Blu-ray Review: I AM T-REX

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Jun 19, 2023 Posted by Kyle Nolan in DVD/Blu-ray, Reviews | Comments

65 million years ago, during the Cretaceous period, T-Rex Logan is king of Green Valley, helping to keep order and protect its inhabitants (well, at least the ones that he doesn’t intend to use as food). Logan has a mighty roar that is able to fend off most predators. Unlike his brave father, young T-Rex Jarrett lacks self-confidence, and is pretty much afraid of the world. He is constantly saying how he wishes he could stay with his dad forever, so no matter how scared he gets, he would always be there to protect him. However, Logan wishes that his son would grow more self-reliant, and eventually take over his leadership of the valley.

One day, while Logan and Jarrett are on patrol, looking for food, they come across three raptors tormenting a mother dinosaur and her children, preparing to eat them. The henchmen work for T-Rex Fang, an outsider who has come to the valley to challenge Logan’s rule. Logan manages to chase off the dinos for now, telling his son, “A king who leads with hate in his heart is no king at all.” Ever since Fang’s arrival, dinosaurs have been fleeing Green Valley, no longer finding it a safe place to live. And it isn’t long until Logan once again faces off with Fang and his henchmen, but this time he isn’t so lucky. A devastated Jarrett runs off, trying to make it on his own, but his hunting and survival skills aren’t really up to par. He befriends toucan Cai, and eventually larger dinosaur Lucas takes pity on him, reluctantly agreeing to help Jarrett become big and strong like his father. So Jarrett starts his training, preparing for the day he will return home to Green Valley to take it back from Fang and his henchmen.

The main story of I Am T-Rex is that of a classic hero’s journey tale. These characters feel universal, and just happen to be dinosaurs. The same story could be told swapping the dinos out with warriors, samurai, or even lions (the movie does feel a bit like The Lion King at times). When we first meet Jarrett, he’s weak and scared, and dependent on his father for everything. But when he suddenly finds himself alone and fending for himself, he must quickly grow up and find the inner strength and courage he never knew he had. We get the typical training montages as Lucas helps Jarrett build his strength and agility, and teaches him to hunt and fight. Along this journey, Jarrett makes some new friends, and faces some challenges and threats, but his kind heart always seems to lead him in the right direction. Jarrett is able to grow and discover himself, becoming the strong dinosaur his father always hoped he would be.

While this is an animated film that is geared towards a younger audience, there is still a lot to enjoy for viewers of all ages. There is a lot of humor, especially as Jarrett befriends toucan Cai, or attempts and fails to hunt his own food, but the film also has some more action-packed and tense moments that find Jarrett and his family or friends in real peril, facing off against other dinosaurs.

One thing I found a bit odd is how Logan and Jarrett are supposed to be protecting the other dinosaurs in Green Valley, and yet the film opens with Logan chasing down a triceratops for food. Later on, we see Jarrett and Lucas also hunting other dinos for food, but then at the same time Jarrett is trying to protect a young brontosaurus that got separated from his group from becoming food. It wasn’t clear how these carnivorous dinos determine which of their peers are protected and which will serve as food, but you kind of just have to wave that off.

The film’s animation style is more realistic looking, rather than cartoony. There is an excellent level of detail, especially in the texture of the skin and faces, and in the beautiful scenery, which helps to set the era and evoke a sense of realism, like we’re watching a nature special (though the animals can talk).

While both the original Mandarin audio and an English dub are offered on this Blu-ray release, this disc actually defaults to the English track, perhaps assuming a younger English-speaking audience. The vocal performances are quite good, and natural-sounding. I suspect the character names were changed from the original as they sound very English—two of the henchmen are named Big Dan and Big Stan. The audio track provides clear dialogue, but didn’t have much of an immersive feel, primarily using the front channels. In fact, on the English track, Logan’s roar felt like it was missing some of its bite and scare, where it sounded slightly fuller and more rumbling on the Mandarin track.

Well Go’s Blu-ray release is barebones, just including the film’s trailer and some previews for three other Well Go releases as bonus material. The disc comes packed in a locking HD keepcase, and doesn’t include a digital copy. Our review copy did not include a slipcover.

What’s Included:

Film: (1:20:26)

1080p / Widescreen 2.39:1
Audio: English DTS-HDMA 5.1, English Stereo, Mandarin DTS-HDMA 5.1, Mandarin Stereo
Subtitles: English SDH, English, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese

Extras:

Trailer (2:04/)
Previews
- Young Ip Man (1:39)
- The Monkey King: Reborn (1:40)
- Jiang Zya (1:58)

Final Thoughts:

My Rating

Film:

Video:

Audio:

Extras:

Recommended

I Am T-Rex is an entertaining film the whole family can enjoy. It tells a classic hero’s journey tale in creative new setting—the Cretaceous period, where our hero-to-be is a young T-Rex who’s yet to find his roar. It was interesting how the characters and their journeys felt very universal, and nearly the same story could have be told just swapping out the dinos with humans. Well Go’s Blu-ray release is light on bonus material, but features solid picture and sound. This disc is worth checking out for fans of this kind of story, or looking for an animated adventure the whole family can enjoy, but with a little bite to it.