Dino Time

It's cute, silly and slightly low-brow but it's a bit of animated fun. Overall the story is nothing special and feels pretty generic. There are parts that keep you engaged and other times the story seems to be lagging a bit. Not terrible though. I will say that the animation was pretty. All the characters looked like individuals and were uniquely special. It was something I was not expecting from a low-budget animated movie. There were also quite a few action sequences that were very well illustrated.

My final recommendation would be that if you have a young son who loves Dinosaurs then this is a great choice but you must love the subject matter to love the film. There just isn't enough substance otherwise.

Viewed at the Festival de Cannes 2010

An animated film that doesn't insult kids' intelligence, isn't about shifting as much merchandise as possible and won't have parents hitting the booze in the middle - that's Dino Mom.

Technically, as in terms of animation, Dino Mom hits above its weight. It's no Pixar of Dreamworks, or Disney, but nor is it churned out shovelware either. There is ability and care on show here, which extends to the characters, both humans and dinosaurs, too. The moral of the story, moms are a good thing, is simple and nicely done. The film might not stand up to repeat viewings but for a one-off treat, something the kids can be left to watch while parents do something else (Get drunk, maybe?), it's perfect.

Yes the animation isn't great and the story line is a bit strange but it's a nice little movie for kids. My daughter is 4 and she loves it, I'm letting her be the judge.

As a lifelong fan of animation, an admirer of Tara Strong and as someone who is interested in dinosaurs and has been enthralled by many films featuring them, 'Dino Time' had potential. Sadly, the execution was a long way from fantastic, much of it lousy.

'Dino Time' is not a complete waste of time. Some of the animation is serviceable enough, the colours are pretty and exotic looking and the backgrounds are nicely rendered and quite rich in detail. Some of the voice cast acquit themselves well, Grey De Lisle, Tara Strong and Pamela Adlon always do their best regardless of what's thrown at them while Jane Lynch is engaging.

Not that either element is completely successful. The character designs are unattractive and stiff and there is a general lack of visual imagination. As for the rest of the voice cast, others do not fare well. Melanie Griffith sounds disinterested, Steven and William Baldwin just don't sound sinister enough for villains and Rob Schneider is unbearably obnoxious.

Every other element is poorly done. The soundtrack is forgettable at best and doesn't rouse, catch or engage. The writing is often very forced, especially in the humour which is never funny (quite the opposite), and the story is dragged out, predictable and contrived. Not even the action engages and the time machine stuff is muddled.

Characters are an infuriating mix of bland and annoying, and the obligatory villains' motives are never made clear, let alone expanded upon.

In conclusion, pretty bad and a long way from dino-tastic. 2/10 Bethany Cox

My kids enjoyed this, don't get me wrong. But they're 4.

What possessed the actors to read this script and STILL say yes to putting their name to this movie I don't know. It tries desperately hard to be funny and doesn't succeed. The characters are undeveloped, the plot doesn't make sense and the interactions between the characters is nonsensical. At times it's like the script writers were told they had 2 minutes to complete it and rushed to do it as fast as possible.

Terrible. I cringed so hard through the whole thing!!!