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General Land Before Time / Re: Nano Reviews the Land Before Time Fourteenology
« on: November 30, 2020, 08:46:31 PM »
Alright, I'm going to jump right in because I know this isn't a very popular opinion: I think The Great Day of the Flyers is a marked improvement over the last movie and actually stands out as one of the better sequels, but not because it's dark and a breath of fresh air like VII or because it's all-around solid and thematically strong like IV - I think it gets by simply for being endearing.
The story by itself is not very good. Petrie is ostracized by his siblings for not being able to coordinate with them for a rite of passage for his species and befriends a friendly amnesiac who helps him train for a few minutes. Only for him to say " all of that" at the last minute and freestyle the whole ritual in a way that wins over the judges and the Great Valley at large. The sub-plot of Cera also feeling ostracized (though not nearly as severely) by her parents after she gets a new sister isn't too much better; the bulk of it is of Topps and Tria fawning over their new baby, Cera feeling ignored and the baby running around and making noises. All of this, combined with a 10-minute long scene of the friendly amnesiac sleep-walking (yes, really) followed by a scene of that character participating in another phoned-in trip to the Mysterious Beyond with a sharptooth chase, should be a recipe for something very bland and perhaps even annoying, but, surprisingly, I think it is executed decently (past those two egregious and frankly really boring and played-out scenes), largely thanks to the portrayal of what was ultimately the last movie's killing blow.
But, before that, I would like to mention that the humor is pretty decent in places - most of it is tied to the friendly amnesiac character, Guido. Quite possibly the highlight of the movie is a short scene of him interacting with Mr. Clubtail. The songs are also unusually strong: 'One of a Kind' is a quaint, fun song, 'Things Change' has a great first half and an alright second half and 'Flip, Flap and Fly' isn't great but is still pretty nice.
In a lot of ways, many the characters aren't too different from how they usually are in the sequels. Littlefoot is a nicey-boy (that will be the last time I describe him as such here because the next two movies go in two very, uh, unique directions with his character), Ducky is a doormat who says "yep yep yep" and Spike is a mouth with legs. But there are two interesting standouts from the Gang of Five: Petrie and Cera. I will get Petrie out of the way first because I don't think he is quite as interesting, which might be a surprise in a movie dedicated to him: the movie doesn't actually play up him being a nervous wreck too much outside of a scene of him being afraid of clouds, for one refreshing thing (he even handles being chased by a sharptooth pretty well, I'd say). His primary conflict is his lack of ability to cooperate with his siblings - he is easily distracted, he doesn't like flying through clouds and, according to him, he struggles in the wind. After Guido trains him, he improves, only for him to throw everything away after he is told to just be himself: depending on whether or not you like the sequels' definition of "Petrie", this may or may not be a bad thing (I, for one, actually prefer Petrie's portrayal in most of the sequels over how he was portrayed in the first movie, so I'm not bothered). But enough of the flyer whose day is great, I think the standout character is one of the characters who has suffered the most in the Grosvenor sequels: Cera. Though she is still prideful ("The best threehorn in the valley is me!) and a little bit mean, for the first time in a long, long time, she shows a decent level of depth; when she isn't stressing over her new baby sister, she isn't all that harsh (she has one or two snide remarks, but that's really it), and her situation is one that is sure to be relatable for a lot of kids. Even when she is raging over her parents ignoring her in favor of the new baby, she is a lot more agreeable than in the last movie - a great example of this is her unintentionally hurting Ducky a little bit while venting to her friends and profusely apologizing. And, though she doesn't particularly like being shunned by her parents, it is made clear that she still loves her baby sister. On the note of Cera, how Topps is portrayed might just be one of the most interesting things about the movie - for the first time in the entire series, he isn't a one-note grumpy jerk, and his role in the movie is as a doting father to his new daughter, Tricia; he doesn't stray too much from this outside of a few scenes where he is annoyed by Guido, but still, he isn't just a boring ball of racism and anger! Oh, and Tria's still here; she isn't too different from last time, but there is a weird scene of her goading Topps into hurling himself off of a ledge (I make it sound worse than it actually is).
There are two new characters worth mentioning. First up is Guido, a weirdly-designed Microraptor who appeared in the Great Valley day without any clue who he is, what he is or where he came from. Though the lack of explanation for any of the questions he raises is a little frustrating (chances are the canon explanation is nothing like what I was aiming for with one of the abandoned roleplays over on the wiki), he is a surprisingly fun character; he isn't annoying, he is likable enough and a decent chunk of his verbal humor is successful. Tricia, being a little baby, is not as great; she isn't nearly as annoying as Dana or Dinah (she is a lot quieter, a lot less abrasive and, because she is substantially younger, more endearing) but there's still not much to her besides her being a baby.
If the sharptooth weren't a Spinosaurus and if Nate and I didn't give him the pet name 'Sailback Jack', I probably wouldn't even bring him up because he's yet another unremarkable sharptooth, and one who tastes defeat in a downright pitiful way at that.
So, animation; I don't think it's as good as that of VII through X and it relies quite a bit on miserable-looking CGI, but it isn't as aggressively unappealing as in XI. The art is similar to the other non-XI post-art shift movies, albeit with duller colors than usual and much less impressive backgrounds.
All in all, I didn't think this was half-bad; about on par with III, which translates to a 5.5/10 in my book. Surely, the next movie will shine even brighter than this one!
And that's that; up next is... something else, I'll tell you that much. Until then, stay frosty and remember: if you see a weird, teal, feathery thing sleepwalking outside your window, don't wake it up.
The story by itself is not very good. Petrie is ostracized by his siblings for not being able to coordinate with them for a rite of passage for his species and befriends a friendly amnesiac who helps him train for a few minutes. Only for him to say " all of that" at the last minute and freestyle the whole ritual in a way that wins over the judges and the Great Valley at large. The sub-plot of Cera also feeling ostracized (though not nearly as severely) by her parents after she gets a new sister isn't too much better; the bulk of it is of Topps and Tria fawning over their new baby, Cera feeling ignored and the baby running around and making noises. All of this, combined with a 10-minute long scene of the friendly amnesiac sleep-walking (yes, really) followed by a scene of that character participating in another phoned-in trip to the Mysterious Beyond with a sharptooth chase, should be a recipe for something very bland and perhaps even annoying, but, surprisingly, I think it is executed decently (past those two egregious and frankly really boring and played-out scenes), largely thanks to the portrayal of what was ultimately the last movie's killing blow.
But, before that, I would like to mention that the humor is pretty decent in places - most of it is tied to the friendly amnesiac character, Guido. Quite possibly the highlight of the movie is a short scene of him interacting with Mr. Clubtail. The songs are also unusually strong: 'One of a Kind' is a quaint, fun song, 'Things Change' has a great first half and an alright second half and 'Flip, Flap and Fly' isn't great but is still pretty nice.
In a lot of ways, many the characters aren't too different from how they usually are in the sequels. Littlefoot is a nicey-boy (that will be the last time I describe him as such here because the next two movies go in two very, uh, unique directions with his character), Ducky is a doormat who says "yep yep yep" and Spike is a mouth with legs. But there are two interesting standouts from the Gang of Five: Petrie and Cera. I will get Petrie out of the way first because I don't think he is quite as interesting, which might be a surprise in a movie dedicated to him: the movie doesn't actually play up him being a nervous wreck too much outside of a scene of him being afraid of clouds, for one refreshing thing (he even handles being chased by a sharptooth pretty well, I'd say). His primary conflict is his lack of ability to cooperate with his siblings - he is easily distracted, he doesn't like flying through clouds and, according to him, he struggles in the wind. After Guido trains him, he improves, only for him to throw everything away after he is told to just be himself: depending on whether or not you like the sequels' definition of "Petrie", this may or may not be a bad thing (I, for one, actually prefer Petrie's portrayal in most of the sequels over how he was portrayed in the first movie, so I'm not bothered). But enough of the flyer whose day is great, I think the standout character is one of the characters who has suffered the most in the Grosvenor sequels: Cera. Though she is still prideful ("The best threehorn in the valley is me!) and a little bit mean, for the first time in a long, long time, she shows a decent level of depth; when she isn't stressing over her new baby sister, she isn't all that harsh (she has one or two snide remarks, but that's really it), and her situation is one that is sure to be relatable for a lot of kids. Even when she is raging over her parents ignoring her in favor of the new baby, she is a lot more agreeable than in the last movie - a great example of this is her unintentionally hurting Ducky a little bit while venting to her friends and profusely apologizing. And, though she doesn't particularly like being shunned by her parents, it is made clear that she still loves her baby sister. On the note of Cera, how Topps is portrayed might just be one of the most interesting things about the movie - for the first time in the entire series, he isn't a one-note grumpy jerk, and his role in the movie is as a doting father to his new daughter, Tricia; he doesn't stray too much from this outside of a few scenes where he is annoyed by Guido, but still, he isn't just a boring ball of racism and anger! Oh, and Tria's still here; she isn't too different from last time, but there is a weird scene of her goading Topps into hurling himself off of a ledge (I make it sound worse than it actually is).
There are two new characters worth mentioning. First up is Guido, a weirdly-designed Microraptor who appeared in the Great Valley day without any clue who he is, what he is or where he came from. Though the lack of explanation for any of the questions he raises is a little frustrating (chances are the canon explanation is nothing like what I was aiming for with one of the abandoned roleplays over on the wiki), he is a surprisingly fun character; he isn't annoying, he is likable enough and a decent chunk of his verbal humor is successful. Tricia, being a little baby, is not as great; she isn't nearly as annoying as Dana or Dinah (she is a lot quieter, a lot less abrasive and, because she is substantially younger, more endearing) but there's still not much to her besides her being a baby.
If the sharptooth weren't a Spinosaurus and if Nate and I didn't give him the pet name 'Sailback Jack', I probably wouldn't even bring him up because he's yet another unremarkable sharptooth, and one who tastes defeat in a downright pitiful way at that.
So, animation; I don't think it's as good as that of VII through X and it relies quite a bit on miserable-looking CGI, but it isn't as aggressively unappealing as in XI. The art is similar to the other non-XI post-art shift movies, albeit with duller colors than usual and much less impressive backgrounds.
All in all, I didn't think this was half-bad; about on par with III, which translates to a 5.5/10 in my book. Surely, the next movie will shine even brighter than this one!
Quote
- Gondwana is reassembling; the movie takes place somewhere in East Africa.
- The term "Mysterious Beyond' is, unfortunately, back.
- The pterosaurs were cartoony in their movements as early as the first movie so I won't fault them there; the other creatures come off as a lot more solid and well-crafted than last time, even if the colors are a little duller.
- Littlefoot hasn't paid too much attention to the Great Valley's bird population, and he either doesn't remember or has never seen Ichy.
- Mr. Clubtail's bopper scene is holy
- "Petrie, I can't even chew!" realistically, none of the main characters but Ducky should be able to chew.
- The "new addition" exchange is another good moment.
- Petrie's siblings are one-note jerks; Guido innocently insulting them is cute, it would have been funnier if the flyer family didn't burst into laughter.
- "Mrs. Tubehead" sounds like the name of a Parasaurolophus character.
- Cera is getting heavier, her charging is enough to cause small earthquakes.
They've built up Cera being upset a lot better than in the last movie; at the very least, she's hurting Ducky unintentionally and not as some weird targeted violence like in the last movie.- seeing the worm in the leaf stirs some ancient, primal instinct in Guido, look at his expression when he first lays eyes on it
- for reference, Guido starts sleepwalking at around 43:55 minutes in.
- "Hey! How'd he do that?" How'd he do what??
- Who left that giant field of fire and brimstone in the Great Valley?
- Ten minutes! Ten minutes! (context: that's how long the sleep-walking scene is)
- It took them six whole years to use Spinosaurus in the series following the release of Jurassic Park III.
- Ducky says "what is that thing?" when she sees him and Cera doesn't know what it is either - they've never seen a Spinosaurus before.
- "Those rocks won't stop him for long!" You're overestimating him, Littlefoot, he doesn't know how to go backwards.
- Alright, the scene was reason for there to be a threat of Petrie missing the Great Day of the Flyers, but still, that was a lot of time dedicated to belating Petrie.
- What is it with babies being distracted by dragonflies in this series?
- Topps and Tria are awoken by Tricia's cries even though they were awake during the song
- the proper climax of Petrie saving Guido saving Tricia is better than the random sharptooth scene.
Also, more credit to the sleepwalking scene; I guess it sets up Guido being able to glide...- Apparently Petrie's act of defiance has completely changed the Great Day of the Flyers.
- "Many changes had occurred on this day of changes." REALLY!>!?!?!?!?!?@>?!>@?!?!>@?!?!?>@!?@!!#11111
And that's that; up next is... something else, I'll tell you that much. Until then, stay frosty and remember: if you see a weird, teal, feathery thing sleepwalking outside your window, don't wake it up.