Film Review: Even Kids Might Run from ‘Walking with Dinosaurs 3D’

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CHICAGO – “Walking with Dinosaurs” depicts the magnificent titular creatures in stunning realism and 3D vision, and then proceeds to give them line readings with the equivalent sophistication of Archie comics. This adds up to an educational film with a long, dull journey ahead.

HollywoodChicago.com Oscarman rating: 2.5/5.0
Rating: 2.5/5.0

This is geared towards the kiddies, with a flight of fancy that becomes teeth-gnashingly stupid for their adult companions. Its heart is in the right place, as an annoying bird guides the audience through the Cretaceous Era by properly naming all of the species, yet the idea that the production had to “entertain” its young audience with a silly Dino-Shakespearian fight for power – softened for the youthful sensibility – just wasn’t compelling. The kid fidget factor, unless the moppet is a junior scientist, might top out at eleven.

The film starts out with a live action segment, as Uncle Zack (Karl Urban, using his Dr. McCoy voice from “Star Trek”) takes his niece and nephew to a archeology site to sift for dino-bones. The nephew is a sulky teenager, but his surly mood is turned happy by a magical bird named Alex (voice of John Leguizamo), who proceeds to tell the youth about his feathery roots in the Cretaceous Era of the dinosaurs, and begins to narrate the ancient story.

It centers around Patchi (Justin Long), a runty dinosaur in a large herd, with an alpha-leadership by his father. He has a larger but lunk-headed brother named Scowler (Skyler Stone). Their species is a migrating herd, and they make the journey to Southern climates every winter (which the film oddly makes fun of in the end). When the father is killed in battle, the two brothers must determine who will take over the leadership role. This is further complicated by the fair female named Juniper (Tiya Sircar).

’Walking with Dinosaurs 3D’ opens everywhere on December 20th. See local listings for 3D theaters and show times. Featuring Karl Urban, and the voices of John Leguizamo, Justin Long, Tiya Sircar and Skyler Stone. Screenplay by John Collee. Directed by Barry Cook and Neil Nightingale. Rated “PG

StarContinue reading for Patrick McDonald’s full review of ”Walking with Dinosaurs 3D”

Walking with Dinosaurs
Patchi (voice of Justin Long) Meets Alex (John Leguizamo) in ‘Walking with Dinosaurs 3D’
Photo credit: 20th Century Fox

StarContinue reading for Patrick McDonald’s full review of ”Walking with Dinosaurs 3D”

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