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Movie: The Good Dinosaur

Rating: PG

Running time: 1 hour, 40 minutes

Moviegoers: Mom, 45; Dad, 40; Luke, 7; Sydney 5.

Family movie faves: Inside Out, Minions, Star Wars.

Fave movies for grown-ups: The Holiday, Mission Impossible, Never Been Kissed.

Review of The Good Dinosaur

What’s the story: Go on an epic journey into the world of dinosaurs where an Apatosaurus named Arlo makes an unlikely human friend. It is a world where humans and dinosaurs exist and the relationships that develop in a challenging world of survival. The film follows the youngest of three dino siblings, Arlo, and his quest to earn his place of respect in his family.

What parents may like about this movie: The story included a ton of action-packed scenes, which kept my son entranced and brought tears to my eyes as Arlo evolved in his quest to make his family proud. The story focused on resilience, empowerment and family and they are all themes that resonated with each of us.

What kids will like: The 3-D effects and plenty of lively fight scenes, not to mention the budding relationship between a boy and a dino had both my kids glued to the screen. When the movie ended, they did not want to leave and insisted we remain in our seats until the very last credit. Always a sign of a great movie.

Concerns: There are themes of parental loss, plus some scary scenes of animal battles that were loud and unsympathetic to the characters. It certainly had me concerned about the scare factor and if our fascination with dinosaurs would fall by the wayside.

Bottom Line:

Positive themes: Learning to overcome your fears and having confidence in your abilities was a great theme for our family. Confidence and loyalty were great storylines and ones that are a part of our every day life, so I really appreciated these themes as a parent. (5/5)

Violence/scare factor: There were plenty of bad guys to put some fear into the kids. But, they are pretty realistic and understand the “circle of life” concept. But, it was more than one scene of violence and that made me wary. However, when we left the theatre, the scenes and characters that were negative seemed to have disappeared from their minds and they only focused on the positives. (3/5)

Sex/Romance: None (0/5)

Bad language: If there was any, we didn’t notice it. 0/5

For more information about this movie or to buy tickets, visit Fandango. 

 

 

“In accordance with the FTC Guidelines, I am disclosing that I received compensation from Fandango for my participation in the Fandango Family Digital Network. Although we have material connection to Fandango, any publicly stated opinions of Fandango and their brands remain my own.”