| Worth seeing: | for the dinosaur romp rather than the science fiction that underlies the thrills |
| Director: | David Robert Mitchell |
| Featuring: | Anne Hathaway, Ewan McGregor, Anne Gee Byrd, Christian Convery, Emily Kuroda, Hudson Meek, Jordan Alexa Davis, Maisy Stella, PJ Byrne, Simms May |
| Length: | 99 minutes |
| Certificate: | 12A |
| Country: | US |
| Released: | 14th August 2026 |
WHAT’S IT ABOUT?
It’s the early 1980s and Greg (Ewan McGregor) and Denise’s (Anne Hathaway) children can see that there’s tension in the marriage. Denise is even writing a novel about a woman who’s planning to walk out on her family.
But there’s nothing better to help a couple get over their difficulties than – erm – a dinosaur invasion…
When this quiet little corner of suburban Detroit becomes overrun with all manner of dinosaurs, the family has to pull together to protect each other and work out how to return their neighbourhood to the modern day.
WHAT’S IT LIKE?
Ever since Steven Spielberg brought dinosaurs back to life in the modern age in his adaptation of Michael Crichton’s Jurassic Park, the idea of seeing a T-Rex running after a car or ripping someone’s leg off has been an all-too-common sight on the big screen.
The technology is so advanced that it’s thoroughly believable but apart from these creatures being a little more furry than we’re used to, there’s little new on offer. Apart from one particular scene, where Greg and Denise stumble across a couple of dinosaurs whose relationship seems to be a little stronger than their own.
While it’s always fun seeing people being chased around their home neighbourhood by savage carnivores, armed with little more than a stick, the sci-fi explanation as to how it came about – and what they need to do to save Oak Street – is considerably more far-fetched and less likely than Crichton’s idea of using pre-historic DNA. It also side-steps one of the biggest narrative questions such films often struggle with, to the point that it feels a little lazy.
The film can’t decide whether it wants the Platt family to be standing alone against their prehistoric neighbours or whether there are other residents of Oak Street going through the same existential battles as them. We have only the odd flash of others in the distance – but since they’re there, why not team-up, like survivors in other apocalyptic thrillers, such as the 28 Days Later franchise or TV’s Walking Dear.
It’s oddly paced, taking far too long to get to the point, and the first time we see a dinosaur, it’s a little anti-climactic.
Writer/director David Robert Mitchell also spends too much time trying to fill out characters who really don’t need it – do the Platts’ marital problems make any difference to whether or not audiences will want to see them devoured by dinosaurs? Although there is an interesting moment when both of their children appear to fall for the same neighbour.
It’s more fun than fresh – more ridiculous than radical – more nonsense than noteworthy. But everyone needs a bit of nonsensical, ridiculous fun from time to time.