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Over the course of their first fifteen features, Pixar has made some great films (such as the " Toy Story " series, " Ratatouille " and "Inside Out") and some not-so-great ones (such as anything with the word " Cars " in the title). However, the best of them are the ones that intrigue an initial idea and elaborate upon it with the kind of well-developed characters, ingenious plots and emotional resonance that is rarely seen in films aimed at family audiences. The problem with their latest effort, "The Good Dinosaur," is that it has the intriguing initial idea but then seems curiously unsure of how to pursue it. The end result is a film that has some promising elements and which often seems as if it is on the verge of evolving into something wonderful but never quite manages to turn that particular corner.

The basic conceit of the film is undeniably promising—what might have happened if the asteroid that hit Earth 65 million years ago actually missed its target, and the dinosaurs that were rendered extinct by its impact were able to continue to thrive and evolve as a species? After a brief prologue showing that near-miss, the film jumps ahead a few million years to focus on a family of apatosaurus tending to their farm. Alas, the youngest of the bunch, the runty Arlo (voiced by Raymond Ochoa ) is unable to do much and is the butt of teasing from older siblings Buck ( Marcus Scribner ) and Libby (Maleah Padilla), while his father (Jeffrey Wright) and mother ( Frances McDormand ) try to assure him that he is destined for greatness. One day, while chasing a feral child ( Jack Bright ) who has been stealing their crops, the fearful Arlo and his father are caught in a raging rainstorm and parents of more sensitive children better have the Kleenex ready.

While struggling to help his mother bring their crops in before winter arrives, Arlo runs across that same child, who he blames for the death of his father, and while pursuing him, the two fall into the river and are swept many miles down before washing ashore. At first, Arlo hates the kid but the boy, who not only acts like a dog but soon responds to the name Spot, eventually grows on him and the two become friends as they discover they have more in common than one might think. As Arlo and Spot begin the long and perilous journey upstream to Arlo's home, they encounter such dangers as a giant cobra and a trio of pterodactyls (whose leader is voiced by Steve Zahn ) whose seemingly laid-back attitude stands in marked contrast to their desire to savage anything they can get their talons on. Somewhat friendlier are a trio of T-Rexes (with the voices of Sam Elliott, Anna Paquin and A.J. Buckley) who are, oddly enough, buffalo ranchers trying to rescue their herd from some rustling raptors. 

There are some good ideas in Meg LeFauve's screenplay, such as the idea of inverting the classic boy-and-his-pet narrative so that the boy is the pet, and the way that it threatens to become a full-blown Western with the introduction of the T-Rexes (including a campfire scene complete with someone playing a mournful tune on a "harmonica"). But once it introduces them, the film tends to abandon them in order to tell yet another variation of the tale of a seeming misfit who learns to pulls himself together, and use his gifts to save the day and make his mark on the world. Much of it feels cobbled together from elements that will seem very familiar to anyone who saw the likes of "The Jungle Book," "The Lion King" and "How to Train a Dragon." The lack of a unique story might have been overcome if the characters had been compelling but alas, neither Arlo nor Spot are especially interesting. 

Visually, "The Good Dinosaur" is a stunner throughout, with one breathtaking composition after another that combines gorgeously rendered photorealistic backgrounds with the more overtly cartoony characters in an unexpectedly lovely manner. There are also a number of inspired moments where the film threatens to break its shackles and go off into strange areas, like an encounter with a styracosaurus (whose deadpan voice is supplied by the film's director, Peter Sohn ) who is festooned with a number of comfort animals. In another scene, Arlo and Spot eat some fruit with hallucinogenic properties that are depicted in amusing visual detail. The aforementioned campfire scene gets especially weird when it turns into, of all things, one of the most famous scenes from " Jaws ." There is even one beautifully low-key moment in which Arlo and Spot, despite the lack of a shared language, manage to communicate and commiserate with each other over the loss of their respective families in a genuinely heart-tugging manner. (This moment is so strong that I wouldn't be surprised to learn that it was the initial inspiration for the entire project.)

As those who pay attention to such things already know, "The Good Dinosaur" had a famously troubled production that saw its original director and most of the original voice cast replaced, and a number of major script rewrites added in an effort to save it. With that much behind-the-scenes chaos, it is probably not a surprise that the end result is as uneven as it turns out to be. The film will satisfy younger viewers, I suppose, but unless your kids are especially gaga over dinosaurs, my guess is that even they will recognize that it is lacking a certain something that separates the great films from the ordinary ones. 

Peter Sobczynski

A moderately insightful critic, full-on Swiftie and all-around  bon vivant , Peter Sobczynski, in addition to his work at this site, is also a contributor to The Spool and can be heard weekly discussing new Blu-Ray releases on the Movie Madness podcast on the Now Playing network.

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The Good Dinosaur (2015)

Rated PG for peril, action and thematic elements.

100 minutes

Raymond Ochoa as Arlo (voice)

Jeffrey Wright as Poppa (voice)

Frances McDormand as Momma (voice)

Jack Bright as Spot (voice)

A. J. Buckley as Nash (voice)

Steve Zahn as Thunderclap (voice)

Anna Paquin as Ramsey (voice)

Sam Elliott as Butch (voice)

Marcus Scribner as Buck (voice)

• Meg LeFauve
• Erik Benson
• Kelsey Mann
• Bob Peterson
• Mychael Danna
• Stephen Schaffer

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The good dinosaur, common sense media reviewers.

Young dino braves nature in lovely but intense adventure.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Teaches worthy lessons about handling fear and bei

Family is valued above all else, even great friend

Arlo must overcome his many fears in order to surv

Many scenes of peril/danger, as well as loss. (Spo

"Dang," "shoot," one "bull" that almost sounds lik

No actual products within the film, but lots of of

Famished Arlo and Spot eat some fermented fruit, g

Parents need to know that The Good Dinosaur -- Pixar's lush animated prehistoric saga that successfully melds Finding Nemo and E.T. -- has stunning visuals, moments of clever humor, strong messages about loyalty and bravery, and many scenes of danger, trauma, and peril that are…

Educational Value

Teaches worthy lessons about handling fear and being kind to others, but far from accurate in terms of prehistoric facts.

Positive Messages

Family is valued above all else, even great friendship. Courage is an important theme. Fear is normal and healthy, but it shouldn't get in the way of living your life; you can get through it to see the beauty on the other side. Kindness, loyalty, encouragement, and resourcefulness are all important. You can make your mark by doing something bigger than yourself.

Positive Role Models

Arlo must overcome his many fears in order to survive in foreign terrain against the threats and ravages of nature. His friend/pet human, Spot, shows Arlo kindness and loyalty and teaches him how to live off the land. Some strangers they meet are helpful and encouraging.

Violence & Scariness

Many scenes of peril/danger, as well as loss. ( Spoiler alert! ) Arlo's father dies in a flood, and, shortly after, the younger dinosaur is separated from the rest of his family and must fend for himself in the wilderness; later audiences learn that Spot lost his family, too. Carnivorous predatory birds and dinosaurs (many with big, sharp teeth) menace Arlo and Spot; they get caught in a stampede as well. Major forces of nature -- including storms, floods, and treacherous mountain passes (all of which look very real) -- repeatedly put Arlo and Spot at mortal risk. Some fighting/hunting; Spot is fierce and fearless, and at one point he rips the head off of a beetle he captures.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

"Dang," "shoot," one "bull" that almost sounds like the start of a stronger word.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Products & Purchases

No actual products within the film, but lots of off-line marketing/licensing tie-ins, from books and apps to a wide variety of toys, clothes, and much more.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Famished Arlo and Spot eat some fermented fruit, get altered/drunk (they hallucinate), and wake up with hangovers.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that The Good Dinosaur -- Pixar's lush animated prehistoric saga that successfully melds Finding Nemo and E.T. -- has stunning visuals, moments of clever humor, strong messages about loyalty and bravery, and many scenes of danger, trauma, and peril that are likely to frighten younger/more sensitive viewers. ( Spoiler alert! ) Apatosaurus Arlo is separated from his family after a severe storm/flash flood claims his father's life (a series of events that could definitely upset kids); plus, carnivorous, sharp-toothed beasts attack Arlo and his human friend, Spot; more storms bring destruction and deadly threats; and the heroes barely survive a dangerous ride down a waterfall -- which is all the more intense because the film's settings look extremely real. Arlo's many fears and desperation to get home will certainly make some kids anxious; be ready to reassure them. There's also a scene in which Arlo and Spot scarf down fermented fruit, seem to get a little drunk (they hallucinate), and then wake up with headaches. Editor's Note: Sanjay's Super Team , the animated short that runs before the film in theaters, has moments that are very intense and scary, with a fiery, frightening bad guy. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

Where to Watch

Videos and photos.

Community Reviews

• Parents say (139)
• Kids say (68)

Based on 139 parent reviews

Gritty & Uplifting

If your struggling to talk about grief watch this, what's the story.

THE GOOD DINOSAUR is a tale of friendship, longing for family, and overcoming fears that takes place in an alternate-history timeline before man began to have a serious impact on Earth. Timid young dinosaur Arlo (voiced by Raymond Ochoa ) is separated from his family and must travel a long, treacherous path home, learning to feed himself and deflect predators. He does so with the help of a resourceful, independent wild child he calls Spot (Jack Bright); the filmmakers get around scientific evidence that dinosaurs and man never co-existed by showing the meteor that supposedly wiped out the dinosaurs taking a wrong turn and missing Earth. The underlying narrative tells the story of a lost ecological balance, when ruthless nature was in charge, with devastating turbulence and unpredictability. Predators and destructive storms lurk around every corner, waiting to flatten even the bravest. Ultimately Arlo learns that although fear is normal and healthy, it shouldn't get in the way of living your life.

Is It Any Good?

This visually beautiful, emotionally authentic tale about a young dinosaur who experiences loss and struggles to find his way home will entrance kids and parents alike. Pixar's gorgeous animation places The Good Dinosaur 's talking animals (and human) in photo-realistic natural settings that are nearly indistinguishable from actual forests, rivers, and mountains. (In fact, the images' reality could add to the scariness for young children during storms and other scenes of threat.)

Great visual moments come out of Spot's lack of spoken language skills. The best example? Arlo, who can talk, explains the concept of family by setting representative stick figures in the sand and drawing a circle of closeness around them. Spot takes it further by doing the same and then throwing burial sand over the sticks to communicate that he's now alone in the world. But ultimately, he's not -- he has Arlo, and Arlo has him, and their friendship is a solid core for another excellent, if intense, Pixar adventure.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about how we can overcome our fears. Is it OK to be afraid of things? How do you know if you're too afraid of something? Does it help to face scary things with a friend or family? What does it take to "get through" something you're scared of? Do you think The Good Dinosaur is scary?

Why do we sometimes enjoy watching scary movies or shows? How much "scary stuff" can young kids handle?

What's the movie's message about friendship and family? What matters most in life? What do Arlo and Spot learn from each other?

How does The Good Dinosaur tweak history? Did dinosaurs and early man really exist on Earth at the same time? Do you think it's OK to change facts for movies? How could you find out more about what really happened to the dinosaurs?

How do the characters in The Good Dinosaur demonstrate courage ? Why is this an important character strength ?

Movie Details

• In theaters : November 25, 2015
• On DVD or streaming : February 23, 2016
• Cast : Jeffrey Wright , Raymond Ochoa , Frances McDormand
• Director : Peter Sohn
• Inclusion Information : Asian directors, Black actors, Female actors
• Studio : Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
• Genre : Family and Kids
• Topics : Dinosaurs , Friendship
• Character Strengths : Courage
• Run time : 100 minutes
• MPAA rating : PG
• MPAA explanation : peril, action and thematic elements
• Award : Common Sense Selection
• Last updated : February 25, 2024

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

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Our editors recommend.

Finding Nemo

E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial

The Land Before Time

Monsters, Inc.

Dinosaur movies, dinosaur tv, related topics.

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The Good Dinosaur Reviews

This tale of dinosaur versus Nature offers no end of physical challenges and dangers to overcome, but it also happens to be one of the most unbelievably funny and affecting Pixar films to date.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | Apr 25, 2022

Pixar's The Good Dinosaur features some of the studio's most dazzling animation yet, but its story, while satisfying, borrows a few tricks from its predecessors.

Full Review | Original Score: 7/10 | Feb 10, 2022

At a few spots in the film, I shed some quiet tears, thinking about my own family.

Full Review | Sep 13, 2021

Contains a few intense circle-of-life scenes that may be too much for youngsters but also milks as much emotion from its simple story as possible. In Pixar's world dinosaurs can cry... and just might make you shed a tear as well.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Feb 3, 2021

We used to say Pixar could do no wrong, but they did and they did a terrible wrong, something not even worthy of the Disney animation division in their worst ruts.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Dec 16, 2020

The photorealism is essentially indistinguishable from actual outdoor locations, which begs the question as to why these components were animated at all.

Full Review | Original Score: 6/10 | Dec 4, 2020

Of all of Disney/Pixar's work, this is by far the most absurd.

Full Review | Original Score: B- | Jul 14, 2020

Filled with a visual and emotional magic and majesty that touches the senses and the heart, The Good Dinosaur is 'Dino-Rrific'!!

Full Review | Nov 29, 2019

What rises the entertainment quality of The Good Dinosaur above what is unquestionably derivative are those encounters, and the environments in which they experience them.

Full Review | Original Score: B | Oct 17, 2019

A visually gorgeous, minimalist survival Western filled with weirdos, danger, and surprisingly mature themes.

Full Review | Sep 1, 2019

For me, The Good Dinosaur will be a pleasant, forgettable experience. But for some kid out there, it's going to be the first time they grappled with the concept of mortality. In that sense, the movie may not be that good, but at least it's doing good.

Full Review | Original Score: C | Jul 9, 2019

It works fine on its own and is an entertaining and occasionally moving children's film, it just feels a bit more anonymous than the high quality we've come to expect from Pixar.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Jul 5, 2019

Innovation and imagination prove to be as extinct as pterodactyls in the modern world.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/4 | Jun 20, 2019

This is a film like Bambi or Dumbo that are about the growth of a character and are artistically ambitious at the same time.

Full Review | Original Score: B+ | Apr 18, 2019

It's impossible to rave enough about the elemental beauty of The Good Dinosaur.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Apr 17, 2019

The Good Dinosaur is more humble than Pixar's typical fare, choosing to refine and riff on familiar ideas and themes rather than build new ones from the ground up and live on the cutting edge.

Full Review | Original Score: 8/10 | Feb 27, 2019

It's dark, depressing and pretty questionable as a family film.

Full Review | Feb 5, 2019

A film that works in the moment, but doesn't really have any long-term staying power.

Full Review | Original Score: B- | Jan 17, 2019

It has a few flashes of fun, as with a Triceratops...and some moments of real beauty, one of which is prominently featured in the advertising. Still, it's not the kind of surprising, imaginative fare we normally associate with Pixar.

Full Review | Dec 7, 2018

A unique film with a simple story that I feel will be enjoyed by most, but not loved and remembered over time like other PIXAR films.

Full Review | Original Score: 7.8/10 | Dec 7, 2018

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Previous Story

• Entertainment
• Movie Review

Review: The Good Dinosaur sets a frustratingly familiar story in a thrillingly familiar world

When we'd rather watch the water than the characters, that's a problem.

• By Tasha Robinson
• on November 24, 2015 09:36 am

The wonder of Pixar movies is how often they dare to tell stories that Americans haven't seen before in animation. After so many phenomenal box office hits, the studio has earned its confidence that audiences will follow it anywhere, and it's taken advantage of that trust by experimenting with unconventional storytelling. Not just any studio could have gotten away with the 20-plus dialogue-free minutes that open Wall-E , or Up 's grim depiction of one character's trajectory from happy child into a disappointed and then dead adult.

So if Pixar's latest film, The Good Dinosaur , feels at all like a letdown, it's because so much of the material seems familiar. The exact details of this world are new, but the story beats and even specific characters feel like they were imported from The Lion King, The Incredible Journey, The Land Before Time, The Jungle Book , and other familiar features. As with Cars , the problem isn't how the world is built, visually or conceptually. It's the sense that the studio is building a fresh new world to tell a conventional old tale.

In The Good Dinosaur , the extinction-event asteroid missed Earth 65,000,000 years ago, and dinosaurs survived and evolved intelligence. Their civilization is primitive and limited, but a pair of apatosaurs, Henry (Jeffrey Wright) and Ida (Frances McDormand), have carved out a fine little homestead, complete with a cornfield, a rough stone silo, and a cozy roofed den. The film gives the audience plenty of time to coo over the hatching of Henry and Ida's three adorable kids: Libby, Buck, and Arlo.

Libby and Buck grow up into capable kids who pull their weight around the farm, but Arlo remains small and easily shaken. (He's even intimidated by the family's flock of proto-chickens, though it's never clear why a family of herbivores need chickens.) Henry is a supportive dad who gently tries to help Arlo find his confidence via pep talks and special tasks. But eventually disaster strikes, leaving Arlo marooned far from home with a feral Neanderthal boy. After a How To Train Your Dragon -style rapprochement, the two bond and begin the journey home together.

There's something distractingly safe and samey about Pixar's latest

The Good Dinosaur had a notably troubled five-year path to screens, with director Bob Peterson replaced by first-time Pixar director Peter Sohn after the story got bogged down in rewrites, and the film repeatedly delayed from its original 2013 release date. It's the fourth Pixar film to replace a director mid-stream, after Cars 2 , Brave , and Ratatouille ; the studio's story, as usual, was that a new perspective and some distance was necessary to get production moving again. One of the more obvious changes involved having a teenager, Raymond Ochoa, re-record Arlo's dialogue, previously performed by adult actor Lucas Neff. Storylines and characters were cut; actors John Lithgow, Neil Patrick Harris, Judy Greer, and Bill Hader reportedly disappeared from the film.

Disney / Pixar

What's left feels surprisingly simple for a Pixar feature. The studio has produced shorter movies (including Toy Story and Monsters, Inc. ), but they've never felt this light on incident. And while Cars 2 and Brave have their story problems, neither has Good Dinosaur 's overt rough edges, which include a relatively abrupt ending and an obviously abandoned story hook. Perhaps more glaringly, no Pixar movie since Cars has spelled out its message for the audience so literally. It's impossible to not compare The Good Dinosaur to this year's other Pixar release, Inside Out , which builds a color-coded language of emotion into the story, then trusts audiences to keep up with it. Dinosaur, meanwhile, has multiple characters lecturing Arlo about the nature of fear. And the film's central metaphor involves Arlo's desire to "make his mark" in the world, which literally entails getting to imitate his family by "signing" the farm silo with a muddy footprint. The underlying meaning is resonant, but the actual experience involves waiting 90 minutes for a young dinosaur to proudly put some dirt on a wall. And it's scant payoff after the emotional trials involved in reaching that point.

There's one sequence in the movie that's pure Pixar magic, in which Spot and Arlo communicate about their lost families. Spot doesn't speak Arlo's language, or have one of his own, so they have to communicate with symbols and body language. And the gestures they choose are pure and effective, cutting straight to the heart of the profound grief that unites them. It's one of the few moments in the movie that feels like it's being experienced, rather than described.

Some of the broader character business is relatively subtle as well: the film never comments on the fact that dinosaurs don't have hands, which limits their building and farming capacity, but it quietly observes how ungainly Arlo and his family are, and how the need to drag every tree and stone in a building into place with their mouths limits their achievements, and makes every accomplishment feel earned. Given Spot's much higher flexibility, adaptability, and dexterity, it seems likely that evolution isn't done with this world. The dinosaurs escaped the asteroid, but their days are still numbered.

But too much of the rest of the film relies on goofy comic business and forgettable characters. A flock of pterosaurs are more or less generic antagonists, and when a pack of white-trash velociraptors with names like Bubba and Lurleen show up with virtually the exact same lazy archetypes (the leader, the girl, the psycho, and the follower), both groups look halfheartedly scripted. Aside from Momma Ida, female characters in general get short shrift throughout The Good Dinosaur , which would rankle more if so many of the male characters weren't similarly thin. Apart from Arlo's family and a bizarre comic-relief triceratops, only a tyrannosaurus rex voiced by Sam Elliott really stands out as a personality.

What makes this even more frustrating is that these characters inhabit such a fleshed-out world. The Good Dinosaur 's water effects in particular are staggeringly detailed — the river running alongside Arlo's journey has more character than 90 percent of the cast. At one point, a semi-conscious Arlo lies in the river's shallows, while light plays across the ripples in the water, partially obscuring the multicolored rocks below. In that moment, the water is beautiful enough to completely distract from the distressed protagonist lying in it. When the river roils in a rainstorm, or relaxes into a deep, still pool, it's hard to tell that the film wasn't shot in live action. And the fantastically detailed trees and grasses of the mountainside Arlo and Spot traverse are just as stirring. If humanity successfully pollutes all the world's water, kills off the greenery, and breaks every mountain down for oil, future generations can lie in their dwelling-tubes and watch The Good Dinosaur alongside films like The Searchers and Shane to remind them exactly what the wide-open spaces of the American West once looked like.

The film's Wyoming setting isn't a coincidence: director Peter Sohn specifically wanted his frontier story to recall classic Western movies, and he filled his first feature with broad country accents and big-sky backgrounds to match. The setting deliberately dwarfs the characters, turning Arlo and his journey into a little rubbery afterthought in a vast, indifferent world. The animation in The Good Dinosaur retains all the ambition and boundary-pushing of Pixar's best films, but the story beats echo too many predecessors to feel fresh, and the script feels unfinished. There's something distractingly safe and samey about The Good Dinosaur 's storyline. And Pixar at its best has never been about playing it safe.

Note: The Good Dinosaur screens with a new Pixar short, "Sanjay's Super Team," the "mostly true story" of an Indian-American boy fantasizing about the similarities between his favorite TV superheroes and his father's Hindu gods. Helmed by first-time director Sanjay Patel, a Pixar animator since A Bug's Life , it's a personal story about how he related to his father and his family's culture as a child. But it's also a fast-paced, dynamic superhero throwdown, full of Tron -worthy, bright, glowing colors and a tremendously effective sound design. It's sweet and intense, and it treads new ground in diversity for Pixar; it's everything daring and playful that The Good Dinosaur isn't. Bring on the Sanjay movie.

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Screen Rant

The good dinosaur review, the good dinosaur isn't as sophisticated as disney/pixar's best films, but still boasts a touching story and gorgeous animation..

The Good Dinosaur takes place in an alternate timeline where Earth was not struck by the massive asteroid that led to the extinction of the dinosaurs. Millions of years after the missed doomsday event, the apatosauruses "Poppa" Henry (Jeffrey Wright) and "Momma" Ida (Frances McDormand) survive by farming and growing their own crops, with assistance from their three offspring: the brawny if slow-witted Buck (Marcus Scribner); clever, though rascally Libby (Maleah Padilla); and the smallest, as well as the most anxious of the trio, Arlo (Raymond Ochoa).

When a tragic chain of events results in Arlo falling into the nearby river, he gets swept away into the wilderness, far away from his home and family. Arlo thereafter slowly, but surely, forms a friendship with a young cave-boy whom he names Spot (Jack Bright), and the pair set out to locate the Clawed-Tooth Mountains near where Arlo's family lives. However, to do that, they must brave a landscape full of creatures and other dinosaurs of both the friendly and not-so-friendly variety, while also overcoming whatever obstacles mother nature throws in their direction.

The Good Dinosaur is the latest offering from Disney/Pixar and the first full-length animated feature directed by Peter Sohn, who previously helmed the Pixar short "Partly Cloudy" and spent years working for the studio as a story artist/animator. Sohn took over from Bob Peterson (the co-writer/co-director of Up ) part way through production on the film, but ultimately manages to leave his mark on The Good Dinosaur  and create a 3D animated adventure that has its own unique identity - but at the same time, doesn't clear the high bar set by Pixar films past from a storytelling perspective.

Good Dinosaur  is part archetypical coming of age centered around a friendship between two individuals of different species under extreme circumstances (a la The Black Stallion ) and part  Incredible Journey -style nature survival adventure - with the twist being that the protagonists are a dinosaur and his "pet" boy, in this case. While the film blends these elements to explore meaningful themes that will resonate with younger moviegoers (like, how fear is something you learn to live with, not conquer), those same ideas are not explored in depth as much as they could've been. Similarly, whereas Pixar's best films are thematically-rich pieces of storytelling without qualifications, Good Dinosaur  is more strictly aimed at a younger audience - with regard to the ideas and concepts that it touches upon.

Part of the reason for that is that Good Dinosaur 's screen story - credited to no less than five different people - is fairly conventional and hits a number of familiar plot beats (many clearly telegraphed ahead of time) that bring to mind a number of Disney animated fairy tales from around the mid-20th century. Its old-fashioned (read: outdated) narrative tendencies aside, the Good Dinosaur script work by Megan LeFauve ( Inside Out ) is carefully structured and leaves no story threads dangling - nor, for that matter, are there any extraneous subplots or characters in the film. Good Dinosaur may not be Pixar at its best level of storytelling, but it's still as good or better than many other family-friendly animated offerings in recent memory, for related reasons.

Animation-wise, The Good Dinosaur is as gorgeously-rendered and visually-crafted as any movie Pixar has produced. Moreover, with its beautiful panoramic shots of seemingly endless mountain ranges and skies, as well as a charmingly rustic score by Jeff Danna ( Silent Hill ) and Michael Danna ( Life of Pi ) to set the mood, Good Dinosaur  counts as Pixar's first western, aesthetic-wise. Nature also functions as a key character in the story - one that can change from benign and welcoming to threatening, within the span of a single scene. The photo-realistic texture of the film's backdrops and scenery juxtaposes well with the more cartoonish and stylized design of characters (be they dinosaur, human, or other), making the sequences where Arlo and/or Spot's life is endangered by their surroundings all the more engaging for it.  Good Dinosaur is worth seeing on the largest screen available for these reasons, but 3D is not as much a necessity since it doesn't noticeably enhance the overall viewing experience - at the same time though, 3D doesn't detract from it either (for those who prefer 3D when available).

The Good Dinosaur also riffs on western genre tropes with many of the supporting characters that Arlo and Spot cross paths with; including, grizzled "cattle-herding" Tyrannosaurus Rex Butch (Sam Elliott) and his children Ramsey (Anna Paquin) and Nash (A.J. Buckley), and a gang of bandit-like pterodactyls who go by Thunderclap (Steve Zahn), Downpour (Mandy Freund), and Coldfront (Steven Clay Hunter). Most of these side players, like the members of Arlo's family, do have distinct personalities yet are only onscreen for a limited time - and primarily serve to keep Arlo moving along on his journey (both literal and emotional), no more or less. For related reasons, most of the supporting characters probably won't be as well remembered as those in other Pixar movies, even with their unique western influence.

Good Dinosaur is most compelling (and entertaining) when it focuses solely on Arlo and/or Spot - which, fortunately, it does for a significant majority of its running time. Both characters are brought to life with not just vibrant vocal performances (by the youngsters Raymond Ochoa and Jack Bright), but also inventive personalities; for example, Arlo's habit of being easily scared is all the more touching and funnier because he's a dinosaur, while Spot is equally memorable thanks to his mixture of dog-like and boyish personality quirks. Similarly, Good Dinosaur is at its best when it simply features the pair together attempting to communicate with one another (which, again, is most of the movie) - and their story is so well told through visuals alone that it suggests the film as a whole might've benefitted from having little to no spoken dialogue (a la the first half of  WALL·E ).

The Good Dinosaur isn't as sophisticated as Disney/Pixar's best films, but still boasts a touching story and gorgeous animation. It doesn't reach the same heights of cinematic artistry as Inside Out  managed earlier this year or that other Disney/Pixar offerings have over the course of the past twenty years now (yes, it has been that long since Toy Story came out), but The Good Dinosaur is another solid animated movie on its own terms - and is certainly worth seeing on the big screen, if only for its visuals alone.

In addition, The Good Dinosaur includes the Pixar short, "Sanjay's Super Team" . Directed by longtime Pixar story artist and animator Sanjay Patel, "Sanjay's Super Team" is a funny, cleverly animated, and touching short inspired by Patel's relationship with his own real-life father. Those who go see The Good Dinosaur  in theaters should be sure and arrive soon enough to make sure they don't miss the latest Pixar short, before the main attraction begins.

The Good Dinosaur is now playing in U.S. theaters nation-wide. It is 100 minutes long and is Rated PG for peril, action and thematic elements.

Let us know what you thought of the film in the comment section below.

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‘the good dinosaur’: film review.

Jeffrey Wright, Frances McDormand and Sam Elliott lend their voices to Pixar's long-in-gestation prehistoric adventure.

By THR Staff

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Finally making it to the screen after what has seemed like an ice age’s worth of false starts and creative personnel changes, Disney/Pixar’s The Good Dinosaur emerges as a visually breathtaking work of computer-generated animation that is ultimately unable to compensate for a disappointingly derivative script.

Despite the workable premise, which imagines a world in which dinosaurs have been spared extinction and ultimately can co-exist with humans, the film proceeds to tread an awfully familiar path, liberally borrowing thematic elements from The Lion King and The Jungle Book , among other Disney animated classics.

Following in the footsteps of the truly inspired Inside Out , this year’s second Pixar effort can’t help but feel safely benign by comparison, and although it contains some darker, more intense moments, it will likely skew to younger, dino-obsessed Thanksgiving holiday audiences.

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The runt of the family litter, Arlo (voiced by Raymond Ochoa) is a timid Apatosaurus who’s encouraged by his father, Poppa Henry ( Jeffrey Wright ), to step out of his comfort zone and make his mark in life.

He’s unintentionally put to the test when his dad is tragically killed (cue The Lion King ) while helping him pursue the critter who had been getting into their corn supply. Subsequently separated from the rest of his family, Arlo eventually catches up with the pest, a grunting, growling wild boy — or man cub — he comes to name Spot (Jack Bright).

Their tender, largely unspoken bond serves as the film’s emotional heart and soul as they venture out into those gorgeously rendered wide open spaces.

While the rest of the performers, including Frances McDormand  as Arlo’s mom and Sam Elliott as a gruff hombre of a T-Rex, are well matched for their characters, there isn’t all that much for them to say.

In his feature debut, director Peter Sohn , who took over the reins from the story’s originator, Bob Peterson, keeps this prehistoric Western amiably engaging. But while there are some lively departures, including a sequence in which Arlo and Spot sample some hallucinogenic fruits, their episodic adventure tends to stick with the road most traveled.

Read more Pixar’s Peter Sohn on Boarding ‘A Good Dinosaur’: “I Was Terrified”

Though the tricky third act that originally concerned John Lasseter apparently remained a hard nut to crack for screenwriter Meg LeFauve and numerous story contributors, the production’s photorealistic naturalism is a true bar-raiser.

Those CG-rendered backdrops, taking their visual cues from Yellowstone’s waterfalls to Montana’s grasslands, bring that custom Pixar cutting-edge technology into an exciting, new, wondrous place.

Hopefully next time the storytelling won’t dwell so much in the past.

Production company: Pixar Animation Studios Cast: Raymond Ochoa, Jeffrey Wright, Frances McDormand , Sam Elliott Director: Peter Sohn Screenwriter: Meg LeFauve Producer: Denise Ream Executive producers: John Lasseter , Lee Unkrich , Andrew Stanton Directors of photography: Mahyar Abousaeedi , Sharon Calahan Composers: Mychael Danna , Jeff Danna Casting directors: Kevin Reher , Natalie Lyon

Rated PG, 93 minutes

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Film Review: ‘The Good Dinosaur’

Clever and cloying by turns, Pixar's 16th feature is a visually stunning tale of interspecies friendship.

By Justin Chang

Justin Chang

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Serving up a sweet tale of interspecies friendship and a stunning prehistoric vision of the American Northwest, “ The Good Dinosaur ” is easily one of the great landscape films of 2015, even if what unfolds against that landscape isn’t always as captivatingly rendered. Pixar ’s 16th animated feature centers around a boy-and-his-beast dynamic that will strike some of the same audience chords DreamWorks did with “How to Train Your Dragon,” albeit with a crucial reversal of perspective this time around. That largely successful gambit turns out to be the boldest stroke in a picture that, for all its signature visual artistry, falls back surprisingly often on familiar, kid-friendly lessons and chatty anthropomorphic humor. Clever and cloying by turns, it’s a movie that always seems to be trying to evolve beyond its conventional trappings, and not succeeding as often as Pixar devotees have come to expect.

It’s no knock on “The Good Dinosaur” to note that it is neither as ingeniously conceived nor as emotionally wrenching as this summer’s “Inside Out,” a movie it doesn’t even try to emulate; it falls into that humbler category of Pixar efforts, like “Brave” and “A Bug’s Life,” that are content to riff engagingly on material we’ve seen before, rather than imagining an entirely new world from scratch. Marking a solid, graceful feature-directing debut for Peter Sohn (an artist and voice actor on“The Incredibles,” “Ratatouille” and other Pixar productions), this is moving and accessible family fare that should rack up strong global returns in the month or so before the season’s other big Disney release — something involving a star and a war — makes like T-Rex with the box office competition.

At the very least, it’s refreshing to see Pixar churn out two original, non-franchise-based efforts in between sequels (with “Finding Dory” due out next year), even if the movie in question doesn’t always feel like a prize specimen. But then, neither does our hero, Arlo, a runty apatosaurus growing up in a very distant fictionalized past. In the alternate history of Earth set forth in Meg LeFauve’s screenplay, the dinosaurs were not wiped out 65 million years ago by a wayward asteroid — as shown in a sly fakeout of an opening sequence — but instead survived, thrived and developed a remarkably advanced agrarian society, which explains (sort of) how a family of green, long-necked dinosaurs came to own a cornfield and a chicken coop on the banks of a river in what looks like prehistoric Wyoming. It’s a lovely, mildly creepy pastoral scene — think of it as George Orwell’s “Jurassic Farm” — where dinosaurs notably behave just like people: laboring, laughing, bickering, and trying to ensure the best for their children.

It’s jarring initially to hear American-accented English pouring from the mouths of Arlo (voiced by Raymond Ochoa) and his parents, Poppa (Jeffrey Wright) and Momma (Frances McDormand), especially since their conversations consist mainly of canned banter and platitudes. Relentlessly teased and outshone by his bigger, braver siblings, Buck (Marcus Scribner) and Libby (Maleah Padilla), Arlo has developed a severe inferiority complex, though Poppa tries to teach him the importance of bravery, as well as proper goal setting and follow-through: “You gotta earn your mark by doing something big.” Arlo will certainly get his chance when a violent rainstorm sends him downriver; he washes up miles from home, battered and bruised, with only a human wild child (Jack Bright) for company.

The runty dinosaur and the pint-sized Neanderthal have good reason to distrust each other at first, and it’s a measure of how adroitly the film has manipulated our sense of identification that we wouldn’t mind, at least at first, if Arlo just finished off the filthy, feral little troublemaker. But the viewer’s sympathies naturally shift as the boy, who tellingly responds to the name Spot, finds ways to help the frightened Arlo, and their antagonism slowly turns to friendship. Crawling around on all fours and talking in growls, grunts and the occasionally well-timed bite, Spot is unmistakably presented as the savage pet in the relationship, a choice that raises some subtle moral and ecological questions about a world where humans aren’t at the top of the food chain. In any event, the characters’ deepening bond is tenderly and touchingly observed, never more so than in a piercingly beautiful nighttime scene where Arlo and Spot find a wordless way to convey a shared sense of sorrow.

The quiet sublimity of that moment may well trigger memories of “How to Train Your Dragon,” though it’s hardly the only animated touchstone that looms heavily over the proceedings. At times it seems that every movie in the Disney critter canon is up for grabs: Echoes of “The Lion King” reverberate loudly through these scenic mountain passes (Poppa is basically Mufasa with scales). And as Arlo and Spot encounter one colorful new species after another, the movie increasingly recalls “The Jungle Book,” another tale of a man-cub and a hissing, roaring menagerie. In the latter respect, Sohn and his creative team have allowed their imaginations to roam free: A salmon-pink cobra with legs and a winged insect the size of a wild boar are among the hostile animals briefly rescued here from cinematic extinction.

A rather friendlier fellow is the Pet Collector, a kooky old styracosaurus (voiced by Sohn) whose amusing horn-aments and deadpan delivery raise the possibility that “The Good Dinosaur” is about to shift into a very different, much trippier mode. (Another madcap sequence, in which Arlo and Spot enjoy some particularly strange fruit, keeps that hope alive.) Unfortunately, the style of humor becomes broader and more funny-accent-driven as the movie progresses, reaching a nadir with a pack of nasty, snaggle-toothed raptors who seem to have been patterned on meth-cooking hillbillies from the Ozarks. Running a close second is a team of hungry pterodactyls led by Thunderclap (Steve Zahn), whose beach-bum-style mantra is “The storm provides” (he may as well be saying, “The Dude abides”).

By the time Arlo and Spot meet an unexpectedly friendly clan of T-Rexes who double as buffalo ranchers, it’s clear that the film means to be a Western throwback of sorts, one that just happens to be set closer to the dawn of time. It’s a charming enough conceit that’s most fully realized in a delightful campfire scene, with none other than Sam Elliott lending his baritone growl to the role of a scarred, grizzled T-Rex showing off his war wounds (it’s probably the one time you’ll find it odd that a dinosaur isn’t chewing tobacco). And it’s particularly suited to the rugged majesty of the film’s scenery: fir-lined slopes, craggy mountain peaks and babbling brooks, all rendered in staggering widescreen compositions with an almost photorealistic attention to detail, and integrated seamlessly with the more stylized character designs.

As our homeward-bound heroes near their respective destinations, “The Good Dinosaur” seems to falter and lose its way — and then, in almost the same moment, to find it again. Its lush, classical storytelling lapses into familiar beats and payoffs, en route to an outcome as certain as the recurrence of Mychael and Jeff Danna’s often distractingly Tolkien-esque score. But predictability can have its pleasures, too, and the film achieves a gentle surge of emotion as Arlo learns his lesson in courage — not least the courage of befriending another soul. Cross-species bonding may have its limits, but there’s no mistaking the beauty in a boy-meets-beast saga that, by the end, has made it hard to tell which is which.

Reviewed at Walt Disney Studios, Burbank, Calif., Nov. 12, 2015. MPAA Rating: PG. Running time: 92 MIN.

• Production: (Animated) A Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures release of a Disney presentation of a Pixar Animation Studios production. Produced by Denise Ream. Executive producers, John Lasseter, Lee Unkrich, Andrew Stanton.  
• Crew: Directed by Peter Sohn. Screenplay, Meg LeFauve; story, Sohn, Erik Benson, LeFauve, Kelsey Mann, Bob Peterson; original concept and development, Peterson. Camera (color, widescreen), Sharon Calahan, Mahyar Abousaeedi; editor, Stephen Schaffeer; music, Mychael Danna, Jeff Danna; character art director, Matt Nolte; sets art directors, Noah Klocek, Huy Nguyen; shading art director, Bryn Imagire; story supervisor, Mann; sets supervisor, David Munier; effects supervisor, Jon Reisch; volumetric clouds supervisor, Matthew Webb; character supervisors, Michael Comet, Junyi Ling; simulation and crowds supervisor, Gordon Cameron; rendering and global technology supervisor, Susan Fisher Fong; sound designer, Craig Berkey; supervising sound editor, Shannon Mills; re-recording mixers, Michael Semanick, Tom Johnson; associate producer, Mary Alice Drumm; casting, Kevin Reher, Natalie Lyon.
• With: Voices: Jeffrey Wright, Frances McDormand, Maleah Padilla, Ryan Teeple, Jack McGraw, Marcus Scribner, Raymond Ochoa, Jack Bright, Peter Sohn, Steve Zahn, Mandy Freund, Steven Clay Hunter, A.J. Buckley, Anna Paquin, Sam Elliott, Dave Boat, Carrie Paff, Calum Mackenzie Grant, John Ratzenberger.

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Movie Review: The Good Dinosaur (2015)

• Greg Eichelberger
• Movie Reviews
• 5 responses
• --> November 27, 2015

After a two year gap, Pixar made a triumphant return to big screens a few months ago with the magnificent “ Inside Out ,” a funny, heartfelt, beautiful, film which should be the pole-sitter for this year’s top animated film (and it could even be nominated in the Best Picture and Screenplay category — yes, it’s that good). And despite a spate of pretty good movies of this genre (“ Shaun the Sheep ” and “ Minions ,” to name a few), the only thing could possibly defeat “Inside Out” would likely be The Good Dinosaur , the second film from the studio this year.

The movie’s plotline answers the question what if Earth was NOT hit by the famous meteor that supposedly wiped out the dinosaurs approximately 65 million years ago. Here, the large reptiles have evolved to the point where they farm crops and live in houses (don’t ask me HOW this is possible, however, just go with it). Arlo (voiced at first by Jack McGraw, then Raymond Ochoa, “ A Christmas Carol ”) is the runt of a litter including big sister Libby (voiced by Maleah Nipay-Padilla, “Fruitvale Station”) and Buck (voiced by Marcus Scribner, “Black-ish” TV series), the strong, but cruel elder brother, as well as Poppa (voiced by Jeffrey Wright, “ The Hunger Games: Catching Fire ”) and Momma (voiced by Frances McDormand, Academy Award winner for “Fargo”).

Arlo is scared of everything (including insects and small “critters” of all kinds) and hinders all chores on their corn farm, and eventually is thrust into the fearful world beyond their quiet land, where his father meets a “Lion King”-like demise, forcing the unprepared dinosaur to fend for himself to get home. Well, ALMOST by himself. On this incredible journey, he is joined by Spot (voiced by Jack Bright, “ Monsters University ”), a human with dog characteristics and an attribute that Arlo lacks: Bravery. Spot is afraid of nothing, protecting the beast (who had saved the little one’s life before) and even providing food for him. Pixar, which provides richly-written characters as it does wonderful animation, does it again here as the bond between human and dinosaur slowly grows from hate to grudging acceptance to love as the two face increasing dangerous ordeals on their way back.

And while some may find elements of “Ice Age” and “ How to Train Your Dragon ,” among other films here, the story remains mostly original and stripped down to it’s most simple and basic heart. Sometimes, though, this simplicity can lead to Arlo and Spot being overwhelmed by the supporting characters, including Steve Zahn (“ Dallas Buyers Club ”) as Thunderclap, the leader of a group of ferocious Pterodactyls and Sam Elliott (“Justified” TV series and the iconic cowboy character in movies like “The Big Lebowski” and “Thank You for Smoking”) as a Tyrannosaurus rex who herds long-horn bison with his two kids.

Fortunately, the duo manages to overcome most of the obstacles set before them before the bittersweet ending (which may bring a few throat lumps and tears, but not enough to equate it with “Inside Out” or other more deeply emotional Pixar productions). Watch it mainly for the outstanding artistic visuals, though, as the swirling waters, majestic mountain peaks, wooded wonderlands and other marvelous vistas showcase just why this studio is so respected. Some may wonder, however, why the artists here created such gorgeously lifelike landscapes for Arlo to journey across while rendering the dinosaur in a simplistically cartoonish way, even while the other characters seem to be fleshed out much more lifelike (Arlo reminded me a little of “Dino” from “The Flintstones” TV show).

I suppose that would be my one tiny problem with director Peter Sohn’s production. It’s not enough to keep me from recommending The Good Dinosaur , but it may be enough to give Academy voters pause when it comes time for them to cast their Oscar ballots.

Tagged: boy , dinosaur , friendship , human

I have been a movie fan for most of my life and a film critic since 1986 (my first published review was for "Platoon"). Since that time I have written for several news and entertainment publications in California, Utah and Idaho. Big fan of the Academy Awards - but wish it would go back to the five-minute dinner it was in May, 1929. A former member of the San Diego Film Critics Society and current co-host of "The Movie Guys," each Sunday afternoon on KOGO AM 600 in San Diego with Kevin Finnerty.

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'Movie Review: The Good Dinosaur (2015)' have 5 comments

November 27, 2015 @ 2:01 pm rohan

After Inside Out, The Good Dinosaur is a total let down. The canvas is great to look at but the story is trite and I couldn’t associate with either of what constitutes the main characters.

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November 27, 2015 @ 2:35 pm Vincent McReady

I don’t get the cartoon dinosaurs.

November 27, 2015 @ 5:52 pm elfears

Life-like dinosaurs are scary to the children. Think of the children!

November 27, 2015 @ 4:16 pm Rich in Vitamins

I’ll let my wife take the kids to see this one. I’ve outgrown my dinosaur fascination decades ago.

August 19, 2016 @ 3:30 pm Lela King

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• DVD & Streaming

The Good Dinosaur

• Action/Adventure , Animation , Comedy , Drama , Kids , Sci-Fi/Fantasy

Content Caution

In Theaters

• November 25, 2015
• Voices of Jeffrey Wright as Poppa; Frances McDormand as Momma; Raymond Ochoa as Arlo; Jack Bright as Spot; Sam Elliott as Butch; Steve Zahn as Thunderclap

Home Release Date

• February 23, 2016

Distributor

• Walt Disney

Movie Review

He used to think life on his family’s farm was scary.

OK, it admittedly isn’t that frightening for every Apatosaurus homesteader. Most of them are pretty big and strong, even by outsized dino standards. But it sure was a flinch-worthy experience for Arlo. He’s the runt of his family, you see, and everything seems to feel threatening to him. I mean, have you ever stood right next to those prehistoric chickens he had to feed? They’re huge!

Right about now, though, Arlo would gladly give anything to just be back on that fearsome farm being chased by those nasty, half-plucked birds. Because where he is now is so much scarier!

While he was pursuing a corn-stealing critter, he accidentally fell into the quick-moving river near his family’s land and was washed miles away in a matter of seconds. Now he can’t even see the peaks of the jagged mountain range that rises above their spread. He’s that far away. That lost. And really, really afraid.

His big-hearted father always tried to help him work through his lack of, well, everything . Poppa believed in him. “You’ve got to earn your mark by doing something bigger than yourself,” Poppa would say as he wrapped his tail around Arlo. “You’ve got to get through your fear to see the beauty on the other side.” And when Arlo worried that he just wasn’t like his dad—not big enough, not strong enough, not brave enough—Poppa would simply shake his head and smile. “You’re me plus more,” the big dino would rumble.

No disrespect to his poppa, who he loved and sadly lost in a violent, churning storm, but Arlo doesn’t feel like he’s more of anything . Except for this little feral human critter who keeps running around near him, scratching and howling at the moon, he’s all alone and feeling a bit hopeless.

But if he’s going to earn his mark, like his father hoped he would, he has to do something. He has to work through his fear. He has to get his legs to stop shaking! As for the beauty on the other side, well … I guess at this point, not getting eaten is kind of beautiful.

Positive Elements

Arlo and his human pet—who Arlo names Spot—eventually establish a close friendship as Arlo comes to realize that the “critter” is more than he appears to be. They form a close bond and put their lives on the line to protect each other on a journey of self-discovery.

Part of that revelation—or relevation , as it’s said here—unfolds as they learn to communicate and share their mutual longing for the love and closeness of a family. (Spot reveals that both his parents were killed.) Later, after meeting a human family in their travels, Arlo pushes Spot to join the family and gain the closeness he so desperately desires. (The Croods-like people embrace the boy and welcome him in.)

[ Spoiler Warning ] Arlo fights on to reach his home, finding that he is able to push past his fear for those he loves. In a dream, his father voices his approval of Arlo’s self-sacrificial choices. And when the young dino reaches his goal, his family members joyously rush to him.

Spiritual Elements

While tying the idea of evolution into a few funny knots, the movie still seems to calmly accept that mankind must have evolved from prehistoric “critters.” (And that it’s only a cosmic accident dinos didn’t do us one better.)

Sexual Content

Violent content.

An emotional scene shows Poppa being engulfed by raging floodwaters after he tosses Arlo to safety. And there are also a number of other scary moments. Threatening dinos with sharp, gnashing teeth gulp down a small, wounded creature or two; and they chase Arlo and Spot more than once. The two friends are forcefully thumped against sharps branches and underwater rocks. (They’re knocked unconscious.)

Spot rips the head off an enormous wriggling bug with his teeth. He gobbles up several other smaller ones. He fiercely takes on a couple of menacing animals with his teeth, biting a hole in a pterodactyl’s wing at one point. The stumble-prone Arlo regularly falls and thumps his head or body against large rocks.

While characters compare scars, a T. rex “cowboy” tells a Wild West-style story of facing off with a group of crocodiles and watching one drown in a pool of blood. As a prank, Arlo’s brother pretends he’s dead.

Crude or Profane Language

One unfinished “bulls—.” We also hear “dang” and “shoot.” Name-calling includes “yellow belly,” “coward” and “cluckers.”

Drug and Alcohol Content

In a strange segment, Arlo and Spot eat rotting fruit they find on the ground and launch into a psychedelic romp involving distorted body parts and characters exchanging heads.

Other Negative Elements

Spot squats behind a rock. And then he urinates behind a log. As a gross-out gag, Arlo gets covered with leeches. A dinosaur waters his farm by “spitting” on his crops. In turn, dino youngers spit water at each other. A bit of food stealing goes on in this dino-eat-dino world.

Spot, were he to be imitated by admiring youngsters, might prompt them to do such things as recklessly climb dangerous rocks or trees, carry stuff around in their mouths, bite people and eat bugs. Is it worth noting that Spot wears nothing but an organic diaper of sorts? (It’s made of leaves.)

This prehistoric Pixar pic kicks off its playful adventure with a series of big What If’s . What if the massive asteroid that scientists say hit Earth and killed off the dinosaur population some 65 million years ago … missed? What if , millions of years after that near-miss, dinosaurs somehow evolved into talking and family-raising groups of homestead farmers and open range cowboys?

And what if humans topped out as nonverbal critters who scampered through the undergrowth, scavenging for tasty grub worms and fighting off beasties with clench-teethed snarls?

That’s a pretty tall stack of could-be’s and I wonder’s . And if you’re not inclined to entertain that sort of flipped-on-its-ear evolutionary fable, well, you’ll probably be itching and scratching like a feral cave dweller yourself long before Arlo and Spot become fast friends. And if your youngest adventurers are unprepared for a raging-water, Lion King -like parental demise sequence and other splashes of sharp-toothed peril, they’ll likely be twitching and trembling, too.

Those who do decide to jump in this rambunctious and alternate-reality river will at least find a few kid-focused lessons about the importance of facing up to your fears; the joys of good friends and family bonds; and even a hairy, chest-thumping thumbs-up to adoption.

A postscript: The Good Dinosaur is paired with an opening short called Sanjay’s Superteam. It brushes up against Hinduism as an energetic, superhero-loving boy is asked to sit and pray with his father. His tedium turns into an adventure as he embarks on an imaginary battle against evil, assisted by his father’s gods. One of those gods wears a midriff-baring outfit.

After spending more than two decades touring, directing, writing and producing for Christian theater and radio (most recently for Adventures in Odyssey, which he still contributes to), Bob joined the Plugged In staff to help us focus more heavily on video games. He is also one of our primary movie reviewers.

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The Good Dinosaur Review

27 Nov 2015

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Good Dinosaur , The

From the stunning opening shot here of water babbling over pebbles, it’s clear that Pixar’s technical animation skills are unbeatable – which is just as well, since the blobby cartoon dinosaurs who live in this idyll don’t seem quite up to their standard. This is a lesser effort from the studio, a sweet, funny, very straightforward adventure with a lot of heart but none of the sophistication of, say, Inside Out .

The set-up is slightly confused – perhaps thanks to a tumultuous and rushed production after an 11th hour rethink. In this world the dinosaurs were never wiped out and have evolved over millions of years, though there’s little exploration of that idea. We hone in on a family of Apatosauruses who have become farmers. That’s about the full extent of their progress. Given the millions of years that have passed it seems a touch…unproductive. They talk, of course, but what cartoon animals don’t?

Into this Apatosaurus family are born three kids, two boisterous and strong, one tiny and cowardly. The latter, Arlo (Raymond Ochoa), fears everything but wants to be brave. His dad tasks him with killing a “critter” that keeps eating their crops, but he wimps out. Letting the creature live causes a series of knock-on events that eventually see him lost, miles from home. His only companion on the journey home is that critter, Spot (Jack Bright), a human who has evolved to become basically a Labrador.

The story is very A-to-B with little time for sub-plots or supporting characters, aside from some interesting cowboy T-Rexes and a strange, trippy hermit. Though the journey feels underdeveloped, director Peter Sohn has got the most important thing right: the relationship between Arlo and Spot. Their bond rings touchingly true, always. If a lot of The Good Dinosaur shows the marks of a rushed production – though not the landscape and environment design, which is gorgeous – its central pair have enough heart to make the film’s shortcomings fade away.

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Movie Review: ‘The Good Dinosaur’

“The Good Dinosaur” nails the Pixar formula, taking an original story and executing it with impeccable animation. Like the studio’s previous films, it is filled to the brim with sharp writing and visually stunning gags. What makes the film stand out is it has enough deep-voiced, dinosaur-shaped father figures to evoke more than a little childhood nostalgia. Ultimately, this movie is exactly what Pixar does best — a kid’s movie with enough heart, subtlety and animation to capture any audience.

In Pixar’s retelling of evolutionary history, the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs missed Earth, leaving dinosaurs to develop as the planet’s premier intelligent species. In the absence of genocidal space rocks, dinosaurs have developed everything from fire to cattle herding. Arlo, the title character, works with his family of Apatosauruses to farm corn until he is washed down the river and far away from home amid a freak storm. The movie shows his journey back, complicated by historically accurate Velociraptors predatory Pterodactyls and, of course, Arlo’s doubts and insecurities. Thankfully, Arlo doesn’t have to do this alone; he meets Spot, a prehistoric “caveboy” he saves from a trap.

Spot and Arlo’s relationship is where the movie shines. Their interactions are pure-hearted and comedic, but trail into gut-wrenchingly emotional as the two connect on their shared past. Despite language, size and species barriers, the two form an unbeatable team, hell-bent on finding home and family.

For any other studio, this relationship would have been downright impossible. The human character plays the dog and Arlo the boy. If that was not made obvious by name choice alone, Spot runs on all fours, sniffs the ground and rides on Arlo’s head, tongue flapping in the wind. But despite his distinctly animal behavior, Spot never comes across as the beast to Arlo’s civilization. He comes across exactly as he is: a human boy, lost in a confusing world, with just one large, green friend to rely on.

For those unfamiliar with this movie’s rocky history, Pixar religiously releases a single feature-length film every year. Last year, “The Good Dinosaur” was delayed and this year, for the first time ever, Pixar released two movies in the same year. If competing with the summer release “Inside Out” wasn’t enough to deal with, the movie also switched directors midway through development, losing director Bob Peterson (Up), and completely replaced its previously star-studded voice cast, which included Neil Patrick Harris, Bill Hader and Judy Greer.

Thankfully, none of the cracks of the process show in the product. The movie is polished and a marvel of animation. The landscapes and “critter” animation went for an almost photo-realistic effect; some landscape shots would not look entirely out of place in an episode of “Planet Earth.” The voice acting is moving and filled with nuance; Sam Elliot and Jeffrey Wright were particularly memorable in their performances. The plot, though familiar and perhaps derivative, is tight.

However, after viewing “The Good Dinosaur,” one might feel that Pixar has been leaning too heavily on visual storytelling and snappy execution to make up for lack of interesting plots. Pixar has never produced complex narratives, because they never needed to. “Toy Story” was just a classic buddy-cop movie, but Buzz and Woody were likeable enough that most audiences didn’t mind. However, in “The Good Dinosaur,” the plot felt empty at times. Perhaps it was the world’s relatively sparse population, or the lack of actual dialogue between the two main characters. Whatever it was, I found myself wanting just a bit more when the credits rolled.

Regardless, the Pixar magic is definitely not gone. Laugh, cry a little and feel oddly connected to an animated dinosaur as you watch Arlo find friendship, his way back home and his path through life.

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The Good Dinosaur Falls Short of Extraordinary

• Ryan Duncan
• Updated Feb 21, 2016

DVD Release Date: February 23, 2016 Theatrical Release Date: November 25, 2015 Run Time: 100 min Rating: PG Genre: Animation, Adventure Director: Peter Sohn Cast: Raymond Ochoa, Jack Bright, Peter Sohn, Steve Zahn, Sam Elliott, Anna Paquin

*Author’s Note: Before I begin my review of The Good Dinosaur , I feel it’s important to say a few words about Pixar’s new animated short, Sanjay’s Super Team . The story revolves around a young Indian-American boy who grows bored with his father’s religious meditation and begins to imagine the Hindu gods as superheroes. Sanjay’s Super Team  is funny, clever, and beautifully animated, but given how it touches on aspects of the Hindu religion, Christian parents should be prepared to talk with their children before they buy any tickets.

Audiences have come to expect certain things from Pixar movies . We want them to make us laugh. We also want them to make us cry. We want to be dazzled by their exquisite animation, and intrigued by original storylines. We crave those deep, discerning messages they convey to us through their rich casts of characters.

"The Good Dinosaur" Video Movie Review Lots of folks are asking about the worldview of The Good Dinosaur and the short film that precedes it, so here's our take on Pixar's latest! Posted by Crosswalk.com on Wednesday, November 25, 2015

In The Good Dinosaur , Pixar turns back the clock and asks, “ What would the world be like if dinosaurs never went extinct? ” For an answer, we're introduced to a young Apatosaurus named Arlo ( Raymond Ochoa , Mr. Peabody & Sherman ) who lives on a rural farm with his family. After losing his father in a tragic accident, Arlo is determined to conquer his fear and “leave his mark” upon the land. When a series of events leave Arlo separated from his family, the gentle dinosaur must journey homeward in the company of an inquisitive caveboy named Spot. Together, the pair battle monsters, befriend a family of T-Rex, and discover what love and courage truly look like.

The Good Dinosaur tries too much, and ends up tripping over itself as a result. It can’t decide what it wants to be; a dinosaur movie? A coming of age film? A western? An adventure of courage and friendship? For any other movie this wouldn’t be a huge issue, but the success of Pixar means audiences are demanding more, and the film already has to distinguish itself from Inside Out .

To make matters worse, there are movies which have told this story much better than Pixar. During my time watching The Good Dinosaur , I couldn’t help but compare it (albeit unfairly) to The Land Before Time . Both movies featured dinosaurs and powerful themes of loss, love, bravery, and growing up, but The Land Before Time proved the greater film because it kept things simpler. The same could be said about The Lion King , which had similar concepts to The Good Dinosaur but was more decisive. Both of these films succeeded because they chose a direction and stuck with it.

Cautions (may contain spoilers)

• Drugs/Alcohal: Spot and Arlo both become inebriated and hallucinate after eating rotten fruit.
• Language/Profanity: A few death threats are made, some voices are raised.;
• Violence/frightening Moments: Arlo’s father dies early on in a flash flood, Arlo and spot are attacked by a number of beasts on their journey home including a pterodactyl who devours a small mammal and tries to eat Spot,Arlo and three T-Rex fight against cattle rustlers, one T-Rex tells a story where he “drowns a crocodile in his own blood”.
• Religion/Morals: There is a strong message of family and learning to face your fears throughout the film, a pterodactyl claims the storm “provides for him”.

*Published 11/25/2015

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THE GOOD DINOSAUR

"strive to do something big".

What You Need To Know:

(BB, CapCap, Ev, Pa, VV, A, M) Strong moral worldview with strong capitalist elements, loving and caring for others who may not be able to reciprocate, positive family message, and characters strive to do something big and work on a family farm, plus light references to evolution and Mother Nature; no foul language, but character seen urinating; light action includes character falls into the river, character gets knocked out, bird like characters peck at another character, character takes a bite out of wing; no sexual content; no nudity; no alcohol, but characters eat bad fruit and become in a drunken state; no smoking or drugs; and, some lying by bad characters.

More Detail:

THE GOOD DINOSAUR is an animated adventure from Pixar and Disney about Arlo, a timid dinosaur who goes on a big adventure to find his family. THE GOOD DINOSAUR has beautiful animation, many entertaining moments and a strong moral worldview, but it feels a little long in parts.

In the beginning, three eggs hatch: one small, one medium and one large. The largest egg turns out to be a small little dinosaur named Arlo by his Momma and Poppa. Arlo is timid and teased by his siblings, Buck and Lori. The family of dinosaurs live on a farm and each day care for the farm. Poppa makes a huge silo so the critters will stay out of their food. After Poppa makes this, he puts his mark on the silo to show he did something big. As the years pass, each member of the family is able to put their mark on the silo if they do something great, and everyone has done that but Arlo. Every time Arlo has a job, he is way too scared to finish.

One day, Poppa decides to give Arlo another job to help him get over his fears. There has been a critter getting into the silo, so Poppa and Arlo create a trap. When the critter gets in the trap, Arlo is told to “get rid of him.” However, when the time comes, Arlo can’t bring himself to killing the critter, and helps let him go. Poppa sees this and runs after the critter, telling Arlo to follow him. A large storm comes, Poppa and Arlo are still running up the mountain to catch the critter. Getting swept up in the storm, Poppa dies. The entire family is devastated, and they don’t know how they will make it without Poppa.

Once again the critter is back, and this time Arlo does not want him to get away and chases him up the mountain. However, Arlo ends up getting completely lost and has to figure out his way back home. Arlo must get back before the first snow fall, to help his mother and siblings get everything ready for winter.

THE GOOD DINOSAUR has some nice messages of family and conquering fears. The main character must learn that, even though the world can be tough, he must be able to not get discouraged and persevere. Also, there’s a very nice message of loving others even if they cause problems. There is even a message of adoption in the movie that’s very nice.

One time, however, the characters eat some rotten fruit, which puts them into a drug-like state. There are also visuals to suggest evolution, statements that the earth is millions of years old, and some comments about “Mother Nature,” but they are very light statements. Some elements may be scary for younger children, including the movie’s suspense, certain scary dinosaurs, and the eating of other animals.

THE GOOD DINOSAUR is a well-made animated movie. The foreground animation is amazing, looks like live action, but the actual characters themselves look more cartoon. This is a very interesting dynamic of the cartoon like animation and natural looking animation, which some may like, but some may think a little odd. Along with this, some of the more natural animals talked and some didn’t. It does seem as if Pixar focuses a lot on the spectacular nature of the movie’s animation, rather then the storyline. The storyline was very much like FINDING NEMO, but not as well paced, nor as compelling. The jeopardy really was man versus nature, which got a little repetitive. Though this is the case, the movie had some nice poignant moments.

By the way, the short before THE GOOD DINOSAUR is called Sanjay’s Super Team:

A young boy watches TV as his father meditates to his Hindu gods. When the father turns off the TV, the boy is beaconed over to meditate also. Instead, he fantasizes about the Hindu gods becoming his favorite action heroes and fighting off bad gods. The short clearly has a New Age worldview, including meditation and Hinduism. The animation is about three different styles, and the plot line is just a fight between characters.

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The Good Dinosaur Parent Guide

The harsh conflicts audiences have to get through to the moments of warmth they are expecting may feel like arlo's father's tough love. scary scenes may be too much for young viewers..

After finding himself alone in the world, Arlo the dinosaur (voice of Raymond Ochoa) befriends an equally lonely human boy.

Release date November 25, 2015

Run Time: 100 minutes

Official Movie Site

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The guide to our grades, parent movie review by donna gustafson.

If you have seen the promotional materials for Disney/Pixar’s The Good Dinosaur , then you will be familiar with a scene where the gangly plant eater and a scruffy human child, stare with wide-eyed wonder at a night sky filled with twinkling fireflies. While it is true that magical moment and some amazing animation appear in this film, it is hardly indicative of what viewers will see in the rest of the movie.

The plot presents an alterative timeline for Earth: one where the meteor that strikes the planet to cause the demise of the dinosaur age—misses. Instead, the various species continue to develop and evolve, eventually reaching a point where they begin domesticating the world around them. The long-legged Arlo (voiced by Raymond Ochoa and Jack McGraw) is born into such a family. Unlike his father (voice of Jeffrey Wright), the youngster is timid and not likely to be one of the fittest to survive in their harsh environment. So Dad sets out to teach his son how to get through his fears and discover the beauty that is waiting on the other side. Sadly the lesson doesn’t go quite as planned and the cowardly child ends up all alone and far from home. Now, whether he wants to or not, Arlo must muster the courage to man up or he will never find his way back. Fortunately he is befriended by a mangy little human (with great wilderness skills) to help him along his perilous journey.

Instead the unlikely buddies head into the kind of action adventure featured in a video game, where each level introduces a foe more formidable than the one before. Constantly in danger, the pair encounters Mother Nature’s fury poured out in rain, snow, floods and lightening storms. They play prey and predator games with vulture-like pterodactyls, meet carnivorous creatures that behave like cowboys, face off against feathered raptors and get stampeded by bison. Nor does the script shy away from uttered death threats and showing critters (ugly and cute) from being chomped.

Pauses in the pacing, where the plot should offer a few words of consolation to defuse the intensity of the experience for a young audience, are few and far between. And hints of humor may be more confusing than comical, especially when they include an hallucinogenic sort of experience after the characters eat some fermented fruit, or a bug’s head being bitten off.

The difference between the warm glow audiences will likely be expecting, and the harsh conflicts they have to get through to reach those brief messages of the importance of friends and family, may feel a lot like the tough love experience Arlo’s father was trying to share with his offspring—if you can get through all the scary stuff, there will be a beautiful moral to the story. Yet not all of the parents at the screening I attended were up to this endurance challenge. They simply took their crying tots out, and didn’t bother to come back. Some older children might be mature enough to appreciate the fright factor and even enjoy the action sequences. But those aren’t likely to be the same group marketers are going after with their line of playtime plushies. For good or ill, this mismatch will likely leave its mark on your little tikes and influence just how great you think this dinosaur may be.

About author

Donna Gustafson

The good dinosaur rating & content info.

Why is The Good Dinosaur rated PG? The Good Dinosaur is rated PG by the MPAA for peril, action and thematic elements.

Violence: Good-natured sibling rivalry occurs, along with some mean spirited teasing and name-calling. A timid character is forced to face his fears, both real and imaginary. A character is in constant peril from Mother Nature (storms, flashfloods), various scary monsters and dangerous terrain—some injuries, unconsciousness and deaths result. Characters brag about the scars they have received during life threatening battles. Prey and predator violence is depicted, and several creatures are eaten. Death treats are made. Characters are orphaned and suffer emotional distress.

Sexual Content: Humans are clothed only in loincloths. A character tries without much success to find a private place to go to defecate.

Language: Some name-calling and teasing are depicted. A scatological slang is partially heard.

Alcohol / Drug Use: Characters eat fermented fruit and have a hallucinogenic experience.

Page last updated July 17, 2017

The Good Dinosaur Parents' Guide

In the story, Pa encourages his children to “leave their mark” by doing something big for something bigger than his or herself. Why do you think he feels this is an important achievement? What kinds of tasks qualify? Why is it harder for some of the family members to accomplish this task than it is for others? How do you feel about setting goals for yourself and your family? When might this type of competition be healthy, and when might it be harmful?

From the Studio: The Good Dinosaur asks the generations-old question: What if the asteroid that forever changed life on Earth missed the planet completely and giant dinosaurs never became extinct? In theatres November 25, 2015, the film is a humorous and exciting original story about Arlo, a lively Apatosaurus with a big heart.  After a traumatic event unsettles Arlo’s family, he sets out on a remarkable journey, gaining an unlikely companion along the way - a human boy.  “The Good Dinosaur” is an extraordinary journey of self-discovery full of thrilling adventure, hilarious characters and poignant heart. Walt Disney Studios

The most recent home video release of The Good Dinosaur movie is February 23, 2016. Here are some details…

Home Video Notes: The Good Dinosaur Release Date: February 23, 2016 The Good Dinosaur releases to home video (Digital HD, Blu-ray 3D, Blu-ray Combo Pack, DVD) with the following extras: - Theatrical Short – Sanjay’s Super Team - True Lies About Dinosaurs - Recyclosaurus - The Filmmaker’s Journey - Every Part of the Dinosaur - Following the T-Rex Trail - Commentary - from director Peter Sohn, story supervisor Kelsey Mann, supervising animator Mike Venturini, director of photography/lighting Sharon Calahan, and supervising technical director Sanjay Bakshi. - Dino Bites - Hide and Seek - Deleted Sceens - The Attack, Building the Silo, Waiting For Poppa - Digital Exclusive - Just Listen

Related home video titles:

Other animals befriend lost humans in Tarzan and Ice Age . Other prehistoric people learn to survive in their sometimes hostile world in The Croods .

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Movie Review: THE GOOD DINOSAUR

The execution doesn’t live up to the premise.

THE GOOD DINOSAUR movie poster | ©2015 Disney/Pixar

Stars (voices): Raymond Ochoa, Jack Bright, Jeffrey Wright, Frances McDormand, Sam Elliott, Anna Paquin, A.J. Buckley, Steve Zahn, Jack McGraw Writer: Meg La Fauve, story by Peter Sohn & Eric Benson & Meg LeFauve & Kelsey Mann & Bob Peterson Director: Peter Sohn Distributor: Disney Release Date (theatrical): November 25, 2015

Pixar’s latest offering, THE GOOD DINOSAUR , gets off to a promising start, with a huge, fiery asteroid missing Earth 65 million years ago. Consequently, it’s dinosaurs that evolve into the dominant species, though mammals (including humans) do exist. Think of the possibilities!

And then forget them, because THE GOOD DINOSAUR doesn’t seem to want to have anything to do with imagining anything new or big, let alone combining the two. Instead, it mixes the boy and his wild pet genre with the Western genre. Flip it so that the young Apatosaurus hero, Arlo (voiced as a child by Jack McGraw and as a teen by Raymond Ochoa) is a human and the non-speaking human youngster Spot (voiced without speech by Jack Bright), who doggedly follows Arlo around, is a wolf cub or coyote pup, then make Arlo’s family homesteaders in the old West, and you could mistake this for a number of other movies. When Arlo gets lost and has to find the courage to make his way home, participating in a cattle drive, you could mistake it for even more other movies. There’s nothing here that springs out that makes unique use of the overall concept.

This wouldn’t be so problematic if Arlo were better company, but in their determination to make sure we understand that Arlo, born at a small size, is naturally timid, the filmmakers keep him scared of everything far into the running time. Arlo’s reactions are so consistent, and often irrational, that by the time he encounters something worthy of fear, we wish he’d have a different response just to change things up. A human actor might be able to add something to these scenes, but even with big, expressive CGI eyes, the digital Apatosaurus just isn’t able to bring variety to a number of similar sequences.

The movie also relies on flashbacks to things we’ve already seen to make sure we can follow along. In a mystery, this would make sense, but do we really need to be reminded that already alarmed Arlo, who almost drowned and suffered a great loss in a flood, is afraid of the raging river?

Then there’s the look and texture of the dinosaurs, which seems meant to be cuddly with the good guys. It looks neither like actual reptile skin nor something that would be fun to touch, with a result that is not entirely artificial, but not fully lifelike, either. The artistry involved in putting the CGI characters in realistic backgrounds is commendable.

Young children in the audience of THE GOOD DINOSAUR seemed to appreciate the film, so they may be its most enthusiastic viewers. Parents should be aware there’s a BAMBI -like tragedy early on, and some rather scary pterodactyls and velociraptors, but anyone old enough to watch JURASSIC PARK (and even some who aren’t) should be able to handle this.

Grown-ups may actually have a better time with SANJAY’S SUPER TEAM , the Pixar short that precedes THE GOOD DINOSAUR in theatres. Made by Sanjay Patel, SUPER TEAM is a charming, even thrilling wordless depiction of how a young boy’s imagination forges a bond with his religious father.

As far as THE GOOD DINOSAUR , it has a few flashes of fun, as with a Triceratops (voiced by director Peter Sohn, who also worked on the story) who has his own community, and some moments of real beauty, one of which is prominently featured in the advertising. Still, it’s not the kind of surprising, imaginative fare we normally associate with Pixar.

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If this were made by any other animation studio, the expectations would be much lower, but being that this is pixar, movie-going audiences have established a high standard right off the bat from the company’s previous films. first off, i think it needs to be established that this movie is a western all the way down to its core., again, i said that right. now, there is nary a cowboy hat or six-shooter to be seen, but the spirit of a western is here. you could replace arlo and spot with human children far from home, and the story would flow the same. lawrence kasdan, the famed screenwriter behind the empire strikes back , return of the jedi , and the upcoming star wars: the force awakens , once said that any story worth telling in film could be told as a western, and here, we find another test for that idea., whether it’s the agrarian background of the parents, sweeping vista shots, the excellent soundtrack, the supporting character superbly voiced by sam elliott…well, that’s it then. sam elliott … we should have seen it coming. some people have little love and appreciation for westerns as a genre; i am not of that category. i think that my love of westerns furthered my enjoyment of this film, and it helped me as an audience member come into this unique spin on dinosaurs with a sense of familiarity and connection that i would not have had otherwise., it must be said how great the visuals are in the film. the backgrounds, especially, are near photo-realism for most of the film. this actually works to the film’s detriment slightly as the backgrounds look so real that the purposefully animated appearance of all the characters makes the transition slightly ajar between the two. i think i would have appreciated the animation more if the backgrounds were more stylized to fit the look of all the characters., arlo and spot are quite the pair and they get into several instances that will have kids and adults amused. voiced by child actors, we are allowed to see them grow as characters throughout the film, especially arlo. i think that the choice to start over with child actors was a bold one, but it paid off. recently, the peanuts movie (reviewed here  by gug) did this as well, even if it was a point of tradition for peanuts to use child actors as voices, i see why filmmakers do it. granted, a bad performance by a child actor can destroy the quality in some cases of the film as a whole, but in the good dinosaur , i think it all paid off., there is no real villain of the film, which i’m noticing more and more with movies. sure, there are dinosaurs trying to eat them that reoccur later in the film, but there are no real villains in the classic sense of carrying through all acts of the film. i thought it was nice, as it allows us to just live out the experience with arlo and spot. their journey becomes our journey, and the film doesn’t seem interested in having that antagonist in a literal sense, even as arlo works to break himself of fear’s hold on his life., i have purposely tried to avoid real spoilers in this review, but i would like to say that the themes of conquering fear, unity through friendship and purpose, and love of family are all themes that should resonate greatly with us as christians. children especially need to see that fear isn’t something to eliminate; it’s something to overcome., john wayne, a legend of the western genre, said “courage is being scared to death…but saddling up anyway.” i don’t know what all went into the creation and brainstorming of the good dinosaur , but that quote came back to me while watching the film. as christians, we are often victims of paralysis when it comes to sharing our faith. we know we should take the truth to all we know and meet, but fears keep us from speaking, sharing, serving, helping, and doing. we must conquer those fears if we are to ever do for the kingdom of christ. for a child to see in this film that fear is natural, but beating it is a great message to learn early in life., also, the idea of people forming connections, regardless of obvious differences or histories, is something that children should learn from as well. many of the greatest connections i’ve made in life were with people i never would have thought i would have. keeping an open mind and heart will allow us to connect with people all over as the lord leads people to us from all around. we must be open to friendship, regardless of how different someone may seem..

So, we have a full-film western made by PIXAR, a first for the animation studio, even though a talking cowboy toy helped put them on the map. How does it stack up with the rest of their filmography? That may be an unfair question to ask, as I believe every film should be judged on its own merits. Still, being PIXAR, people will inevitably do it.

I have no desire to quantify between it and the other films, but honestly, in the view of the rest of their filmography, i don’t see the good dinosaur being a classic in the vein of toy story (recently revisited by gug for its 20th anniversary; review can be found here ).  everyone has their preferences for their favorites; personally, i loved up and wall-e , whereas others didn’t connect with either of them as strongly., some households will be watching the good dinosaur on repeat when it hits video, i’m sure, but while it’s hard to say where and in what way, it felt lacking in ways that will make it transcend beyond just another cartoon in most people’s eyes. granted, the emotional moments got to me, and they felt genuine. still, i think that the production trouble shows that they were searching for something to make it a classic, and alas, they didn’t find it., even in not seeing it as a classic, i’m not condemning it. i believe that it is admirable to see that despite the production problems they faced in making it, the creators still managed to make a colorful, fun, funny, moving, and engaging story for the world to see, one i know i will be seeing again in my home. something is missing though and keeping it from true greatness; i just can’t quite say what that is., the bottom line, colby bryant, leave a reply cancel reply, gdpr & ccpa:, privacy overview.

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The Good Dinosaur

November 23, 2015 By Ari Donnelly Leave a Comment

While I prefer to judge a film on its own merit, nothing exists in a vacuum. An artist ’ s work is always weighed against their past efforts or, in the case of Pixar, against the reputation of the studio. And indeed, no review of The Good Dinosaur will print without comparing it to Inside Out . Nor will any review ignore the fact that the original director of the film, Bob Peterson ( Up ), was prematurely ejected from the project. If that ’ s not enough, The Good Dinosaur commits the second sin of making you feel without being wholly unique. And since 2015 is the first year ever with two Pixar releases, audiences and critics were always going to argue over which was best.

Well, if everyone else is going to do it, I might as well get the ball rolling.

Make no mistake, The Good Dinosaur is a story you ’ ve heard before. Last time it was a Western, A Boy and His Dog  or The Land Before Time . You haven ’ t seen those three stories combined, but you know the beats. And somewhere along the way, we convinced ourselves that ’ s a bad thing. A story has to surprise us.  It ’ s not enough to be good.

The animation in The Good Dinosaur  is gorgeous, but this is  Pixar and everyone already knew that. The American Northwest environments look so real you might assume  they were taken out of a National Geographic documentary, not a render farm. This realism is, unfortunately, quickly undercut by a wealth of cartoonish anthropomorphic dinosaurs. But the disconnect isn ’ t large enough to push the film into the Uncanny Valley . The character designs are coherent enough to retain emotional weight. The characters themselves are compelling and fun, and shepherded by a top-notch voice cast (Jeffrey Wright, Frances McDormand and Sam Elliot, to name a few). Plus, it’s hard to look at a  T. rex galloping like a cowboy and respond with anything but a smile. 

It certainly helps that the animation is wrapped in  the kind of story that would work whether it was told now or 50 years ago; all that ’ s changed is technology ’ s ability to tell it. There ’ s a timeless quality to this narrative of companionship . That doesn ’ t mean Pixar hasn ’ t put their own spin on it, creating a setting akin to  Little House on the Prehistoric Prairie . But their take also avoids the most common cliché of A Boy and his Dog stories: the Dog being unrealistically smart.

The “Boy” here is Arlo the Apatosaurus, if his species evolved to develop language and agriculture, becoming us in all but DNA sequence.  Conversely,  the “Dog” actually is us, a human, so his wit never strains belief. Quietly, that’s a stroke of genius. The Good Dinosaur  doesn’t just flip A Boy and His Dog—it transcends it. Arlo and Spot’s relationship never feels like master and pet, simply because they’re equals. They’re two people, thrown together by fate, who struggle to help and understand each other. Their development is pitch perfect and sublimely heartfelt.

In the context of trope and narrative history, it’s clear that  The Good Dinosaur is not as novel as the journey inside the mind we took earlier this year. But Inside Out  was also far more expository, devoting its first five minutes just to a narrated explanation of its world.  In contrast, The Good Dinosaur sets up the board in just three shots: The asteroid that killed the dinosaurs  missing Earth entirely, a  “ Millions of years later ” title card, and an Apatosaurus planting corn in the American Northwest. N o narration, no dialogue—just showing without telling .  The Good Dinosaur has strong narrative economy afforded by visual acumen and Peter Sohn’s capable hands at the wheel. 

After all, film is, first and foremost, a visual medium. Sound is absolutely integral to the format, but one need only look at the earliest films (and the earliest animation ) and note their lack of sound to determine which perceptual sense, sight or sound, is more intrinsic to the medium. And by that means,   The Good Dinosaur  excels at what makes film work.

The Good Dinosaur is a familiar story. That doesn ’ t change how well it ’ s told. It features strong characters getting the wind knocked out of them by life, weathering the gorgeous struggle, and living to find pride in their scars. Have we ever really needed anything else?

Movie Verdict: Win Score: 82%

About Ari Donnelly

Ari is a non-recovering addict of film, who is studying to become a cinematographer over the past several years. Or a director. Or a screenwriter. He’s not entirely sure yet. When he’s not studying, he’s probably hunting down anything that has Joss Whedon’s name on it.

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10 Biggest Dinosaurs in the Jurassic Park and Jurassic World Franchise, Ranked

T he Jurassic Park franchise has introduced fans to some of the most famous dinosaurs in history. Yet, as time passed and discoveries were made, the inaccuracies of the creatures on the big screen became more and more apparent, even being referenced by some of the franchise's characters. Despite that, one thing can be considered accurate: the size of the dinosaurs -- at least relatively speaking.

While they may possess the genetic traits of other, modern-day animals, their baseline DNA is that of the dinosaur they were cloned from. These ancient creatures have grown to the appropriate sizes expected of them, with some natural cinematic embellishment, but there's no denying these creatures were mighty.

Ankylosaurus Is the Shieldwall of the Ancient World

• Ankylosaurus has enough armor plating to withstand an attack from a Tyrannosaur.
• In real life, they stand their ground when threatened instead of running.

RETRO REVIEW: Jurassic Park

While not the largest dinosaur, the Ankylosaur is no slouch, standing at approximately six to 10 feet tall. What it lacks in height compared to other dinosaurs, it makes up for with defensive capabilities. The Ankylosaur is one of the most heavily protected animals in the natural world. Their heavy armor plating and club-like tail make them so formidable that even a t-rex would hesitate to attack it.

Interestingly enough, this aspect of theirs is often overlooked in the movies. The Ankylosaurs have been shown to run from the first hint of danger, which is contradictory to how real dinosaurs behaved . When confronted, an ankylosaurus would stand its ground, as it knew not many things could seriously harm it. Perhaps the reason their modern-day counterparts are so skittish is because they were raised in captivity, or maybe some part of their new genetic makeup was affecting how they responded to danger.

Scorpios Rex Is as Close to Horror as Jurassic Gets

• Scorpios rex is another hybrid dinosaur made by InGen alongside the Indominus rex.
• It possesses venomous spines along its body from scorpionfish DNA.

The Indominus wasn't the only hybrid InGen made. Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous revealed the entity had secretly created a different hybrid deemed too disturbing to be showcased to the public. This dinosaur, known as the Scorpios rex, was frozen and imprisoned in secret tunnels below Isla Nublar. When it was unleashed, the Scorpios rex demonstrated why it was to be feared for more than just its appearance.

With a height of 11-and-a-half feet tall when fully grown, the Scorpios rex is a powerful theropod that more than lives up to its name. It possesses venomous spines along its elbows, tail, and neck, all of which can be detached to embed themselves into its prey. This is just a hint of the sadistic nature of this particular dinosaur, as much like the Indominus rex, the Scorpios Rex killed for the sake of it, leaving a trail of carnage wherever it went.

Triceratops Are Big Enough to Defend Themselves

• Triceratops are herbivores and their horns are for self-defense.
• Their legs in the movies are inaccurate, as real triceratops have claw-like feet for climbing.

The Triceratops stands at a respectable nine to 15 feet tall. Their size is only the first thing one notices about them, as the Triceratops is famous for the horns on its head that act as a deterrent against predators. Despite their fearsome appearance, Triceratops were surprisingly social creatures, preferring to stay in herds, likely as a precaution against outside threats. In addition, they were herbivores, meaning those fierce-looking horns were only a means of self-defense, not hunting.

Like many of its InGen siblings, the Triceratops of the movies do not align with how they looked in the ancient world. Back then, the Triceratops possessed claws fit for climbing, whereas in the movies their feet resembled those of elephants. Fortunately, the most important part of their physiology, their destructive yet defensive power remained intact.

Mosasaurus Is a Massive Nightmare Beneath the Waves

• The Mosasaur is not technically a dinosaur, but is still one of the biggest prehistoric animals on screen.
• It has an estimated length of 55-120 feet.

Jurassic Park's Sequel Was Almost Animated - Before it Went Extinct

While this particular ancient monster doesn't stand on its own, the Mosasaurus' natural size and ferocity are worth highlighting. The exact height is up for debate, as is its length. Over the course of the movies, the Mosasaurus' estimated length has varied. The shortest places it at a length of 55 feet, while the longest more than doubles this, estimating it had a length of 120 feet.

Considering this beast can swallow a man whole on the worst of days, the exact measurement doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things.

Tyrannosaurus Rex Is Still the King of the Jurassic Park Franchise

• The Tyrannosaurus rex was once the biggest meat-eater on the planet.
• It is still the primary mascot of the franchise.

When it comes to T. rex, estimates have it standing at 12-13 feet at the hip. It would have to lower itself into a more leveled position to successfully chase and eat its prey. That means it can tower above others when standing at its full height.

"Rexy" as it was called, has become the mascot of the entire franchise, often being a deus ex machina for the protagonists, be it as an unexpected new threat or a sudden savior turning the tide in favor of the human characters. Indeed, within the last few movies, T. rex has been pivotal in saving their lives on more than one occasion, helping to fight both the Indominus rex and the Giganotosaurus.

Apatosaurus Is the Gentle Giant of the Prehistoric World

• Apatosaurus is as long as two school buses.
• Though docile most of the time, Apatosaurus had the physical strength to defend itself.

The Apatosaurus is the longnecked dinosaur that many think of when imagining a more friendly counterpart to the T. rex. At adulthood, the Apatosaurus was the length of two school buses and stood at 20 feet tall, using its long neck to eat hard-to-reach vegetation. It was one of the more docile creatures in the ancient world, preferring to travel in a herd like most sauropods.

Apatosaurus has very few defensive behaviors, even when threatened. The only known instance of it defending itself was when it used its tail in a whip-like motion gains. Yet, even that wasn't the full capacity of its ability to defend itself. Had it been putting all its muscle behind it, the Apatosaurus may very well have done more damage than anyone thought possible.

Spinosaurus Can Tussle Even With a T. Rex

• The Spinosaurus has the biggest length of any carnivorous dinosaur.
• It was capable of battling a T. rex on even footing.

Argued by many to be the longest of the carnivorous dinosaurs, there is no doubt that the Spinsoaur is also one of the biggest . Standing at around 16-20 when it reached adulthood, the Spinosaurus was one of the largest predators on the planet. Its appearances in Jurassic Park III and Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous have demonstrated how the Spinosaurus is a formidable foe, able to take on a T. rex by itself and even take one down. Granted, this was a subadult, and it would later take on two fully grown T. rex, where it would be forced to retreat.

Interestingly enough, this demonstrates that the Spinosaurus has an adaptive response to changing stimuli. While it did inflict severe injuries on one of its opponents, it was only doing so when compelled by an outside source. Once that external influence was gone, it changed tactics and opted for retreat, choosing to live and fight another day. Perhaps the Spinosaurus of the past was just as clever as its modern-day counterpart.

Giganotosaurus Usurped the T. Rex for Biggest Meat-Eater

• It usurped the T. rex as the largest meat-eating dinosaur on the planet.
• Its DNA was used in Idominus rex.

Translating as "Giant Southern Lizard," the Giganotosaurus is the largest meat-eating dinosaur ever discovered, a rank formerly held by the Tyrannosaurus rex. It certainly lives up to its name, standing at a staggering eighteen feet tall in Jurassic World Dominion . In addition to its size, the Giganotosaurus has other traits that make it an incredibly potent predator even among other dinosaurs.

For starters, the species has an above-average strength that allows it to exceed the power of even T. rex. This is why they can go toe-to-toe with one and do some serious damage, even having a higher-than-likely chance of killing it. As a result, the Giganotosaurus' DNA was one of the key ingredients of the Indominus rex.

The Indominus Rex Gets Its Height from Its Genetic Donors

• The Indominus rex has DNA from velociraptors, tyrannosaurus rex, and the Giganotosaurus.
• Its hybrid genetics make it more of a monster than a hunter, killing for sport rather than food.

Is Jurassic Park the Best Dinosaur Movie Ever?

Every fan of Jurassic Park will know of the Indominus rex, the very first hybrid dinosaur. A combination of multiple genetic sources, both modern and prehistoric, the Indominus rex also has the distinction of being one of the largest dinosaurs ever seen in the movies. This can be attributed to Giganotosaurus being part of its genetic makeup, ensuring increased size and strength.

At adulthood, the Indominus could be measured at 21 feet tall. This, coupled with many deadly attributes such as the ability to camouflage, hide from thermal detection, and its natural speed and strength, make it one of the deadliest dinosaurs to ever exist -- in the franchise, of course, as it was not a true dinosaur in our own world.

Dreadnoughtus Is the Tallest Dinosaur Ever Discovered

• The Dreadnoughtus is the heaviest dinosaur ever discovered.
• They stand at roughly 30 feet tall and have the potential to become bigger than that.

Considered the heaviest dinosaur to have ever existed, the Dreadnoughtus is estimated to have been 30 feet tall in the movies, more than earning the classification of titanosaur. What's even more impressive is that the fossil used to develop the Dreadnoughtus was one of a juvenile, meaning the Dreadnoughtus clone seen on the big screen may very well grow even bigger.

Like many other longnecked dinosaurs though, the Dreadnoughtus was a herbivore.

Jurassic Park

Created by Michael Crichton, Steven Spielberg

First Film Jurassic Park

Latest Film Jurassic World Dominion

Latest TV Show Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous

Upcoming TV Shows Jurassic World: Chaos Theory

Cast BD Wong, Jeff Goldblum, Laura Dern, Bryce Dallas Howard, Sam Neill, Chris Pratt

Scarlett Johansson in Talks to Star in New Jurassic World Movie

Universal eyes black widow for gareth edwards' dinosaur flick..

Marvel alum Scarlett Johansson is in talks to star in an upcoming Jurassic World movie, according to The Hollywood Reporter .

The outlet reports that the Black Widow actress may take the lead in the dino film, which is to be directed by Gareth Edwards and written by David Koepp, who penned the original Jurassic Park . Details regarding the Universal Pictures movie’s plot and the rest of its cast have yet to be revealed.

Johansson’s character in the next Jurassic World entry hasn’t been detailed either. The actress is still coming down from her decade of service in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but it doesn’t look like she’ll be returning to play Black Widow anytime soon. In April 2023, she said she was “done” playing the hero and even went on to double down on her exit in November .

Edwards, meanwhile, is no stranger to larger-than-life blockbusters. The director is best known for helming Legendary’s towering 2014 Godzilla movie, but he also dabbled in a galaxy far, far away with his prequel offshoot, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, in 2016. His most recent theatrical release was last year’s artificial intelligence-centered sci-fi epic, The Creator.

The yet-to-be-named Jurassic World movie is already hurtling toward its July 2, 2025 release date. However, there is still a lot that needs to come together before it makes impact. Although the report says that Edwards will indeed be attached to the movie after negotiations were revealed last week , Johansson’s involvement isn’t guaranteed yet.

There’s also the issue of how a new movie plans to follow up the more recent trilogy led by Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard. The last installment, Jurassic World: Dominion, stomped into theaters in June 2022. We gave the dinosaur romp a 7/10 in our review , saying, “Nostalgia and new thrills make an interesting marriage in an imperfect but otherwise exciting Jurassic World Dominion.”

Michael Cripe is a freelance contributor with IGN. He started writing in the industry in 2017 and is best known for his work at outlets such as The Pitch, The Escapist, OnlySP, and Gameranx.

Be sure to give him a follow on Twitter @MikeCripe.

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Netflix’s ‘Story of Moses’ Is as Dry as the Desert, but Built to Tempt Next-Gen Believers

Ben travers.

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“Well,” the bartender says, “I guess that settles it.” She picks up her phone, puts in her earbuds, and ignores the three wise men at the counter. Aghast, the priest says, “Excuse me, but what about our story?” The bartender turns to show them her screen, where a fading Netflix logo gives way to “ Testament: The Story of Moses .” “Don’t bother, my dudes. I’ve got it right here.” Related Stories ‘Quiet on Set’ to Expand with a New Episode: ‘Breaking the Silence’ Bob Marley and Shirley Chisholm Biopics Lead at Home: ‘Shirley,’ ‘One Love’ in Top 10 Charts

The above “joke” may not be funny (I’m sorry) and requires a few leaps in logic (like a priest would ever willingly wait for a drink ), but it does neatly sum up “Testament: The Story of Moses,” a new Netflix series that doubles as a religious study guide for its titular prophet. Recapping the Old Testament with scripted “recreations” and talking-head interviews, the three-part series isn’t a huge dramatic lift. There’s no nuance added or fresh perspective explored. The “Story” simply intends to spread God’s word via the world’s most popular streaming service. The multi-denominational telling may feel incomplete to priests, rabbis, and imams, but baptism by Netflix may prove more tolerable to today’s youth than traditional sermons. (And it will certainly become every substitute Sunday school teacher’s best friend.)

Each step across the desert follows a well-worn path, as “The Story of Moses” adheres to the main beats outlined by thousands of authors and interpreters over the past five centuries or so. Aside from its studio (Netflix), the only unique angle is its hybrid storytelling mode: Roughly half the scenes are staged — with a capable Avi Azulay playing Moses and passable VFX depicting various plagues and miracles — and the other half contains incurious interviews with priests, rabbis, theologians, and historians, whose views (clarified by an ominous opening title card) are meant to “enrich the narrative … not be understood as consensus.”

Besides the implication of forthcoming dissension, I cannot imagine any of the expert commentary stirring up much more than polite disagreement. (Of course, those with more faith than this lapsed Catholic lad can likely find reason to be riled up if they so choose.) What’s most upsetting is how easily the Netflix template gets mapped onto a two-thousand-year-old story, including a pre-credits teaser reel — you can practically hear the baritone trailer voice saying, “Keep watching to witness the parting of the red sea and a PLAGUE OF FROGS! ” — plus a flashback midway through Episode 1 that reveals how Moses ends up with a secret brother .

So rather than judge “The Story of Moses” as a wannabe docuseries any average viewer might watch on a Wednesday night — which seems unlikely, especially if they’ve already seen “The Ten Commandments” or, God forbid, went to eight years of Catholic school — perhaps it’s better to asses this “Testament’s” real purpose: catering to the converted. While your long-time churchgoers or seder guests may not find anything to chew on here, there is a concerted effort to appeal to a younger crowd; a generation who grew up on Netflix, or is at least more prone to watch a show about Moses than pick up an actual Bible, Torah, or Qur’an and practice the antiquated art of reading (ew).

“Testament’s” talking heads are quick to draw comparisons between Moses’ quest and modern causes that should appeal to progressive-minded kids (aka, the demo losing their religion ). Rabbi Shlomo Einhorn bluntly posits that “social justice began with Moses,” while Dr. Carol Meyers suggests you remember the Hebrew midwives’ defiant stand against their Pharaoh — you know, when they chose not to kill a bunch of newborn babies — “as the first act of civil disobedience.” There are also repeated attempts to elevate women in a story dominated by three male-presenting characters (Moses, the Pharaoh, and God Himself, voiced by Clarke Peters). Rabbi Maurice Harris emphasizes the “extraordinary” risks women took to protect Moses; Dr. Celene Ibrahim waxes poetic about how rare it is for a story about “a revolution” to begin with the main revolutionary’s birth , and thus, his mother ; then, in a huge break from traditional Biblical values , one of the staged scenes even shows Moses acting submissive to his wife.

“Testament: The Story of Moses” premieres Wednesday, March 27 on Netflix. All three episodes will be released at once.

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Movie Reviews

This recycled 'road house' can't capture the b-movie spirit of the original.

Justin Chang

Jake Gyllenhaal is a former UFC star who becomes a bouncer in Road House. Laura Radford/Prime Video hide caption

Jake Gyllenhaal is a former UFC star who becomes a bouncer in Road House.

There's been so much conflict behind the scenes of the new Road House remake that the fighting on-screen almost pales by comparison. Last month, R. Lance Hill, a writer on the original 1989 film, filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against the companies behind the remake, MGM Studios and its parent, Amazon Studios. Meanwhile, Doug Liman, the director of the remake, has publicly blasted Amazon for bypassing theaters and giving the movie a streaming-only release.

I can't help but empathize with Liman. His Road House isn't a great movie by any stretch, but what pleasures it has are best experienced on a big screen in a packed house. The original Road House did decent theatrical business back in 1989, before becoming a cult classic on home video. Watching it today, you can see why: It's dumb and satisfying, a straight-no-chaser shot of sex and violence. And Patrick Swayze remains irresistible as Dalton, a strong, silent, frequently bare-chested bar bouncer who gets sucked into a crowd-pleasing maelstrom of small-town mayhem.

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Jake gyllenhaal on throwing (and taking) punches: 'it's very primal'.

The remake, written by Anthony Bagarozzi and Charles Mondry, mostly sticks to the original template. In this version of the story, Dalton, played by Jake Gyllenhaal , is a former Ultimate Fighting Championship star who's fallen on tough times. He's run out of options when he's offered a job cooling down the riff-raff at a roadhouse in the Florida Keys. When he shows up, he teaches the other bouncers to de-escalate the violence that flares up night after night among the bar's very mean, very drunk patrons.

Even so, Gyllenhaal's Dalton feels like less of a pacifist than Swayze's, and he's not afraid to stir up trouble. At one point, a nasty biker gang shows up and starts wreaking havoc inside the roadhouse. Dalton lures them outside and gives them the chance to walk away. They mock him, clearly not knowing what they're dealing with.

This isn't the first time Gyllenhaal has played an ultra-shredded fighter, as he did in the 2015 boxing melodrama Southpaw . His Dalton is a pretty standard-issue protagonist, complete with a troubled past that haunts his dreams. But Gyllenhaal, who's always brought a touch of wild energy even to his good-guy roles, makes those demons more convincing than you'd expect.

None of the other actors are especially persuasive, except Jessica Williams as the roadhouse's tough-minded owner. As a snarling hit man who tries to take Dalton down, the Irish professional fighter Conor McGregor does make an impression, in the same way a wrecking ball makes an impression.

Probably my favorite performance is given by a hungry crocodile who makes short work of one of the more annoying members of the cast and gives the movie some authentic Florida flavor. Most of the other key characters have been recycled from the first film, from the flirty doctor who gives Dalton more than strictly medical attention to the wealthy villain who has his own designs on the roadhouse.

But for all its attempts to recapture the B-movie spirit of the original, this Road House winds up stuck somewhere in the middle, caught between unironic '80s homage and a more wised-up contemporary sensibility. In the first Road House , there was nearly as much free-flowing sex as there was violence; here, the violence has been amped up to even more bone-crunching extremes, while the sole instance of nudity is played strictly for laughs. And some of the dialogue feels too arch and knowing, like when a friendly local compares Dalton to a character in a Western.

As we've seen from his earlier movies, the best of which include The Bourne Identity and Edge of Tomorrow , Liman is a more-than-capable director of action. The bar brawls here are well choreographed and cleanly shot, and the fighting encompasses everything from intimate fisticuffs to grander-scale set-pieces.

But there's something too artificial about the action, with its often distractingly obvious CGI touch-ups. I saw Road House at a screening in a theater, and it's possible the technical flaws were magnified on the big screen in a way that they won't be on your TV. Even so, it's too bad that audiences won't get a chance to decide for themselves.

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‘Late Night With the Devil’ Review: Selling Your Soul for the Ratings

An occult-obsessed nation is nimbly captured in this found-footage horror film about a late night show gone horribly wrong.

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By Alissa Wilkinson

“Late Night With the Devil” is trimly effective horror of a rare sort: I found myself wishing, halfway through my screening, that I was watching it on my TV. Not because it doesn’t work in a theater — horror almost always benefits from being seen in a crowd — but because its writer-director duo, the brothers Colin and Cameron Cairnes, make shrewd use of some of the uniquely creepy things about television, especially its intimacy. The TV set is in your house, and you’re sitting six feet away from it, and especially in the wee hours of the night, whatever’s staring back at you can feel eerie, or impertinent. Over time, the late night TV host becomes your best friend, or a figure that haunts your fitful dreams.

That’s why people watch late night TV, of course: to laugh, to be entertained and to feel some kind of companionship when the rest of the world goes to bed. “Late Night With the Devil” twists that camaraderie around on itself, layering in familiar 1970s horror tropes about demonic possession, Satanism and the occult. The result is a nasty and delicious, unapologetic pastiche with a flair for menace. I had a blast.

The host of the movie’s invented late night talk and variety show is Jack Delroy (David Dastmalchian), a younger, snappier Johnny Carson who is desperate to climb to the top of the ratings. Framed as found footage wrapped in a pseudo-documentary, the film briefly fills us in on Delroy’s career trajectory hosting “Night Owls With Jack Delroy,” a show that can’t quite overtake its competitors. As narration informs us that Delroy is risking going down in history as an also-ran — always Emmy nominated, never the winner — we learn that we’re about to watch the night that “shocked a nation.”

On Halloween night, 1977, the first in the crucial sweeps week for “Night Owls,” Delroy and his producers come up with a desperate, last ditch idea to spike ratings: they design a show full of spectacle that will tap into the cultural craze for all things occult. The guest list that night includes a medium and a skeptic, plus a parapsychologist and the girl she’s been treating for demonic possession. The master tapes have been found, the narrator informs us, and that’s what we’re about to see. Buckle up.

All of these characters seem familiar. Carmichael the Conjurer (Ian Bliss), the film’s abrasive skeptic, seems based on James Randi , who appeared on “The Tonight Show” to debunk others’ claims to paranormal abilities, most notably the illusionist Uri Geller in 1973. Randi also confronted mediums on live TV (such as this film’s Christou, played by a hammy Fayssal Bazzi) and was an outspoken critic of parapsychology.

“Late Night With the Devil” also evokes “Michelle Remembers,” the now-discredited 1980 best seller by the psychiatrist Lawrence Pazder about his patient, Michelle Smith, who claimed to have been subjected to ritual satanic abuse. Here the doctor is a parapsychologist played by Laura Gordon, whose performance combines vulnerability and conviction in a fruitful counterbalance to some of the camp. She’s accompanied by her charge, Lilly (Ingrid Torelli), whose oscillation from dead-eyed to vibrant is devilishly disquieting. (If there’s one rule in horror, it’s that there’s nothing creepier than a little girl.)

The film moves a little slowly, unfolding at the speed of the “Night Owls” episode. That’s good. We’re forced to watch it all in real time, just as the audience at home would have, which more or less transforms us into those people in 1977, sitting on the couch in the middle of the night, by turns titillated, captivated and horrified by what’s unfolding on live television. Eventually they — we — are sucked into the whole illusion, an effect I can only imagine is enhanced if you’re watching it all unfold on your actual TV set. You aren’t watching a movie anymore; for a few minutes, you’re part of it.

All of this would have been completely seamless, but for one disappointing formal choice. We’re told the master tape we’re about to watch will be accompanied by previously unseen backstage footage shot during commercial breaks. Though it might have been interesting to leave those scenes out, it makes sense that they’re there — it keeps the film from getting too abstract by filling us in on what’s actually happening between segments.

However, the “footage” is shot in a more traditional shot/reverse shot format, like any film might be, which is weirdly inconsistent with the idea that some rogue cameraman was just hanging out backstage, accidentally capturing footage. Instead it feels scripted, like there were filmmakers present to document the unfolding panic. A more hand-held, one-camera approach might have helped to maintain the movie’s illusion — and made everything far more effectively creepy. (I have a similar quibble with a sequence near the film’s ending, though that feels more subject to the suspension of disbelief.)

But this is relatively minor, in the scheme of things. “Late Night With the Devil” reflects something that movies have often explored — the strangely queasy codependent nature of the live TV host and the audience — through an old trope, which suggests that while you might ask God to save your soul, only the devil will give you what your vanity requires. Invert that, refract it and drag it through sludgy, bloody mud, and you get “Late Night With the Devil”: diabolically good fun.

Late Night With the Devil Rated R: Demons, death and disgusting destruction. Running time: 1 hour 33 minutes. In theaters.

Alissa Wilkinson is a Times movie critic. She’s been writing about movies since 2005. More about Alissa Wilkinson

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