Le bon dinosaure

The animation in The Good Dinosaur is stunningly beautiful. Photo-realistic, even. And yet, the story is so basic, so immature, and so disjointed that the visuals are in service of a dud of a plot.

But don't let its uncomplicated story and mediocre protagonist dissuade you; it's a dazzling thing to behold, certain to break down any resistance you may initially have.

Those CG-rendered backdrops, taking their visual cues from Yellowstone's waterfalls to Montana's grasslands, bring that custom Pixar cutting-edge technology into an exciting, new, wondrous place.

Clever and cloying by turns, Pixar's 16th feature is a visually stunning tale of interspecies friendship.

From where they're sitting, The Good Dinosaur will look like a fun, adorable, exciting movie with likable heroes that they'll want to see over and over again. They're not wrong.

After a schmaltzy start, this Jurassic coming-of-age story blossoms into a tale as subtle, funny and moving as anything the studio has ever made.

Pixar's latest film has the misfortune of following what's perhaps Pixar's greatest. 

The end result is a film that has some promising elements and which often seems as if it is on the verge of evolving into something wonderful but never quite manages to turn that particular corner.

Certes, le récit initiatique sur le deuil, l'amitié, le courage et le dépassement de soi est très classique et prévisible, ce qui déçoit de la part de Meg Lefauve, scénariste de l'imaginatif Inside Out. En revanche, l'animation répond aux hauts standards de qualité des productions Pixar.

Issu de tout autre studio que Pixar, The Good Dinosaur ne serait pas la déception qu'il est. C'est que le «moyen», quand il sort de la boîte qui a vu naître Toy Story, The Incredibles et autres Finding Nemo, fait mal.

Mais c'est au niveau de la technique que Le bon dinosaure s'impose comme un film inoubliable, et je lève mon chapeau aux animateurs chargés de créer les décors.