain trust coming aboard, the film still feels incomplete and devoid of the
depth we're accustomed to from them.
The Good Dinosaur is basically Ice Age, only a lot more
violent and scary. We're accustomed to Pixar movies having mature themes that
adults can appreciate and kids can grow into, but that's not what this is. It's
tonally all over the map and more bizarre than endearing, and features one of Pixar's
weakest lead characters in Arlo (voiced by Raymond Ochoa), the runt in an
Apatosaurus family.
The film begins promisingly as the giant
asteroid that supposedly killed off the dinosaurs 65 million years ago misses
the mark. That means the dinosaurs stuck around and have evolved enough to talk
and form their own little civilizations. Arlo comes from a farming family,
complete with a chicken coop and everything. Arlo's a wuss; he's scared of
literally everything, including the chickens. That makes it hard for him to
relate with his family, led by the stoic Poppa Henry (Jeffrey Wright) and Momma
(Frances McDormand), who just want their children to make their mark in the
world. Literally. They want them to make a print in the mud and
"mark" it on their food silo, but not until they've made some kind of
achievement. Everyone makes their mark but Arlo who is so timid he's a
frustration to the family. Audiences may not like him, either.
Perhaps it was Pixar's struggles figuring
out an approach, but The Good
Dinosaur leans heavily on its
influences. One of those, clearly, was The
Lion King. When a Mufasa-esque catastrophe befalls the family, Arlo gets
swept away by a flood (of which there seem to be daily occurrences) while
chasing after the feral cave-boy, Spot (Jack Bright). Arlo blames Spot for
everything that has gone wrong, but once lost must rely on him to return home.
For Arlo, being stuck in the Darwinian wilds where snakes, killer
Pterodactyls, and velociraptors roam is like a Hellish nightmare. Good thing he
has Spot, who basically acts like man's best friend...or dinosaur's best
friend, to fight his battles for him, mostly through biting anything that
moves. Of course, if Arlo is going to get home he'll need to put his fears
aside and learn to survive in the dangerous world.
For all of The Good Dinosaur's problems,
visuals aren't one of them. This might be Pixar's most beautiful film yet,
featuring colorful images that are stunning and photo-realistic. It's so
gorgeous they practically burst from the screen, and looks best when capturing
some of the most terrifying moments such as raging flood waters and looming
thunderstorms over the hillside. But the story is a mess that takes some truly
odd turns. A berry feast turns into a psychedelic high that would put Seth
Rogen and James Franco to shame. An encounter with a trio of Tyrannosaurs
(including one with Sam Elliott's booming cowboy voice) takes the film on a
Western course, and even has Arlo wrangling water buffaloes. Where the film
works is in the growing bond between Arlo and Spot. They share a couple of
truly sweet moments longing for their families. If only there were more scenes
such as those.
Mostly what you'll remember from The Good Dinosaur is Arlo's fearful shriek. He's such a
weak, ineffectual character that he's hard to cheer for. We sympathize with his
family that had to put up with him. These are not the feelings Pixar hoped to
stir, and maybe if there hadn't been a complete overhaul of the story and
creative team, it would have been able to inspire more. Instead, The Good Dinosaur will probably be looked upon as one of
Pixar's lesser efforts.
Rating: 2.5 out of 5
