Dinosaur

When it comes to movies, I can watch almost any kind and get something out of the experience - even if it's just migraine - but as with everything in life, there are exceptions. The one genre, above all others that I truly loathe are musicals. Call me Mr Serious if you will, but people just shouldn't burst into song for no reason whatsoever. I could never be called a realist, I don't want everything to be perfectly plausible and life-like, yet I have to draw a line somewhere. When dialogue is needed, it should be spoken, not sang. I personally think this device is just a lazy way of getting around character development and so damn unnatural. The other exception is the animated feature-length film. In my humble opinion, cartoons belong at five minutes and on the small screen. I need human interest to hold my attention, animated drawings just don't cut it. So, quite clearly I am not Disney's number one fan. After the amazing BBC series, Walking with Dinosaurs, my interest in all things dino was restored (having been all-but annihilated by Spielberg's vulgar little cash-in, The Lost World: Jurasic Park 2). Dinosaur's original 6 minute-long trailer was, to say the least astonishing; it displayed the next step forward in animation, promising an awesome visual ride through prehistoric times. But while Spielberg gave at least some concession toward the dinosaurs' true nature, keeping in mind the kiddie-friendly PG rating he so desperately needed, it was inevitable the house of the mouse could and would do no such thing. The dinosaurs on display here may look like all-improved Disney but they still walk and talk in much the same fashion as the studio's former creations, full of self-affirmation and familial love. The central plot follows Alodar, a dino brought up by a family of lemurs as he rejoins his own breed while they trek across desert in search of a seemingly fabled feeding/breeding ground. On the way, there are plenty of kid-oriented moments courtesy of the goofy lemurs, who threaten to but thankfully do not burst into song. With each of the characters very much a Disney archetype, the unfolding drama is often-times painfully familiar, not helped by a group of rather undistinguished voice talent - including D.B. Sweeney, Julianna Margulies and Joan Plowright. The central plot itself is fairly slim, discarding many interesting aspects of dinosaur life that could have made for a considerably more interesting film. While there isn't much here for the accompanying adult audiences, the tale does occasionally get rather grim, with some cynical views on life displayed and the occasional sudden death, all of which might leave the more sensitive kids a little on-edge. The central bad guys, the Carnotaurs are rendered as voice-less beasts, making for convincing monsters, with no cheesy theatrical villainous quips to sugar-coat their downright evil, however natural antics. The animation is really what makes the film, every scene filled with splendid detail, each character brilliantly realised. Although I’ve never been one for judging movies solely on their appearance, the sheer spectacle of Dinosaur make it a must-see for anyone even remotely interested in cinema. The opening montage is beyond breath-taking. At the end of the day, Disney do what they do best: providing entertainment for kids but as an adult with an interest in the prehistoric age, I left the cinema somewhat disappointed with the simplification of this fascinating subject. The drama in Dinosaur is almost as extinct as the creatures themselves. While keeping the target audience in mind, there were see so many other fertile grounds the script could have explored and in doing so could have actually taught the kiddies something about the dinosaurs, instead of force-feeding them the typical ain't-life-great message.