Birthmarked (2018)

Birthmarked: Directed by Emanuel Hoss-Desmarais. With Matthew Goode, Toni Collette, Andreas Apergis, Jordan Poole. Two scientists raise 3 children contrarily to their genetic tendencies to prove the ultimate power of nurture over nature.

“If you can make it through the tedious first third, itu0026#39;s not a bad little movie. The interplay between Arlo and Spot is generally enjoyable (the first really good scene is Spot trying to feed Arlo). The movie can be quite funny, somewhat thrilling, and occasionally touching.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eSo basically, if this was some kids cartoon from some lesser studio, this would be pretty good. For Pixar though, itu0026#39;s a big disappointment.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eOne of the filmu0026#39;s biggest flaws is also one of its greatest strengths; the animation. On the one hand, the landscapes – forests, rivers, fields – have an amazing photo-realism that mark them as an incredible achievement in animation. But this hyper-realism makes the main dinosaur breed look terrible; they are about as realistic as the cars in Cars, and itu0026#39;s like someone filmed a sock puppet show in the Grand Canyon. Itu0026#39;s the thing most reviewers seem to talk about, so itu0026#39;s rather amazing that Pixar didnu0026#39;t see the problem themselves.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eItu0026#39;s not that the dinosaurs needed to look real, but the insistence on those giant, soulful eyes made the heads misshapen, and the colors are too clean and shiny to meld with the environments. Other breeds of dinosaurs and insects have an acceptable cartooniness, but Arlo is just annoying in design, creating a constant de-immersion signal.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe story is conventional and predictable, the emotional moments feel manipulative, but still, itu0026#39;s not bad as kidu0026#39;s cartoons go. But it sure isnu0026#39;t what we expect from Pixar.”