The Good Dinosaur (2015) User Reviews (539)

A Fun Movie, Even If It's Not Pixar's Best

[MrGenre · 7/10 · 18 June 2016]

I felt compelled to write a review, primarily because there are so many "1 star" reviews taking up residence on this site. Let's be frank, folks. If it wasn't Pixar, you wouldn't be whining about how "awful" it was.

Here's the truth for those who are actually interested in seeing it: it's a pretty great flick.

I would love to hop on here and tell you that everyone's wrong and it's the most amazing animated movie I've ever seen, but that wouldn't be true. I would honestly say it's near the bottom when compared to all the other Pixar films.

But it's still a lot of fun. Here are the most laudable aspects, in my humble opinion:

1: The animation is the best Pixar has done to this point. It's truly beautiful! They did a tremendous job of capturing the beauty of nature, from forests to prairies, and interposing an almost cheesy-looking dinosaur in the midst of it was fantastic. Don't waste your time with a DVD on this one, splurge for the Blu-Ray.

2: The characters are heartwarming, and the plot is simple. Frances McDormand is especially wonderful as the mother of the simple farming family of apatosaurs, and the characters are driven by simple values like family and hard-work. I understand why many were frustrated with the simplicity of the plot, but do we always have to jump the shark in a movie? It's a fun and beautiful journey.

3: It's a beautiful parody of a classic western story/film. I'm a little annoyed that the previews didn't push this aspect more, because a lot of the movie-bashing is based on the fact that people didn't get the story they expected. This is not unlike classic Disney movies like "The Incredible Journey." Don't expect something modern or game-changing here. This is just a twist on a classic homecoming story.

I hope this preview helps dispel some of the hate. It's a fun movie, and worth a watch, even if it's not my favorite Pixar.

Not Pixar's BEST, but still solid. All these LOW reviews are off.

[thebasedupdate · 7/10 · 12 June 2016]

The fact that this movie still holds a score of a 6.8 with hundreds of 1/10 scores shows you just how good it is. I'm not here to preach that it's an awesome movie, but give it the score it deserves. (It's not PIXAR's best, but still fits the bill of a good movie.)

Honestly the highly negative scores are just because people were not BLOWN away. A PIXAR movie sets the bar so high, so the fact that this one isn't an A+, people are bashing just to bash.

I watched this with my cousins, all at the time were under 10 ( 7 & 9 ) and nothing was too scary. Could it be over the top for 4 or 5 year old, of course, but it's not that bad. The Lion King is regarded as one of the BEST Disney films ever and there are similar scenes with death, scary bad-guys, hard times, etc.

Give it a watch.

Not just a kid's film ...

[AlsExGal · 8/10 · 22 December 2016]

... which is the impression I got when I saw the DVD cover art, the title, and the trailers.

It came on one of the pay channels the other day and I sat down to watch. What I found was a whacked out "what if" view of natural history plus a tale on facing your fears and finding friendship where you least expect it.

The movie starts with a bang - literally. Dinosaurs are eating in a field 65 million years ago as an asteroid comes tumbling towards earth. The dinosaurs look up. The asteroid passes harmlessly overhead. The dinosaurs continue eating. So the mass extinction never happens.

Millions of years pass and the dinosaurs evolve. The "vegi-sauruses" become farmers. The "meat-asauruses" become ranchers. One humorous turn introduces us to a timid Styracosaurus who has evolved into a terrified animal that puts small animals all over his horns to protect himself from all kinds of threats that grow out of his neurotic fears.

At the core of it is a family of Apatosaurus farmers with three children. The smallest is Arlo, who is afraid of his own shadow. His nemesis is "Spot" a human child that keeps getting into the family silo and eating the crops. But these two have to team up when a natural disaster sweeps Arlo far from home and he is forced to face his fears.

I thought the idea of evolving dinosaurs living alongside the dawn of man at the point where man is just at "dog level"-a mute primitive creature - was intriguing enough to keep the adults engaged while Arlo's story is enough to keep the children around along with the unique sight gags I've come to expect from Pixar. Highly recommended as an unexpected treat, at least from my perspective.

Beautiful visuals

[Gordon-11 · 17 February 2016]

This film tells the story of a cowardly young dinosaur, who lost his way home after a storm. He befriends a young human being in prehistoric times. They navigate the treacherous lands in search of their respective homes.

The visuals in the film are quite stunning. The colours are vivid and bright, while the backdrop is always beautiful and at times even breathtaking. It's interesting to see a talking dinosaur, while the young human being behaves more like a dog, which is further reinforced by the name spot. I enjoyed the exciting and on occasion dangerous adventure they share together. It's an inspiring story to help children and adults find courage to conquer difficult times.

Nothing new, but still great!

[glenn93-8-324920 · 7/10 · 20 February 2016]

reading the other reviews about this film i can barely believe my eyes! all of you are complaining about it being to violent and having bad influences on kids but it is one of only 4 Pixar movies with a PG rating which should tell you it might be a little darker than other Pixar films.

but here is m review, The film revolves around a little scared dinosaur named Arlo and i think Arlo represents many of the kids in our modern society, in the film they bring problems like Loneliness, not feeling like you belong, the importance of family, death,conquering you're fears into the light.The scene near the end where Arlo lets Spot go and join his new family was really really touching. for those complaining that the plot is too simple, remember that it is in facts a kids movie its supposed to be, its not a film that you sit down and think about hours on end after viewing it, it'something you enjoy there and then.

all in all I really enjoyed the movie, it had me laughing at times and had me crying at times.

Not as bad as feared, but very much a lesser Pixar

[TheLittleSongbird · 6/10 · 24 February 2016]

After being blown away by Pixar's previous film 'Inside Out' (which is one of their best too), while not really deserving of so many 1- star reviews 'The Good Dinosaur' disappointed on many levels.

Not just lesser Pixar but a contender for their worst too, even more so than the often panned 'Cars 2' (which to me while not great was not that bad). It is a long way from an awful film, certainly much better than several reviews have lead you to believe (seeing as 1- star indicates no redeeming qualities, which is not the case here), but considering Pixar's usual incredibly high standard I was expecting so much more.

There are a number of good things here in 'The Good Dinosaur'. Much of the animation is spectacular, including some of Pixar's most gorgeously vivid colours and some of their most stunning and rich- in-detail backgrounds. The music score is both whimsical and energetic, and the film also benefits from some clever casting and very strong voice acting, Sam Elliot in particular stands out. Many have complained of Arlo's voice work, it wasn't a problem personally.

On top of those, 'The Good Dinosaur' does have some genuinely funny moments (mostly visual), parts that are genuinely touching, some thumping, thrilling action, a beautifully realised central friendship, an endearing lead character in Arlo and an inspirational main message (as a matter of fact, all the lessons and messages the film teaches are great). So a lot to admire.

However, 'The Good Dinosaur' does fall short. While there is much to admire in the animation overall, it also contains the least appealing character designs in any of Pixar's film, the photo- realistic look looks cartoony rather than realistic and jars against the vivid backgrounds . While keeping things simple can work in a film's favour, 'The Good Dinosaur' is rather too simple and straight-forward that the storytelling while not completely dull lacks momentum and veers on being too paper-thin and simplistic as well as being too predictable and familiar. Target audience is also an issue.

Adults may find themselves checking their watches, not that it's completely dull but unlike much of Pixar's other films it is not consistently captivating. And with children, while this viewer usually tries to not complain about anything being too dark or unnecessary and has been known to defend films criticised for that 'The Good Dinosaur' is an example of a film where that criticism is valid and understandable, because there is some dark and disturbing content (like a decapitation and a drug reference) that added absolutely nothing and quite frankly had no place in a family film. The violence is similarly gratuitous. The script is inconsistent in the laughs and emotional investment factors and is not as clever, witty, insightful or as intelligently structured as the writing for Pixar's best, coming across as even more paper-thin and simplistic than the storytelling and the dialogue itself is often cheesy and clichéd.

In conclusion, not as bad as most have made out but very much a lesser Pixar. Has enough good merits to make it watchable, but it's the only Pixar film to date to disappoint me. Very hard to decide between a 5 or 6, as it was actually not easy to rate, so it's got a 5.5/10 (somewhere in between). Bethany Cox

Not Pixar's Best; But Not Their Worst

[ModishMovies · 6/10 · 27 February 2018]

This is a very sweet, sentimental film and was very refreshing from Pixar. The latest Pixar films have been either disappointing or too focused on being great instead of fun and enjoyable. I am in the minority of people who didn't enjoy Inside Out. I didn't find it very relatable or emotional and thought the story was contrived. That's where The Good Dinosaur succeeds. It doesn't try to be relatable. It does try to be emotional, and succeeds occasionally, but for the most part, it's just a fun, lighthearted adventure film.

The Good Dinosaur doesn't try to overreach its status to be considered truly "great." It knows what it is and perfectly nails what it does best. People often hate Pixar when they make a film that is different. People hated Cars 2 because it had a story that wasn't trying to touch childhood emotions, but instead create childhood memories for the children who watch it. Brave was criticized for having a princess heroine like regular Disney animated films. People, I suspect, don't like The Good Dinosaur because it doesn't easily fit into every childhood memory or emotionally impact everyone who watches it.

My only major problems with this film is that the story isn't always engaging. It has a few plot developments or character introductions that I found unnecessary to the overall structure of the film. Aside from the story, the animation was stunning and made it easier for me to enjoy watching the film. The animation is more simple and lovable than Pixar's most recent attempt at making a "great" film, Coco. Where Coco strives for complex, layered shots and animation, The Good Dinosaur is simple, digestible, and realistic (the backgrounds) while still being ridiculous enough to appeal to young kids.

Expectations are subverted and common animation movie tropes are avoided. Even the first human child in the film is basically turned into a dog. If this could be appreciated for what it is, and not what it isn't, this could also be a considered a great film, despite its missteps.

3.5/5 stars

A Pixar stumble, but has its moments

[cherold · 6/10 · 14 August 2016]

If you can make it through the tedious first third, it's not a bad little movie. The interplay between Arlo and Spot is generally enjoyable (the first really good scene is Spot trying to feed Arlo). The movie can be quite funny, somewhat thrilling, and occasionally touching.

So basically, if this was some kids cartoon from some lesser studio, this would be pretty good. For Pixar though, it's a big disappointment.

One of the film's biggest flaws is also one of its greatest strengths; the animation. On the one hand, the landscapes - forests, rivers, fields - have an amazing photo-realism that mark them as an incredible achievement in animation. But this hyper-realism makes the main dinosaur breed look terrible; they are about as realistic as the cars in Cars, and it's like someone filmed a sock puppet show in the Grand Canyon. It's the thing most reviewers seem to talk about, so it's rather amazing that Pixar didn't see the problem themselves.

It's not that the dinosaurs needed to look real, but the insistence on those giant, soulful eyes made the heads misshapen, and the colors are too clean and shiny to meld with the environments. Other breeds of dinosaurs and insects have an acceptable cartooniness, but Arlo is just annoying in design, creating a constant de-immersion signal.

The story is conventional and predictable, the emotional moments feel manipulative, but still, it's not bad as kid's cartoons go. But it sure isn't what we expect from Pixar.

A beautiful and powerful movie... especially for shy and/or insecure kids...

[dickson-88463 · 10/10 · 4 March 2016]

It's pretty amazing that so many people seem to want to trash this movie. I watched this with my 2 daughters and my 10 year old said it was the best movie she's ever seen. She identified with Arlo's anxiety and insecurity as she also feels this way sometimes. His journey in dealing with these issues by facing his fears and, even if sheepishly at first, challenging them one by one helped her to understand herself. It allowed her to see that others struggle and can overcome these struggles in a way she hadn't seen before... up close and personal. As a child and adolescent therapist in practice for over 16 years, I can definitively tell you that any movie that prompts a child to look into themselves... to challenge their fears... and ends with them hugging you tightly, is a true marvel to behold. It's the core of the emotional artistry that movies are meant to be. Having an emotional connection to a movie or any work of art for that matter, will always win out over special effects and beautiful backdrops. It's the reason Star Wars: A New Hope was brilliant and The Phantom Menace sucked. Anyone have any kind of emotional connection to The Phantom Menace these days?

Not that bad as most of the reviews

[videokid-98-228406 · 7/10 · 4 February 2016]

People are overreacting about this movie. I first read the reviews in this page and went to the cinema prepared for the worst, and let me tell you that it was not THAT bad, I actually enjoyed it, as well as the other people that were there, kids included. The scenarios are absolutely marvelous, they look so life like but still matches with the simple design of the characters. The plot is nothing new that we haven't see in other movies, is pretty simple and predictable, as the dialogues, but well. The movie has some funny moments and some other heart warming ones. I didn't see anything disgusting about this movie, maybe some people is a little susceptible. I don't find a bug without head or hallucinations something kids can't see or be traumatized by, the kids in the theater laughed a lot on that part and I find it myself the funniest part in the movie. That's my kind of humor, I guess that is not suitable for everyone but well. This movie is not as bad as I expected. Note: People complaining about the death of Arlo's father clearly never watched the lion king, right?

Sadly disappointed that I took my daughter to see this. **SPOILERS**

[ncarolina-43197 · 2/10 · 30 November 2015]

I took my 4 year old daughter to see this movie because she loves dinosaurs. After seeing the previews I thought she would really enjoy it and It seemed like it would be a safe and entertaining child's movie. It appeared to me it would be like a Finding Nemo but with dinosaurs. I was WRONG. The creators started out on the right path but then in a blink of an eye sent it burning to the ground. *SPOILER* the scene that really ruined it for me was when the boy and the dinosaur ate the rotten fruit which made them trip out and hallucinate. The first few minutes were tolerable but then it just kept getting weirder and weirder. It was a completely worthless scene that was inappropriate for a child's movie, regardless of the point the film makers were trying to make. There are plenty of other ways they could have made their point without sending a child's character through a shroom induced trip. If that wasn't enough the violence and language was out of line for a child's movie as well. Stuff like "I'm going to kill you" and "I drowned him in my own blood" I mean seriously? If I had known that there was scenes and language like this I would have never taken my 4 year old to see this. I had really high hopes for this, it's sad that there are adults especially in the film making business that think content like that is appropriate for children.

A seriously underrated movie

[eireanngobrach23 · 10/10 · 31 March 2016]

***WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS*** Don't believe all the bad reviews. People have sticks up their asses.

The only mistake Pixar made was releasing this 5 months or so after Inside Out. This movie pales in comparison. That being said, it's a good movie. My 4 year old loves it. It's not necessarily of the same caliber as the other Pixar movies (except Cars 2; you are all forgetting that one. It is by far the worst one.)

It's definitely dark and has some pretty adult elements, but it's not something a kid can't handle. It's not traumatic, by any means. Give your kids some credit. The whole theme of the movie is conquering fear, so it might do your kid some good to watch it. And stop saying it's a bad carbon copy of The Lion King just because the dad dies. How many times has that happened in other Disney movies? Stop it.

I'll just say watch it and see for yourself. No, it's not as good as Inside Out, but it's a solid movie, and it stands on its own. It's worth watching.

A dinosaurs journey to get back to his family...

[paul_haakonsen · 6/10 · 29 September 2016]

I sat down to watch "The Good Dinosaur" with my family, that being wife and 6 year old son, and I didn't really have any idea that I would end up being as entertained by this animated movie as I was. I had thought that this would just be another one of those mass-produced generic animated movies aiming for the kids.

The story in "The Good Dinosaur" was actually surprisingly good, and it was told in a very entertaining way, and also in a way that kept the movie progressing at a constant good pace. There weren't really any dull moments throughout the course of the movie, and even the slower moments in the movie were good and had crucial parts to the overall storyline.

The CGI, style and textures in "The Good Dinosaur" were all very impressive. But of course, Pixar is well-known for that, and they didn't disappoint by any means with this 2015 release. The entire animated world was rich in color, details and very lovable.

As for the characters portrayed in "The Good Dinosaur", well there is something for everyone here. I dare say that much. Of course you have someone brave, someone lovable, someone daring, someone clumsy, etc. etc. It was all here. And they had managed to get together and impressive group of voice actors and actresses for the various roles. And for an animated movie, then the voice acting is essential.

"The Good Dinosaur" is the kind of story that you take to heart immediately and you will be entertained right up to the very end of the movie, that is for sure. And although you already know how the movie will end, it is still a good story to experience and an entertaining movie to watch.

This 2015 animated movie, like most Pixar movies, is of the type that you can watch more than just a single time. And it does stand out from many other Pixar movies, mainly because of the setting of the age of dinosaurs and the characters.

"The Good Dinosaur" scores a solid six stars out of ten rating from me, as it is a movie that has that ability to make you feel good, feel entertained and make you laugh all at the same time.

Anxiety Attack Dinosaur

[richet-15259 · 4/10 · 28 November 2015]

Although this movie did have some great parts and a strong overall message, you will have to sit through 90 minutes of one anxious, overly harsh, morbid, stormy or unpleasant scene after another. There were not enough characters to enlighten us from time to time, even if just for a moment. People keep using the word scary, but I prefer to describe differently. Remember that feeling you had while watching James Franco in 127 hours or Sandra Bullock in Gravity or even Tom Hanks in cast away? That feeling where you start hoping that something good will finally happen? But it never does? Well this is your kid version of it! There were a couple of lighter scenes that were actually quite powerful but not enough for my taste. I though it was a bit too much, even for older kids, (and I'm not sensitive or easily offended at all.) Worth a watch maybe once you can see it at home and not feel bad about walking out or having your children be frightened by too many intense scenes that leave them feeling really sad and helpless.

Background as Foreground

[tedg · 21 February 2016]

I follow certain filmmakers in a way unlike any other relationship. If they have worked well for me at least once, they become a permanent part of my life, not friends or family because I give nothing back. When they try and fail, it becomes something of a failure of mine to learn from.

Pixar is in this class of 'filmmakers' because there I see a certain consistent set of ambitions and values. Creative, polished story is what most people see, but what interests me is the deep exploration of what it means to tell stories visually, cinematically.

These men and women aggressively expand the cinematic vocabulary. Sometimes it is local, in some minute orchestration of character movement; I am not skilled enough to see and understand where these are new. But I can see and understand how they push the way we can communicate about *space* and the movement of the eye in it.

In this, they have two concerns. I've remarked elsewhere on the most visible one: how they understand the third dimension and where we place the camera. They can expand this because the camera is no longer physical. They've gone so far as to design whole story worlds to allow for stretching this.

The other experimental area is more subtle and perhaps more influential in the long run. It used to be that the environment in films was that we lived in, and incidentally captured by the camera. Except in very rare cases, like some of the work of Welles and Kurosawa, it is static, dead, not able to participate in the communication. In cartoons, the background was ever more so.

But CGI breaks that boundary as well. I saw the problems they had with trying to innovate with conscious snow interacting with conscious hair in Brave. They had all sorts of other difficulties with this film, many of them not relevant to the experiment in conscious background but it has to be considered a success.

The story isn't particularly novel in having the environment be the protagonist, but it is novel in the emotional texture they were able to impart to that environment. The characters' texture and form have been reduced and that of the environment increased. There was never in reality water this full of life, vegetation with this much unified presence. They moved the old story-focused director out and moved in a texture animator and incidentally gave him a story to tell.

It is not typical of Pixar that the filmmaker is allowed to make a statement, but here we have him creating a character that enters the story and announces his intentions. He is part of the environment, appearing first as a tree and stepping out to be a multi horned creature that 'collects' pets that each play a role. This is one of the most sophisticated in jokes I recall, directly related to the focus on the background as foreground.

Beautiful and heartwarming

[nicolajdavies · 7/10 · 27 March 2021]

My husband and I just watched this knowing nothing about it beforehand, and found it to be a genuinely "nice" film. The animation is gorgeous and pushes Pixar's incredible capabilities even further. The dinosaur seemed to be a deliberate contrast to the realistic scenery, to remind us we were watching an animation. The theme is gentle and takes me back to the innocent Disney of my childhood. There are some obvious similarities to other Disney films in there, but this didn't stop us enjoying watching it. I like how they flipped it so the dinosaur was the 'human' role and the human took on a different role too. There are some real talking points and genuine messages for children, and all of us, about love, friendship, kindness and overcoming your fears, and they are put across with emotion. There are darker scenes but they're no scarier than some in Dumbo that scared me as a child (but not enough to not want to watch Dumbo again). Almost all Disney films have darker, scarier parts, and overcoming them is part of the story journey. Those people panning this hysterically overreacting because nature isn't all ice cream and cotton candy. They need to unwrap that cotton wool from around their children and stop turning them into little snowflakes. (These are the same parents who, I imagine, won't let their kid pick up a sweet they dropped and eat it anyway because "germs"😱).

A nice, innocent, touching film, which I couldn't say about the over-the-top-ness of Inside Out.

Its just the lion king

[justincroman · 6/10 · 31 January 2021]

In my opinion the movie would have been much better if the dad had not have died, it was unnecessary to kill the father when there were so many other ways to come out with the same outcome. Also if he had still been alive the family reunion would have made a much interesting impact and really done what the movie set out to do.

Minor Pixar is still worth watching

[petra_ste · 7/10 · 15 April 2016]

Much like its young protagonist at the beginning, this movie is a cute little thing which suffers by comparison with more talented siblings. There is nothing terribly wrong with The Good Dinosaur, a solid coming-of-age story with beautiful visuals... only, it falls short next to Pixar's masterpieces like Toy Story, Up, Finding Nemo, Wall-E, Monsters, Inc.

The premise is inventive and compelling in a Pixar-ish way, an alternate history where 65 million years ago the fateful meteorite missed Earth and dinosaurs evolved as the dominant species. The Good Dinosaur follows young, fearful Apatosaurus Arlo (Raymond Ochoa), lost in the wilderness, as he makes a dangerous jorney home while bonding with a feral human kid he names "Spot".

What separates great Pixar movies from good ones is a main premise milked to its full potential, with a story deeply connected to the main theme. For example, in Toy Story the characters being toys isn't incidental, it's the crucial element of their adventures, dangers and fate (such as Andy growing up and abandoning them); Wall-E's narrative power hinges on the little robot being the last inhabitant of a devastated Earth; the main conflicts of Inside Out can only take place in a teenager's mind.

Like Brave, The Good Dinosaur's plot has a more generic connection to its thematic backbone (in the latter's case, growing up and overcoming fears). This could easily have been a western with Arlo as a young human teen and Spot as his dog - in fact, the movie heavily homages westerns in tone and feel, and also with characters such as Sam Elliott's Tyrannosaurus cowboy.

Compare this to Ratatouille, not even one of my favorite Pixar films but with true brilliance in the *specificity* of its premise: a story of talent and dreams versus conventions which could not have been, indifferently, about a cat who wants to play the piano or a monkey who wants to paint - it NEEDS to be about a RAT who wants to COOK. The main scenario is not interchangeable: if you swap it, Ratatouille just doesn't work.

Still, The Good Dinosaur is a lovely little adventure - not groundbreaking but pleasant, a safe entry among classics.

7/10

A Unique Concept, A Simple Plot, Execution Mediocre and Flimsy.

[roshan-245-24837 · 6/10 · 16 February 2016]

Audiences worldwide have come to expect a very high standard from the folks at Disney and Pixar, so there is no soft way to say this but: The Good Dinosaur just doesn't hold up with the rest of their achievements.

There is, however, something positive to be said about their masterful animation and graphics. There is no doubt that The Good Dinosaur offers something immersive and cinematically beautiful to the viewers. The environment that we witness is both enchanting and vivid, something that Pixar fans have become very accustomed to. Apart from the flora and fauna being so colorful and realistic (especially the water), the movie takes us into a relatively unique world where dinosaurs have evolved into the dominant, civilized species and humans (from our limited perspective) are viewed as little more than pets.

Where the movie excelled in the animation, it fell very much behind in plot, depth, originality, general appropriateness, and entertainment. Rather than really explore this potentially interesting world, the film keeps us focused on the simplistic farm-life of one family of Apatosauruses. In particular, the experiences of the protagonist, Arlo. This is a young character who, from the very start of the film, makes it clear that he is at odds with everything around him. He is timid, unsure of himself, yet sweet and eager to prove himself. While this character may connect with children, older audience members may find him quite un-relatable and therefore feel somewhat alienated from the story. To its credit, the film does offer some truly touching and sentimental moments between Arlo and his Poppa (adequately voiced by Jeffrey Wright). The lessons learned during these moments may provide some credibility to the overall experience, but are still not enough to sustain the entire story.

The film doesn't seem to know where to place itself in its story-telling. This is evident from the fact that it borrows heavily from the more classic Disney heavyweights such as The Lion King and Bambi. There are many obvious similarities between them, hence the lack of originality. Furthermore, within this somewhat deconstructed story, there are a number of images that just don't seem to belong in an animated movie aimed for children: slightly strong, inappropriate violence towards visibly cute animals, the only human character behaving in a feral and primitive manner (not to mention wearing a leafy loincloth, introducing the concept of shame), and of course a scene where the main characters are actually tripping out and hallucinating on psychedelic berries, followed by a pretty obvious drug-induced hangover.

Moreover, the film appears to come up short in the voice department. Frances McDormand's soothing voice as Momma is quite nice during the beginning of the movie, and Anna Paquin voicing a cowgirl T-Rex is funny at best. But the only real treat is hearing Sam Elliot's distinctive cowboy drawl expressing his words of wisdom, which lasts all to briefly.

All in all, The Good Dinosaur is a cinematically beautiful and pleasant film to watch. It is a warm yet unoriginal coming-of-age tale set in a relatively original environment. Although the story had a lot of potential at its core, The Good Dinosaur is unable to stand firmly alongside the long list of accomplished works by its makers. Leaving the viewers expecting much more.

Pixar Continues To Tug at Heartstrings. Don't Get the Bad Reviews AT ALL.

[kirstienne · 10/10 · 1 April 2016]

I'm in my twenties and to be honest, I still enjoy watching Pixar films with my family. There's just something so genuine and beautiful about their movies, not to mention the endless amount of lessons one can learn.

When I initially read the reviews about "The Good Dinosaur", they were all so bad. It didn't stop me from watching though and I do not regret that decision. This has got to be one of the most heartwarming Pixar films I've ever seen and it tugged at my heartstrings. I was crying throughout the movie especially towards the end.

The thing about being an adult, we tend to overthink something so simple. The plot isn't something grand. It's not funny. It's cute. If you're looking for a film like the classic Pixar favorite "Toy Story", forget about watching this. It's a really simple storyline that focuses mainly on teaching the importance of family, dealing with fears and overcoming them as well as finding oneself or making your mark in this world. View "The Good Dinosaur" with an open mind and just be ready to enjoy the movie without reading too much between the lines. The good thing about Pixar films is that they remind you how wonderful it is to still be a kid at heart. This movie is no exception. In fact, I think this joins the ranks of "Finding Nemo","UP", and "Inside Out". Everyone has a right to their own opinion, but I can't help but wonder why majority just plain dislike this movie.

If you're on the fence after reading one too many 1-star reviews, I say go ahead and still watch it. Judge for yourself. Be pure hearted like a kid and try to embrace the beautiful lessons of the film. Allow it to engulf you and touch you. If you have a kid/kids, this would be one of those perfect films to have a hearty conversation with afterwards. It's very inspiring, really.

Give "The Good Dinosaur" a try. Oh and one more thing, don't be afraid to cry while watching this. I've seen this twice and still end up a mess every time.

The Good-ish Dinosaur

[AdrenalinDragon · 7/10 · 27 November 2015]

As with every Pixar movie, I had high expectations for The Good Dinosaur. Although there's a few decent things going for it, I don't know if I can quite call it genuinely good. There are some problems with it, most likely stemming from its development issues, but it also has quite a bit of heart and emotion to it, and some nice scenes here and there.

The movie follows an alternate world where Dinosaurs and Humans live together. A young dinosaur named Arlo unsuccessfully tries to fit in with his family and mark his place, despite having a timid yet cowardice personality. After an unexpected event happens, it leads him to start a friendship with a Caveboy named Spot. He becomes lost and tries to return home.

The story is pretty straightforward and some of the humour seems to be aimed more for kids, but it's still funny for adults in places. It is visually stunning, with cartoony animals mixed with realistic backgrounds and reflective waters, and the music is effective when needed to be. Our protagonist Arlo is both likable and relatable, which is always a good thing, and Spot has his moments in short bursts. As for the other characters, Arlo's father will be reminiscent to a certain Disney character, but that's not a bad thing, and the others seem to be not as important to the story, but have some development time in there.

I think my biggest problem with The Good Dinosaur is that it feels a little inconsistent and "Been there, done that" at times. The first half I feel is stronger than the second, and there's a bit of a homage to a specific genre in there. Most importantly, I cared about the characters, but maybe I was expecting more from Pixar I don't know. I seem to notice the more effective emotional scenes were either the silent ones, or ones that were kind of loosely based on previous Animated movies that popped right in my head at the time of watching, so not being entirely original could be considered a problem to some.

Despite the shortcomings, I found The Good Dinosaur entertaining. It's probably in the weaker tier of Pixar movies, but I wouldn't call it bad. It's kind of halfway between average and good, and I feel the troubled production and staff switching caused it to be a mixed bag, although good intentions are clearly shown throughout the movie. Kids will certainly like it, and adults will at the very least appreciate what the movie tried to achieve.

6.5/10

Where is the plot?

[christianakara · 1/10 · 2 December 2015]

Probably the worst animated film I ve seen the last decade. What annoyed me most was the fact that Pixar decided to use a very common plot such as "farm boy lost in the wild try to find its way to home with the help of a wild animal" but in order to mix it a bit and attract more audience, the farm boy ended up to be a dinosaur and its wild pet a human...For real? Is this a dinosaur movie? Seeing dinosaurs behaving like humans and humans as wild animals isn't what I call a plot!It is just disturbing! Moreover, the fact that Pixar decided that the evolved dinosaurs would create human-like societies instead of following a different path shows lack of imagination! Everyone loves dinosaurs because they represent something exotic in our minds, humanizing dinosaurs at this level is just disgusting!

We enjoyed it immensely!

[ratslovetherachel2 · 9/10 · 8 March 2016]

Another win for Disney Pixar. My 3&5 year old boys loved Arlo and spot. We prefaced this movie with The Land Before Time. My children were fully aware that when the first man evolved that it was a dangerous and scary place. It still is,just the predators are people mostly. I guess they aren't as sheltered as some of the other reviewers children. We laughed when they ate the hallucinogenic berries, and cried together when spot was reunited with his family.The art was absolutely spectacular and awe inspiring. All in all it is better than Planes and a little bit less than Wreck it Ralph.We have purchased it on Blu Ray to watch again and again

Astonishing Visuals, A Standard Story

[farrinda · 7/10 · 4 December 2015]

Pixar burst onto the computer animation scene with Toy Story, the first feature film to be fully computer generated. Since then, the studio has won 15 Academy Awards, boasting a number of successful films including Monsters, Inc, Ratatouille, and most recently Inside Out. Always on the cutting edge of animation technology, nearly every Pixar film finds a healthy balance of quality entertainment for children while also catering to the adults who bring them to the theater. The Good Dinosaur, the latest feature from Pixar to hit theaters, succeeds admirably in taking computer generated animation to the next level but tends to get lost in the grey area of its vastly age-different target demographic.

Supposing that the meteor which led to the dinosaurs' extinction missed the Earth, the screenplay by Meg LeFauve (Inside Out) opens on a time in history near the beginning stages of man's evolution. Dinosaurs have continued to evolve and they can speak, farm, herd livestock and greedily wallow...

Read the full review on David 'n the Dark!

https://davidnthedark.wordpress.com/2015/12/04/thegooddinosaurreview /

Too Boring for Adults; Too Disturbing for Kids

[ashleyperison · 1/10 · 8 December 2015]

Let me begin by saying that I've never seen a Disney film I didn't like, but this was the first movie I've ever walked out on.

Inside Out went viral and word spread it was a charming movie. The opposite is the case for The Good Dinosaur; word is spreading that it is an awful movie. You can't rely on stunning graphics to make a successful movie. The storyline was boring and it recycled the same plots as Land Before Time (not Disney), Finding Nemo, and The Lion King making it extremely predictable. However, unlike those three successful movies, there was very little humour, charm, or heartfelt moments present in this film. It relied heavily on action and cliffhangers. Although the moral of the story is good, "sometimes you've gotta get through your fears to see the beauty on the other side", it was nothing profound. Think of the message as though it was a gourmet dinner served on the lid of a trash can.

Although the film is promoted as a children's' film (Its rated PG but it's advertised on the preschool Disney Jr channel), it is not a children's' movie! Forget the intense moments of the Poppa dying near the beginning Mufasa style, or the violent dinosaur fights.. The same happened in The Lion King and I expected it in this film as well. Don't be naive to think that animal violence wouldn't make an appearance in a dinosaur film. However, many of the dinosaurs in the movie are cruel and down right creepy! A gang of pterodactyls manipulate Arlo into helping their search and rescue team (which turns out to be a cult, 'the storm provides') and after Arlo saves a baby animal, the leader eats the baby alive. Really Disney? Not necessary.

There is also many inappropriate drug references in this film. The obvious being when Arlo and Spot ingested some rotten berries and hallucinate. If that was the only alcohol/drug reference for the sake of humour, I could look past it (Think Dumbo's pink elephant parade, Tangled's drunk Cupid, etc). However, there are at least two more drug references that were more sneaky and clever to impress the adults in the audience (the paranoid drug induced spiritualist triceratop, the gang of meth addicted hillbilly velociraptors). Just inappropriate in my opinion and they made for a cast of unlikable, creepy dinosaurs. I guess Arlo was the Good Dinosaur because he said no to drugs...

I hate it when reviewers say this movie is inappropriate for children because of the animalistic violence. Again, what did you expect? It isn't scary, it's more disturbing and unlikable. As a major Disney and Pixar fan, I am sad to say this movie is a major flop and does not live up to the standards many parents expect from these studios.