Having never read the book(s) and having not seen enough of the show to judge, I saw Dinotopia: Quest for the Ruby Sunstone aiming to judge it on its own merits and with no expectations. After seeing it I don't think it is as bad as I'd heard it was, I have seen far worse animated movies out there though at the same time I've seen better also. However, it also seemed on the bland side. The good points are the animation, which is mostly bright and fluid, a whimsical and sometimes haunting background score, cute characters(with the exception of Spaz who I found irritating) as well as some suitably antagonistic villains, some good non-preachy messaging and some good voice acting from Alyssa Milano, Kathy Griffin, Carol Burnett and Malcolm McDowell. However Dinotipia: Quest for the Ruby Sunstone's flaws are mainly to do with the script and the story. The script is very simplistic, while the story is structurally thin and also rather predictable. The film is also too short and there are some bizarrely placed and forgettable musical numbers. Overall, not bad but rather bland for my liking. 6/10 Bethany Cox
