Hi, Page Turner again! In case you were wondering, I had a blast on Valentine's Day and I'm now back for a brand-new movie review! Today, I was able to watch the Good Dinosaur and was left with feelings of Jurassic proportions...
The Good Dinosaur starts out with incredible CGI landscapes inspired by the Wyoming mountains, as a green dinosaur couple looks over their three eggs that are starting to hatch, in a moment akin to the very beginning of Finding Nemo. Each of the eggs hatch out three young dinosaurs, but Arlo is the very smallest of his family. As the summers pass and the farming family grows, Arlo's brother and sister place their footprints on the side of their corn silo, besides their parents, indicating they've 'made a mark' on the world. Everybody in his family has one except Arlo; everything in life scares him. His kind Papa tries one day to help Arlo prove his bravery and earn his mark by capturing and destroying the critter that eats from their rock silo filled with the winter supply of corn. When Arlo captures a strange creature (a human boy named Spot), he let's it go, assuming it's dead. Spot jumps up and runs away, just as his father comes up. Papa forces Arlo to run after Spot, to finish the job, to go beyond their peaceful corn farm. A storm swallows up the sky and it begins to rain as Arlo and Papa run along the river after the boy. When Arlo trips and falls, however, Papa realizes that he's pushed his son too far, and gently tells him they can go home. Before they have a chance to leave, however, a wall of water from upstream rushes down the river, sweeping away Papa...forever. With the death of his beloved father, Arlo tries to be brave for his family, working twice as hard, even if he was the runt. When he starts putting corn in the silo, however, he meets Spot again, and chases after him; he's angry and blames him for his father's death. As Arlo runs after Spot, he trips and falls into the very river that killed his father. He is swept downstream for miles, and forced to journey back. Along the way, the young dinosaur forms a strong friendship with Spot, meets carnivorous pterodactyls, cowboy-like T-Rex's, and travels over strange and thrilling territory. One night, as Arlo is lying besides a stream, Spot comes up. Arlo tries to explain the concept of family to him, by sticking five sticks in the mud, and drawing a circle around them. When Spot looks confused, Arlo shakes his head. "You wouldn't understand," he says. A moment later, Spot gathers three sticks and draws a circle around them, indicating his family. As Arlo watches, he takes the two tallest and sadly buries them under the sand. The two comfort each other in silence, both knowing what it was like to loose someone they love. As they travel back to his family, Arlo must come to terms with his father's death and what it truly means to be brave. Arlo realizes, with the help of Spot, his father, and some unlikely friends, that to make you mark you have to be brave, even when you're afraid.
If you've read my blog, it's common knowledge that I love Pixar movies: Ratatouille, Up, Incredibles, Monsters Inc... all good movies. The Good Dinosaur, however, falls extremely short of Pixar's previous accomplishments. Characters come very, very close several times to cursing, a cute fox is swallowed whole, a beetle's head is popped off, and the only characters that you feel as though you can root for for most of the movie are Arlo and Spot. Unfortunately, many of the dinosaurs' personalities are shallow and crass, resorting to crude humor and CGI animation, instead of the heart that Disney usually tries to place at the center of their stories. Also, Spot and a few other humans are portrayed as wolves, or cavemen, instead of the unique beings that God has created us to be. Although it does have a good message, incredible animation, and beautiful music, the Good Dinosaur is not my favorite movie for many reasons. I have much more confidence in Pixar's upcoming movie, Zootopia, a story about an optimistic bunny Officer Judy Hopps who is forced to team up with fox Nick Wilde to solve a case in the incredible melting pot of Zootopia.
Anyway, there's my long review on the Good Dinosaur. No matter what movie genre you watch, I believe that watching stuff that's glorifying to God is always the best choice. Because, as Arlo's father might say, movies can really 'make their mark.'
The Good Dinosaur starts out with incredible CGI landscapes inspired by the Wyoming mountains, as a green dinosaur couple looks over their three eggs that are starting to hatch, in a moment akin to the very beginning of Finding Nemo. Each of the eggs hatch out three young dinosaurs, but Arlo is the very smallest of his family. As the summers pass and the farming family grows, Arlo's brother and sister place their footprints on the side of their corn silo, besides their parents, indicating they've 'made a mark' on the world. Everybody in his family has one except Arlo; everything in life scares him. His kind Papa tries one day to help Arlo prove his bravery and earn his mark by capturing and destroying the critter that eats from their rock silo filled with the winter supply of corn. When Arlo captures a strange creature (a human boy named Spot), he let's it go, assuming it's dead. Spot jumps up and runs away, just as his father comes up. Papa forces Arlo to run after Spot, to finish the job, to go beyond their peaceful corn farm. A storm swallows up the sky and it begins to rain as Arlo and Papa run along the river after the boy. When Arlo trips and falls, however, Papa realizes that he's pushed his son too far, and gently tells him they can go home. Before they have a chance to leave, however, a wall of water from upstream rushes down the river, sweeping away Papa...forever. With the death of his beloved father, Arlo tries to be brave for his family, working twice as hard, even if he was the runt. When he starts putting corn in the silo, however, he meets Spot again, and chases after him; he's angry and blames him for his father's death. As Arlo runs after Spot, he trips and falls into the very river that killed his father. He is swept downstream for miles, and forced to journey back. Along the way, the young dinosaur forms a strong friendship with Spot, meets carnivorous pterodactyls, cowboy-like T-Rex's, and travels over strange and thrilling territory. One night, as Arlo is lying besides a stream, Spot comes up. Arlo tries to explain the concept of family to him, by sticking five sticks in the mud, and drawing a circle around them. When Spot looks confused, Arlo shakes his head. "You wouldn't understand," he says. A moment later, Spot gathers three sticks and draws a circle around them, indicating his family. As Arlo watches, he takes the two tallest and sadly buries them under the sand. The two comfort each other in silence, both knowing what it was like to loose someone they love. As they travel back to his family, Arlo must come to terms with his father's death and what it truly means to be brave. Arlo realizes, with the help of Spot, his father, and some unlikely friends, that to make you mark you have to be brave, even when you're afraid.
If you've read my blog, it's common knowledge that I love Pixar movies: Ratatouille, Up, Incredibles, Monsters Inc... all good movies. The Good Dinosaur, however, falls extremely short of Pixar's previous accomplishments. Characters come very, very close several times to cursing, a cute fox is swallowed whole, a beetle's head is popped off, and the only characters that you feel as though you can root for for most of the movie are Arlo and Spot. Unfortunately, many of the dinosaurs' personalities are shallow and crass, resorting to crude humor and CGI animation, instead of the heart that Disney usually tries to place at the center of their stories. Also, Spot and a few other humans are portrayed as wolves, or cavemen, instead of the unique beings that God has created us to be. Although it does have a good message, incredible animation, and beautiful music, the Good Dinosaur is not my favorite movie for many reasons. I have much more confidence in Pixar's upcoming movie, Zootopia, a story about an optimistic bunny Officer Judy Hopps who is forced to team up with fox Nick Wilde to solve a case in the incredible melting pot of Zootopia.
Anyway, there's my long review on the Good Dinosaur. No matter what movie genre you watch, I believe that watching stuff that's glorifying to God is always the best choice. Because, as Arlo's father might say, movies can really 'make their mark.'
I agree with you about the Good Dinosaur not being a good movie. Seen many better shows by Pixar in the past. Thank you for such wonderful writing! Looking forward to your next review and thoughts on the world around you. You're wonderful!
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