The Good Dinosaur

Earlier this year Pixar came out with Inside Out, an emotional and creative journey that worked on so many different levels. Now for the first time ever, Pixar are releasing a second film in a single year with The Good Dinosaur, and it’s fair to say it has some pretty big footsteps to follow. 

65 Million years ago, deep into the asteroid belt, a collision sends an asteroid hurtling towards Earth, destined to make a significant impact on the future of the planet. However it passes over safely, nothing more than a glint in the eyes of the dinosaurs. After millions more years of evolution, dinosaurs have started to build a life for themselves, cultivating land and learning to speak English, naturally. Underneath the claw-tooth mountains, two Apatosaurus, Henry (Jeffrey Wright) and Ida (Frances McDormand) have built a homestead and are farming corn. They give birth to three children, Libby (Maleah Padilla), Buck (Marcus Scribner) and Arlo (Raymond Ochoa), the well-meaning but cowardly runt of the litter. 

By completing challenging chores around the farm, Libby and Buck soon “earn their mark”, a mud-print on the family’s corn silo which becomes a coming-of-age signifier and a seemingly unachievable goal for Arlo. Soon though, he gets his chance when the family’s corn supply is being eaten by a ‘critter’ and Arlo is tasked to capture and kill it. When the critter turns out to be a feral human caveboy (Jack Bright), Arlo lets him go. However Arlo’s decision ultimately costs him a loved one and lands him lost, way down the river, his fate almost certainly sealed and with only the feral caveboy - which he later names ‘Spot’ - as company. 

As anti-Disney as I am, it’s impossible to ignore a Pixar film when one comes out; because for one, they’re almost always original and nuanced, and also because they only come around in a blue moon. Well, they used to anyway. Under their new road-map plan for upcoming films, the Pixar schedule is getting increasingly condensed which makes me worry about the quality of the releases, and was certainly a major consideration when I went in to see The Good Dinosaur. As much as it may look like a film tailored solely to kids, Pixar has once again built a story that brings something to all ages. There are jokes here that will fly straight over kids heads, something clearly evoked to me through the running commentary of the toddler-packed screening I attended. “Why are they happy? Why are they sad? Are both my eyes crying now dad?”, it’s as hilarious as it is distracting so keep that in mind when choosing a time to go see this if you’re a childless adult like myself with nothing better to do. 

The plot itself is fairly straightforward and as such lacks some of the emotional and conceptual depth of other Pixar films, however it makes up for this with its cute story of an unconventional friendship and a dinosaur that just wants to get home. For a significant part of the story the film takes on a western motif - most likely to keep the dads in the audience entertained - and this was probably the funniest section of the film for me. I had never considered the fact that T-Rex’s kinda look like they’re riding invisible horses. Look I get amused easily alright. Spot, the rabid human of the film actually kinda reminds me of The Feral Kid from The Road Warrior - although I’m not sure if that’s where the inspiration comes from - and for a non-speaking role, the character is surprisingly nuanced, a testament to Pixar’s understanding of the subtleties of movement.

If the fairly colourful, surreal visuals of Inside Out weren’t the revelation in animation technology you always look for in a Pixar film, then this will absolutely make up for it because The Good Dinosaur is utterly beautiful, we’re talking photo-realistic at times. However as staggering as that is, the style is limited to the backgrounds/environment, whereas the dinosaurs and other animals come off as cartoony. This makes for a kinda cute contrast but it probably could have been executed better as at times it becomes slightly distracting and jarring. 

The Good Dinosaur is not the greatest Pixar film, but it’s still definitely worth seeing. The story isn’t as original as I’d hoped but it achieves a lot in a short running time and manages to tailor itself towards children and adults alike. The stunning visuals and joy of seeing Sam Elliott as a T-Rex alone more than make up for the cost of admission.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1

I've never been much of a fan of the Hunger Games series, or indeed any of the many teenage dystopic films, apart from perhaps The Maze Runner. So walking into the latest instalment, Mockingjay - Part 1 I was a bit hesitant. So, does Part 1 continue in the Battle Royale-esque manner of the first two?

After Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) destroys the arena, Plutarch (Philip Seymour Hoffman) takes her to District 13, an underground embattlement where she meets President Coin (Julianne Moore). Coin persuades Katniss to become their Mockingjay, a symbol of revolution that will boost the uproar against the Capitol. They design a series of propaganda videos to spread the word, but Haymitch (Woody Harrelson) quite rightly suggests that she needs to send her message from the battlefield for it to have influence.

Armed with a film crew, directed by Cressida (Natalie Dormer), Katinss visits a district that has just survived a vicious bombing raid by the Captiol, to see if she can capture both the atrocities of the Capitol, and the spirit of the survivors, in the hope of fanning the flames of revolution. Whilst at the same time, she remains concerned about the state of Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) and his existence within the Capitol.

With Francis Lawrence (I Am Legend, Water for Elephants) reprising directorial control after the success of Catching Fire, the film takes a while to gain momentum, only really finding its stride by the second half. The story of Mockingjay seems much more focused on the political manoeuvres occurring in this Orwellian society and is clearly building up for Part 2, the final instalment in the series. Nevertheless, I was far more absorbed here than I was in the previous two films and for the first real time in the series, I'm actually interested in where it's going. I just wish the first half of this film was as good as the second.

I've never been able to understand how The Hunger Games gets such a vast array of superb actors on-board (Spoiler Alert: It's probably money) and generally they all provide decent if (certainly) not career-peaking performances. Jennifer Lawrence maintains the strong yet troubled nature of Katniss, with both Liam Hemsworth and Hutcherson supporting her well. The late Philip Seymour Hoffman is gentle and sympathetic as Plutarch and Woody Harrelson as Haymitch is still the lovable jackass that he was in the first instalments. Although Julianne Moore is less than stellar, mainly because President Coin is such a bland character, and Natalie Dormer seems to play the same smirking egotist that she does in most her roles, although I suppose it works quite well when playing a director.

Whilst for the first half, Part 1 fails to move away from the stock-standard 1984 dystopia that we've seen many times before, it flourishes more as it moves on, supported by a great cast and a handful of action scenes for good measure.