Walking With Dinosaurs - The Movie
Kids
love dinosaurs.
That
simple statement is both undeniable and widely understood and it is the
greatest ace in the hole for the creators of Walking With Dinosaurs - The
Movie.
They
know they have a built in audience for their film. And if they have to dumb
things down a little bit just to capture the fleeting attention spans of
their target audience... well, that can be done.
Walking With Dinosaurs started as a museum exhibit-turned-arena
spectacle in which special effects and a simple storyline made paleontology
fun. Most of the kids who went weren't looking to pick up on the Latin
names of the different species or specifics of life in the dinosaur era –
they wanted to see the giganotosaurus and the pterodactyls fighting.
If
they picked up a little knowledge along the way, bonus.
Now,
through the miracles of CGI, the exhibit has been turned into a film.
First
things first. Walking With Dinosaurs – The Movie looks
stunning. Both the dinosaurs and the world they inhabit are designed
with care and awe-inspiring to watch.
Of
course kids aren't going to sit still for some hour and a half long science
lesson, so the producers had to make it kid friendly. Sadly, that
means talking dinosaurs, a power struggle, a journey of self-discovery and
lots of unnecessary toilet humor.
The
storyline of Walking With Dinosaurs has been lifted from every kid's
movie since Bambi. Young runt of the litter Patchi (voiced by
Justin Long) is the son of the herd's chief, but he is shy and weak and way
too curious for his own good. His older brother Scowler (Skyler Stone)
is a bit of a bully and Patchi's constant nemesis. Then Patchi meets
Juniper (Tiya Sircar) a cute girl dinosaur, and he is instantly smitten.
But Scowler likes her, too. When dad is killed saving their life from
a predator, the two brothers have to prove their mettle, fighting over who
will be responsible for saving the herd and getting the girl.
And if
the dialogue is awkward and the love story a little cheesy and there are way
too many poop jokes, that's okay, kids won't care. In fact, they
probably would prefer it that way.
Honestly, for adults, it may be a preferable experience to watch the
gorgeous grandeur of the film with your TV on mute, so you don't have be
distracted by the whole silly talking dinosaur milieu. Real
dinosaurs didn't talk or have narrators, so it's not like you'll be missing
much other than roaring.
Either
way, it doesn't really matter. Adults are not the target audience for
Walking With Dinosaurs - The Movie, unless they happen to be bringing
the kids. No one is likely going to this film looking for subtle
characterization, clever wordplay and story arc.
They
are going for the special effects, which are terrific by the way, and the
action scenes, which also are impressive. So deal with the fact that
these prehistoric creatures use modern slang terms and the story doesn't
exactly always make sense.
None
of that matters. Kids love dinosaurs. So they will undoubtedly
love this movie. And parents will end up watching it over and over
again, at least until the kids grow out of it.
Jay
S. Jacobs
Copyright ©2014 PopEntertainment.com.
All rights reserved. Posted: March 21, 2014.
