Walking with Dinosaurs - C+

Rated PG, 80 minutes

Educational "Walking with Dinosaurs" lovely to look at, offers little else

One of the dinosaurs in "Walking with Dinosaurs"

Meet dinosaurs more real than you've ever seen as you take off on a thrilling prehistoric adventure, where Patchi (Justin Long), with the help of prehistoric bird and story narrator Alex (John Leguizamo) an underdog dinosaur, triumphs against all odds to become a hero for the ages. "Walking with Dinosaurs" is produced by BBC Earth (this is based on its 1999 TV miniseries of the name) and is part educational, part narrative and a mixed bag. As an educational film for young children, it works best, as it stops to introduce all the prehistoric creatures each time a new one appears on screen. The film was shot by BBC Earth and director John Nightingale on location in Alaska and New Zealand, with the CG creatures added in later. The locals are lovely to look at and the dinosaurs very detailed, but there's not much else to keep the kids (and their parents), and even at 80 minutes, much of it seems like filler.  Also, it's odd that voices of the animals are voice-overs instead of moving along with the mouths of the creatures; even more odd some creatures "talk" while most do not at all. "Walking with Dinosaurs" is peppered with fun moments and educational for the young set, but outside of that there's little to offer a mainstream audience.

Wes's Grade: C+