Dinosaur

Dinosaur is similar to Fantasia in the way that it's driven more by technology and the visuals than it is by the story and characters. Sounds like a good thing right? Well... not so much. The fact that this film is used to explore the technology and medium means that it's going to forsake it's characters and story, thus hampering things greatly.

So. Let's start with the visuals, easily the best thing about this film. Dinosaur looks amazing. It has a blend of CGI and live action which creates a very beautiful world to look at as our story unfolds. The opening scene has no speaking at all and shows the daily routine of the creatures before it is disrupted by a Carnotaur attack. From there we watch the journey of our hero, still in his egg, as he travels from his nest to an island of lemurs.

From this point forward it is where our characters begin to speak, and from the arrival on the island up to the end of it's destruction we are given a very visual treat. We meet our main characters and watch the lemurs as they engage in a mating ritual and silly antics, before under a pink sunset the meteors arrive. At first falling in the distance, the characters are awed by them, but soon the meteors start to land closer in the water and horror sets in. These falling rocks act more like missiles, complete with one giving off what resembles a nuclear explosion.

Easily this first portion of the film is the strongest, mating ritual aside, as we are given a lush world to enjoy. From this point forward however, the story and characters progressively become much more boring. The story unfolds as almost a rip off of Land Before Time, our heroes must travel together while avoiding the Carnotuar all in order to reach the nesting grounds. Compare this to Little Foot and his friends who must travel to the Great Valley and avoid the Sharptooth. Earlier moments in this film play out much like scenes from Land Before Time, and the final destination of the nesting grounds is in a valley that is lush and untouched by the cataclysm that ruined the world.

This is what makes Dinosaur harder to watch. While some tension was attempted by having the herd, who our heroes travel with, being followed by Carnotaurs it just isn't enough. So with a weak story there's surely a strong lead character to root for, right? Not so much. Aladar is rather one-dimensional and quickly becomes pretty boring, so we don't even have that to invest in.

One last note on this film I wish to cover is the script. While there is nothing wrong with having our characters talk, the problem lies more with what they say. Instead of getting a solid script, our characters talk in a more hip and modern manner so that they can appeal to the current generation watching this.

All in all, this film is worth checking out if you want to turn off your brain and just enjoy the visuals. 3/5