I have adolescent nephews and nieces, but no kids to drag me into every Pixar flix or 3D cartoon on offer so I won't call myself a 3D animation connoisseur. I watch it as a random walk-in one Saturday as a couple, with some other young as well as middle age couples, and of course some families, in a new theater in the city.
Everyone laughed a lot. The kids laughed at certain things a lot louder than the adults. But people are definitely moved and entertained. I laughed plenty, so did my other half who didn't expect to. I admit I also teared at touching and beautiful bits too...
I really really really LOVE the two lead characters. Especially the so so adorable and very fierce and "bite-ty" little wolf boy Spot.
Visually and musically it is just stunning - the opening scene of the expansive green vista and corn field are and the flowing water, river rocks and pine forest are just so...wow. Soon it doesn't matter it's a CG world, I could smell the delightful crisp fresh mountain dew air. That alone should keep the most jaded adults occupied...I reckon anyway...
As a narrative it is emotive and true. The overall theme is about lost young one overcoming fear and blame, cultivating self-care and becoming own authority. More subtly, it is also about overcoming lower nature of vengeful impulse, ethnocentric-ism and xenophobia. The overall narrative tone is un-sappy, non-preachy, unforced, even warm, fun, heartening, and...just adorable.
For parents with young kids: there are a few potentially "scary" scenes of animals being swallowed (eaten) alive in cartoony manners, no blood or guts, just instant. There's also Spot biting (to kill) all sorts of poisonous or yucky creature enemies, which can be yucky to some I think. Some may call the lead dinosaur's momentary hallucination astral dream scene kinda "creepy" too. Also a few life-threatening chase/ kidnap scenes. So perhaps no under 7 year old or easily-scared under-10's.
What I love most about this production - and quite a few local viewers have aptly noted - that it is a totally independent standalone story world with no reference to any existing Disney story world or Hollywood characters. How refreshing and daring! Especially in this era of endless soulless mergers-Avengers and clever meta-narratives, a cynical time of giant studios aggressively squeezing the last drop out of their over- prized, milked-to-death back catalogs. So nice to be able to immerse in a wholistic story world again without feeling the greedy invisible hands of big studio boardroom suits.
All that over-thinking analysis aside, this is a story worth experiencing simply because it is a good old fashion coming-of-age adventure story, with good characters, and lots of heart and beauty.
I will recommend this movie not just to teens+, but to any adult friends, even the most jaded ones - especially the most jaded ones. Definitely a 10/10.
Everyone laughed a lot. The kids laughed at certain things a lot louder than the adults. But people are definitely moved and entertained. I laughed plenty, so did my other half who didn't expect to. I admit I also teared at touching and beautiful bits too...
I really really really LOVE the two lead characters. Especially the so so adorable and very fierce and "bite-ty" little wolf boy Spot.
Visually and musically it is just stunning - the opening scene of the expansive green vista and corn field are and the flowing water, river rocks and pine forest are just so...wow. Soon it doesn't matter it's a CG world, I could smell the delightful crisp fresh mountain dew air. That alone should keep the most jaded adults occupied...I reckon anyway...
As a narrative it is emotive and true. The overall theme is about lost young one overcoming fear and blame, cultivating self-care and becoming own authority. More subtly, it is also about overcoming lower nature of vengeful impulse, ethnocentric-ism and xenophobia. The overall narrative tone is un-sappy, non-preachy, unforced, even warm, fun, heartening, and...just adorable.
For parents with young kids: there are a few potentially "scary" scenes of animals being swallowed (eaten) alive in cartoony manners, no blood or guts, just instant. There's also Spot biting (to kill) all sorts of poisonous or yucky creature enemies, which can be yucky to some I think. Some may call the lead dinosaur's momentary hallucination astral dream scene kinda "creepy" too. Also a few life-threatening chase/ kidnap scenes. So perhaps no under 7 year old or easily-scared under-10's.
What I love most about this production - and quite a few local viewers have aptly noted - that it is a totally independent standalone story world with no reference to any existing Disney story world or Hollywood characters. How refreshing and daring! Especially in this era of endless soulless mergers-Avengers and clever meta-narratives, a cynical time of giant studios aggressively squeezing the last drop out of their over- prized, milked-to-death back catalogs. So nice to be able to immerse in a wholistic story world again without feeling the greedy invisible hands of big studio boardroom suits.
All that over-thinking analysis aside, this is a story worth experiencing simply because it is a good old fashion coming-of-age adventure story, with good characters, and lots of heart and beauty.
I will recommend this movie not just to teens+, but to any adult friends, even the most jaded ones - especially the most jaded ones. Definitely a 10/10.