For today's review we travel back 65 million years, to a time when dinosaurs and primates lived in harmony and exchanged dating tips, in Walt Disney Pictures' visually stunning Dinosaur.
Iguanodon Aladar, separated from his mother while still an egg, is adopted by a family of lemurs and raised in the lush tropical surrounds of Lemur Island. When a devastating meteor shower hits, unfortunately coinciding with an annual monkey courtship ritual, the ensuing deadly dust cloud forces the family to leave their now barren home. Joining a herd of dinos heading for the Nesting Ground, Aladar clashes with group leader Kron whilst catching the eye of his sister Neera. A dino romance ensues, but drought, rockslides and a pair of hungry Carnotaurus threatens the perilous mission at every turn.
As you may have surmised, Dinosaur is not the movie to watch if you are seeking a pre-history lesson. However, if you are looking for a little lighthearted dino action with some thrills and occasional frights, then Dinosaur is a treat, visually at least.
With its real life filmed backdrops and detailed CGI dinosaurs, the movie looks beautiful. Yet, this groundbreaking approach to filming is, unfortunately, undermined by a pretty pedestrian screenplay. With an astonishing 5 writers credited for story and screenplay, Dinosaur borrows heavily from other similar themed movies, notable the Lucas/Spielberg production The Land Before Time (Don Bluth, 1988) an animated dinosaur epic which itself recycled elements of Disney's earlier Bambi (David Hand, 1942) and The Incredible Journey (Fletcher Markle, 1963). It is also marred by some glib, facile dialogue including a cringe inducing reference to lemur threesomes ('monkey in the middle'?!).
It is perhaps best not to dwell on the story and screenplay elements of Dinosaur, after all its writers didn't. Anyone above the age of 7 is clearly here for the spectacular visuals. This was the first time Disney had utilised CGI on such an elaborate scale in one of its own non-Pixar movies. While computer graphics have undoubtedly been refined in the two decades since its release, the visuals are still mightily impressive. Its most spectacular set-pieces include the meteor storm, the Carnotaurus attack and an opening, following the journey of Aladar's egg from nest to Lemur island, which the studio used as the film's trailer, such was their belief in the strength of the animation. With dinosaurs filling the screen almost every second of the movie, it makes the dino appearances of Jurassic Park (Steven Spielberg, 1993) seem positively random.
Dinosaur was a hit with cinema audiences, but not on the scale the studio had hoped for and nowhere near the blockbuster success of the superior Jurassic Park. Audiences were possibly experiencing dino-fatigue after two Jurassic Parks, but more than likely its story elements, which seemingly skewered the movie to a much younger audience, are to blame. A better script would have undoubtedly elevated it above the status of matinee popcorn fodder; its visuals belonging to an epic on a much grander scale than dialogue and plot suggest. None the less, Dinosaur is a highly entertaining movie, especially for dino obsessed kids. But also well worth a look for grown-ups who are willing to overlook its shortcomings to enjoy the awesome visuals.
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