Walking-with-Dinosaurs:-The-3D-Movie-Quad-PosterRoughly a year ago we were treated to an enticing teaser trailer for Barry Cook and Neil Nightingale’s Walking with Dinosaurs 3D; a spin-off from the popular BBC television series. The trailer gave off the impression we’d be in for a mature, grown-up nature documentary of sorts, with a David Attenborough style of narration playing over the top. However regrettably Walking with Dinosaurs offers no such thing, instead adding needless human voices to the dinosaurs and having them interact through speech, as this potentially exhilarating tale has become far too child-friendly, suffering greatly a result.

Narrated by Alex (John Leguizamo), an Alexornis bird, we delve into the life of Patchi (Justin Long), a young Pachyrinosaurus, who gets separated from his family and has to venture through the wild and dangerous dinosaur kingdom, hoping to one day emulate his father, the Alpha male of their herd, who dies courageously in battle. With his larger brother Scowler (Skyler Stone) taking over the reigns and belittling our protagonist at any given opportunity, Patchi knows he has to do it all alone if he wants to stay alive – though along the way he takes a liking to his friend Juniper (Tiya Sircar).

This idea of providing a younger audience with a more educated take on the palaeontology, away from the likes of Ice Age and Disney’s Dinosaur, is initially intriguing. However this deviates away from such an approach, simply not treating its audience very respectfully, as though kids can’t be compelled by nature and history without needing cheesy, Disney sounding voices to act out a terribly contrived screenplay. They even introduce a romantic angle. I mean, honestly. It completely devalues the film’s integrity, and you get the impression that it’s a sentiment that may well be shared by the countless animators who worked their socks off to bring this world to the big screen, as the narrative detracts from the landscape completely, taking us out of this world created. There is an attempt to blend in information and educational aspects, with each dinosaur that is introduced equipped with a brief explanation about their particular species, however in the grander context it feels somewhat out of place.

The concept is enchanting though, as we begin in the contemporary world (with Karl Urban, no less) discovering a fossil, and then we transpire to head back millions of years to discover the story behind it, and how this lone tooth came to be stranded in the wilderness. To create an entire world and back story to explain this one discovered tooth is imaginative, and something we’ve all done as kids in museums, to look at one artefact and imagine a whole story behind it. In fairness, the film does feel very authentic in parts, (well, aside from the talking dinosaurs) – and doesn’t adhere to conventionality, avoiding the big Tyrannosaurus Rex material in turn for a more unspoken, less explored side to the kingdom.

In spite of the issues that exist, you can’t fault the feature from a visual perspective, proving to be a real immersive spectacle up on the big screen, with 3D implemented triumphantly. The back drop is genuine, photographic scenery, and to see these computer animated animals play out against this – and to do so seamlessly – is a real credit to the filmmakers. The shadows and the way the beasts interact with the natural setting is a real accomplishment.

On the surface, Walking with Dinosaurs should appeal to both adults and kids alike, as nobody is too old to be fascinated by the prehistoric world and this lost kingdom. However this comprehensive study into such a time has been wrongly judged and isn’t quite the epic tale it had the potential to be. At times it’s too scary for young children, but ultimately too dumbed down for the older members of the audience, caught carelessly in between.

[Rating:2/5]

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