Plot: What’s it about?
I recall seeing the previews for Walking with Dinosaurs: The Movie and being quite impressed. The visuals were simply stunning especially in a really nice theater. The film seemed to come and go without making much of an impression at all. Surely the studio was less than impressed with its weak $36 million Domestic Gross. Maybe dinosaurs aren’t as interesting to young kids any more? Who knows. Of course, Box Office results aren’t always an indication of a film’s quality either. In truth, this film would probably work better playing in a planetarium or something of that nature. That might’ve been more along the lines of what was originally planned. Supposedly, the narration and voices to several of the dinosaurs were a last minute decision by the studio. John Leguizamo provides the narration. The fact that the film was reworked might also help explain some of the awkwardness found here. The dinosaur’s mouths never move despite the fact that some of them are speaking. The whole thing just feels off. The majority of the film is done with CGI with live-action background shots. Karl Urban stars in the live-action bookend segments. He’s taking his niece and nephew on a fossil hunt. I realize that I haven’t really gotten into the main plot of the film. Truthfully, there’s not much story here, but it involves a Dino named Patchie. He gets separated from a herd, and finds himself scurrying to find them. The journey includes several close calls and run-ins with various predators and prey. Nothing really surprising happens, however.
When reviewing a film like this, one should ask the crucial question: How will children like it? I think that’s the essential thing. I’m sure younger audiences will be more than happy with this film. I can also say that it did little for me. Outside of the visuals (which really are quite stunning), there’s just not much here for me personally to recommend. The humor and narration don’t really work. I don’t mind John Leguizamo as an actor, but I admit that his narration did annoy me after a short while. While this did little for me, I’m sure the target audience will appreciate it. I still think there are far better choices out there, though. I wish the story and characters would’ve matched the visuals. I grew rather bored by most of this.
Video: How’s it look?
I mentioned being impressed by the visuals and this transfer is excellent. This is almost always a joy to look at. Colors are rich and strong throughout and details come through nicely. The CGI is flawless and the live-action shots and bookends are also strong. I couldn’t detect any flaws of any kind. There’s just a nice, clean look to the whole thing. Fans will surely enjoy this transfer. It is an AVC encoded image with a 2.39:1 ratio. It should be noted that there’s a 3D version out there as well. The standard version was reviewed here.
Audio: How’s it sound?
The DTS HD track also accompanies the film nicely. There’s constant use of every channel, every roar from the dinosaurs. Everything comes across nicely. The narration and voices also come out strong and clear with no issues to speak of. There’s also some music throughout the film that also sounded nice. Overall, a solid track that will please fans. It serves the film well.
Supplements: What are the extras?
- Dino Guide – This is pretty self-explanatory as it offers several behind the scenes snippets and factoids about various dinosaurs. This feature requires a lot of clicking with the remote to navigate through various background notes. Pushing the enter button on the remote will bring up a short featurette on each individual dinosaur.
- Trivia Track – If turned on, this will bring up several factoids during the film.
- Match the Call – This is another interactive feature where you match the sounds of a dinosaur to the correct one.
- Interactive Map – Yet ANOTHER interactive feature. This time, we can click on a map and that tells us more about each specific dinosaur and its origin.
- Nickelodeon Orange Carpet Dino Rap – This is a short (1 minute) little rap that originally appeared on Nickelodeon.
- Theatrical Trailer
- Sneak Peek – This is a set of previews.
- DVD/Digital Copy
