A Disappointing Continuation

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

But no great shakes as an actor. At least not here. I remember him being a bit better in "Wonderfalls." In "Dinotopia" he's rather robotic. This mini-series is playing right now on the SciFi Channel so it's really fresh in my mind. In fact, I'm gonna go back and watch some more of it after I've finished with this. I have to say, it's rather enthralling in spite of itself. Dinosaurs are just fun to watch, no matter the context, and did I mention Tyron Leitso is easy on the eyes? But as a whole it doesn't really hold up very well to scrutiny. I have to echo some other reviewers' comments as to being more than a little uncomfortable with the way Dinotopian society is run. The cities have mayors, who I assume are democratically elected, but they also have a "Queen", who more or less controls everyone's destiny. Seems like the writers wanted to have it both ways, both modernly democratic and fairy-tale-like autocratic as well. Aside from the villain, played by David Thewlis, there was never any sign of dissent or dissatisfaction. Was there something in the water keeping the people docile? Maybe that quasi-mystical, orgasm-inducing, dino-foot-stomping rite keeps them all hyp-mo-tized. (Wentworth Miller: "There are just not words to describe it..." Good work, writers.) At least there seemed to be a high degree of gender equality, though really, this came off being more of a concession to pc'ness on behalf of the writers rather than a "realistic" depiction of a pre-industrial society. A lot of the dinosaurs seemed kind of like slaves. And no other animals except reptiles? Amphibians and small mammals and eventually birds lived side-by-side with dinosaurs for quite a while, you know. All in all, Dinotopia would be fascinating to visit, but I sure as heck wouldn't wanna live there. I found myself sympathizing with Karl (Tyron Leitso) on that point. Oh, by the way, he has a skinny-dipping scene, but you don't see anything, darn it.

There is a place where people can make movies and TV series by doing market research, finding out what people like, and then putting all together. This place is call Plotatopia....not far from Hollywood If you have dinosaurs, kids will love it. This is Dinatopia...a Harry Potteresque world where reality is turned not so much on it's head, but is leaning over dangerously.Dinatopia is an island where dinosaurs and humans lived together in some sort of harmony.It is a charming world, but each episode lacks a plot and a coherent reality....why is it that some Dinasours talk and smart, and others eat humans.....everyone lives in harmony, but you have people ordering each other around....and weapons are forbidden and fighting the carnivores is not allowed, but when they attack these attacks start happening....Oh well, it is for children.

As an avid Dinotopia fan, I was eagerly looking forward to the miniseries, but it didn't quite live up to expectations.The books are absolutely wonderful but Gurney didn't want to ruin peoples' preconceived notions about them, so a modern day storyline was created and the miniseries changed too much and made the society seem too rigid. In the books, there is no assigning of things, you choose your own path, maybe becoming an apprentice, maybe following in your parents' footsteps, maybe competing in the Dinosaur Olympics for a chance to choose, or something else. The sunstone towers are just message beacons; the carnivores stay in the basin of their own will. The hatcheries were way different too.I'd say it's worth watching but don't let it turn you off from the books as they're so much better.

There are many plot holes, bad acting, undeveloped and uninteresting story and dialog, this overlong film (part I&II) had potential but failed to deliver; recommended for people who want to dream without thinking and for children. Don't look for a flawless story and interesting dialog, don't try to analyze. I expected much more and I got mediocrity. I've heard that James Gurney's Dinotopia books are great (unlike the movies) but I haven't read them. You don't find out how Frank Scott survived in the cave. Free Fall just happens to be at the temple. Frank Scott was in the caves for a long time and he didn't find the sun stones. There's no explanation why nobody can find Dinotopia in this world with satellites where no area of the planet is unknown. ............................................................. P.S. It's "dialog" because the stupid IMDb spell checker thinks the right word is wrong and wouldn't let me submit the message.