That's pretty much all that I can sum this movie as. Like, it's amazing how just okay this movie is.
The story is nothing original. At all. It's just your average Growing Up Through Hardships story that a lot of other movies already did. There's very little truly memorable moments in this movie, aside of a few stranger scenes (like the throwaway character of a loony dinosaur who surrounds himself with various critters to "protect" him). Almost all characters our hero encounters are there just for a couple of scenes at most, only to be completely forgotten once Arlo (our hero) moves on.
Also, one criticism I have to bring up is that I find myself rather disappointed in their decision to have the feral human child - Spot - be essentially just a dog in a human body, down to a dog-like name. I mean, come on. The trope of doggyfying non-dog creatures has been done to death, and it's baffling how almost completely straight this trope is played throughout the entire movie. In my opinion, the most interesting portrayal of Spot was when during a rather quiet scene, he briefly dropped his dog shtick and showed signs of human intelligence by silently explaining his backstory to Arlo. That was a touching moment, and a really nice way of showing instead of telling, not to mention adding a bit of depth to Spot. But as the movie went on, they pretty much abandoned that completely in favor of him acting entirely like a dog. Such a waste...
And as many have already noted, I do have to mention that the environment is way too realistic compared to the cartoony characters. It's not that bothersome most of the time, since your attention is centered on the characters' actions, but the movie has several wide shots in it showing off the environment, and during these shots, it's painfully apparent how photorealistic everything looks and how the characters stick out like a sore thumb. It's especially baffling when you consider that during the production of Finding Nemo, the creators allegedly had to tone down the realism of the water because it looked "too real".
That being said, for all the lack of really memorable moments, I do have to say that the movie has a lot of heart in it. It has this indescribable charm to it that makes you love the characters and really hope for them to make it out alright. Arlo is the lovable cowardly doofus, and Spot is the affectionate, protective simpleton. And if there's one thing that in my opinion stands out the most about this movie is the amazing use of lots of quiet moments and Show Don't Tell moments, like the one I mentioned earlier. I think what I like the most about this movie is that overall, it's fairly quiet and peaceful, going through with its narrative at a relaxed pace.
Overall, this movie is okay. It's no masterpiece or a must-watch, and it's severely lacking in originality, but for what it is, it's a charming little piece of Pixar magic.
It's okay
That's pretty much all that I can sum this movie as. Like, it's amazing how just okay this movie is.
The story is nothing original. At all. It's just your average Growing Up Through Hardships story that a lot of other movies already did. There's very little truly memorable moments in this movie, aside of a few stranger scenes (like the throwaway character of a loony dinosaur who surrounds himself with various critters to "protect" him). Almost all characters our hero encounters are there just for a couple of scenes at most, only to be completely forgotten once Arlo (our hero) moves on.
Also, one criticism I have to bring up is that I find myself rather disappointed in their decision to have the feral human child - Spot - be essentially just a dog in a human body, down to a dog-like name. I mean, come on. The trope of doggyfying non-dog creatures has been done to death, and it's baffling how almost completely straight this trope is played throughout the entire movie. In my opinion, the most interesting portrayal of Spot was when during a rather quiet scene, he briefly dropped his dog shtick and showed signs of human intelligence by silently explaining his backstory to Arlo. That was a touching moment, and a really nice way of showing instead of telling, not to mention adding a bit of depth to Spot. But as the movie went on, they pretty much abandoned that completely in favor of him acting entirely like a dog. Such a waste...
And as many have already noted, I do have to mention that the environment is way too realistic compared to the cartoony characters. It's not that bothersome most of the time, since your attention is centered on the characters' actions, but the movie has several wide shots in it showing off the environment, and during these shots, it's painfully apparent how photorealistic everything looks and how the characters stick out like a sore thumb. It's especially baffling when you consider that during the production of Finding Nemo, the creators allegedly had to tone down the realism of the water because it looked "too real".
That being said, for all the lack of really memorable moments, I do have to say that the movie has a lot of heart in it. It has this indescribable charm to it that makes you love the characters and really hope for them to make it out alright. Arlo is the lovable cowardly doofus, and Spot is the affectionate, protective simpleton. And if there's one thing that in my opinion stands out the most about this movie is the amazing use of lots of quiet moments and Show Don't Tell moments, like the one I mentioned earlier. I think what I like the most about this movie is that overall, it's fairly quiet and peaceful, going through with its narrative at a relaxed pace.
Overall, this movie is okay. It's no masterpiece or a must-watch, and it's severely lacking in originality, but for what it is, it's a charming little piece of Pixar magic.