Dino Time Film Review

Dinosaur mad, adventure loving Ernie has a list-loving, controlling and overprotective mum, whose rules he is constantly trying to bend, getting him into some trouble along the way!

Ernie, his tag along, tale telling sister Julia and best friend Max soon end up in some major prehistoric trouble when they accidentally activate a time machine by spilling soda on the controls and get sent 65 million years back in time right into the middle of a nest of dinosaur eggs. Thankfully, they are accepted by mummy T-Rex Tyra as family and not food. She looks after motherless dinosaurs and takes the kids in as her own. Meanwhile, the evil Sarco Brothers are looking to destroy Tyra and take over the Upper Valley where she lives. This leads to a 'Di-Normous' adventure.

Ernie's mum and Max's inventor dad work together on their rescue plan (with the help from a little message from the past) and join forces with the children to help save the day and defeat the evil Sarco brothers before they are all history! Everyone learns something about themselves during their prehistoric adventure: Ernie realises the importance of honesty and thinking of others, while his mum learns to let go a little.

Dino Time is nicely illustrated with quirky characters. There is some great dialogue from the dinosaurs that appear in addition to the main characters. the film boasts an all star cast with Melanie Griffiths, Stephen and William Baldwin and Jane Lynch among the voice talents. There are some exciting animated sequences and some scenes featuring mild peril during the adventure, which kept Freddy on the edge of his seat. He also loved the humour and giggled his way through some scenes (the farting creature was quite predictably a big hit and raised a full on belly laugh!) Dodger was his favourite character and the very last scene of the film, featuring this cheeky, little dinosaur, made Freddy give out a little cheer!

        

Dino Time comes to cinemas from May 22nd, 2015 and DVD and digital platforms from June 1st, 2015 courtesy of Signature Entertainment.

Certificate PG

Running time 86 minutes

Fairytale - Story of the Seven Dwarves Film Review

We received a review copy of Fairytale - Story of the Seven Dwarves from Signature Entertainment. Last night, we sat down down to watch it together.

From the moment it begun, Freddy was riveted as it contained many of the things he loves in movies: catchy songs, toe-tapping dancing, fun characters and slapstick visual humour.  It brings together the stars of lots of our favourite fairytales as they come together for Princess Rose aka Sleeping Beauty's 18th birthday.  The kids loved picking out characters such as Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf from the party guests.

Bobo, the youngest and clumsiest dwarf accidentally causes Sleeping Beauty to prick her finger, unleashing the curse and sending the kingdom into an icy slumber.  The dwarves must then embark on the adventure of a lifetime and find her one true love Jack, of the beanstalk fame, so he can break the wicked Snow Queen Dellamorta's spell. Unfortunately, he is being held captive by the Snow Queen's terrifying dragon.

Although we all hold Disney as the beacon of animated films, I think there is plenty of room in the marketplace for studios that do things a little differently.  I really liked the slightly quirky animated characterisation of the cast, and enjoyed the way the dwarves were not Disney replicas but were brand new characters in their own right.  We loved the visual humour and non-stop gags, and the portrayal of the princesses as typical teen girls was refreshing. Snow White is really quite foxy, which was an interesting twist! The original songs added an element of fun to the film and were quite catchy. Some of the jokes were definitely thrown in with a knowing wink to the grown-ups, which allows adults to enjoy a private titter as the little ones giggle at the more obvious comedic moments.

There were scenes that delivered some mild peril that got Freddy really engrossed in the dwarves' adventures.  He also loved Burner the tap dancing dragon and thought Bobo was really funny!  Dellamorta, who was often seen coming creepily out of her mirror and who spoke with a rather sinister voice, made a very passable villain.

The film delivered its fairytale ending with a good dose of romance.

It's not often that Freddy sits and watches a whole film without being distracted by something else, but this movie absolutely engaged him for the entire duration.

Fairytale-Story of the Seven Dwarves is out on March 16th on DVD.  It is 84 minutes long and is rated a PG.

          

Tarzan - The Legend Lives

This new take on an old classic is an interesting re-imagining of the story of Tarzan.  A more realistic style of CGI animation creates a jungle which is not cutesy and cartoony, but wild and violent.  The themes are quite adult, with lots of quite shocking deaths. Definitely not one for sensitive children - and definitely worthy of the PG certificate.  The human characters bear an uncanny resemblance to SIMS characters, which humoured the older children no end.

Starting with a prehistoric meteor crashing to Earth, the story focuses on the ongoing search by Greystoke Energies for the powerful rock that possesses its own natural energy and has spawned its own ecosystem. During one such mission, Little Tarzan loses his parents in a helicopter accident and becomes adopted as part of a family of gorillas, where he learns how to be the 'hairless ape' of the jungle.  

Years later he ends up in conflict with the new CEO of his late father's company, the ruthless William Clayton, looking to exploit the area and its resources at any cost.

Jane is a conservationist who joins forces with Tarzan to help protect the jungle from the destructive intentions of  William Clayton. Romance blossoms between the pair and Tarzan is on hand to rescue her from the dangers of the jungle (in true classic Tarzan style). 

This film was indeed quite brutal in parts and the storytelling was aimed at older children.  Freddy cried at some of the more heartbreaking moments but cheered as Tarzan's famous battle cry united the jungle against the bad guys!

Out from 25th August from retailers such as Amazon where it is priced at £10 to pre-order on DVD or download to watch online.

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