Movie Review – I Am T-Rex (2023)

June 19, 2023

2 minutes

Kids may get a kick out of I Am T-Rex, but I was not entertained.

I Am T-Rex clocks in at 81 mins, yet the movie’s pacing makes it feel like an eternity. There are several extended silent pauses throughout the movie, which may be intended for audiences to take in the visuals or process the movie’s story and themes. The only problem with this approach is that the narrative is pretty straightforward, and there’s just not much to process. The story is a take on The Lion King – a rival T-Rex known as Fang challenges and kills Logan, the current king of Green Valley, leaving his son Jarrett an orphan. Unequipped for life on his own, Jarrett must learn to fend for himself. There are even three Deinonychus (Raptors) and a Hornbill as analogs to the three hyenas and Zazu.

Jarrett meets his Timon and Pumba in the form of a Carnotaurus named Lucas. What follows is a training montage that overstays its welcome. This is the point where the movie starts to get as cluttered and clunky as the Star Wars: The Clone Wars 2008 movie. The movie introduces a convenient plot point that revolves around Lucas that mirror’s Jarrett’s predicament. Apparently, Lucas was meant to be the king of the Dragon Valley but chose to leave so his brother could inherit the throne. While Lucas has been away, another Carnotaurus has usurped the throne, and the occupants of the valley are worse off.

As an aside, the differences between the two kingdoms is interesting. The dinosaurs of the Dragon Valley seem united despite the false king’s rule, yet early on a Therizinosaurus doesn’t seem to recognize the king of the Green Valley.

The movie’s CGI is decent. Some of the dinosaurs are more realistic looking while others look more like something out of a Saturday cartoon. By that, I mean the textures look cheap and some of the dinosaurs look like a copy and paste job that has been recolored. Logan represents the highest quality of animation in this movie. The close-ups show off the texture of his scales as well as the scars. That said, the concept art at the start of the credits are more beautiful and realistic than anything in this movie.

In another interesting note, the movie’s melodramatic tone and ending is so much more over the top in it’s original Mandarin dub, whereas the English dub has a more nuance and energy.

Rating: 1.5/5 for the original dub, and 2/5 for the English dub.