The Good Dinosaur, film review: Action, humour, and saurian slapstick
(PG) Peter Sohn, 101 mins. Voiced by: Raymond Ochoa, Jack Bright, Jeffrey Wright
Dinosaurs were given a very bad rap earlier this year in Jurassic World, but they are portrayed in an altogether more cuddly way in this rousing new animated movie from Pixar. A little bizarrely, the film is structured like a Western. Arlo (voiced by Raymond Ochoa) is the cowardly young apatosaurus struggling to make his mark on the world. His family are ranchers.
Through various plot twists, he ends up a very long way from home and is forced to embark on an epic journey with a critter cave boy called Spot (Jack Bright) for company. What is impressive is the sure-footed way in which the film-makers combine the competing elements in their story – the action, the humour, saurian slapstick and sentimentality.
There are tremendous scenes involving violent storms, stampedes and fights, plus plentiful nods to John Ford alongside lots of gruff, manly voice work from the likes of Sam Elliott and Jeffrey Wright. The ending, too, is genuinely moving.
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