Jurassic Tale is a cute adventure for young children in line with its simple narrative of a family, who discovers a dinosaur egg that hatches in their home. They become attached to the baby T-Rex, who they name Caesar, as he is uncharacteristically gentle and loving, refusing to even eat the meat they give him, and they proceed to develop a scheme to hide the animal on a secure island, outsmarting bad guy taxidermist Kraven (Alan Ambruso).
Parents, who mostly go by Mom and Dad (J. Wilkins Wallace and Mandy Lee Rubio), spend the first half of the film arguing over how best to care for their tween children Emma (Tyler Jade Nixon) and Brian (Hunter Wallace). The kids are downcast that their parents are separated, and bored on a summer vacation at their father’s, until they stumble upon the egg and chaos ensues. The mother quickly becomes involved, and they work together as a family to protect the dinosaur from exploitation and even death, lying and even breaking the law in order to carry out the elaborate and unrealistic plan to relocate their new friend.
The suspension of disbelief needed here is beyond what any adult could undergo, as the nearly unanimated dinosaur itself appears to be a man made toy model from a retail store, but a child’s imagination can easily take over and enjoy the escapades. Dialogue is fairly campy, and acting is sub-par overall, but the reuniting of the family, working together as a team, is somewhat endearing.
The happy ending had by all but Kraven is the expected outcome, as the family rides off into the sunset with plans to visit their dino friend, regardless of the potential consequences that they themselves have outlined throughout.
The Dove Take
Jurassic Tale is a cute but far-fetched romp that will easily capture the imagination of children.