The Land Before Time XIV: Journey of the Brave (2016)

A Major Disappointment

It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

I was certain that the combined efforts of Film 13 "The Wisdom of Friends" & The TV Series had made Littlefoot & his friends extinct. The arrival of this sequel both pleased and worried me. (But when you hit rock bottom, you have to go up in theory.) Well, I was pleasantly surprised. This acts as a sequel to Film X - "The Great Longneck Migration" and has a brief recap. As usual the gang face various dangers outside of The Great Valley and make new friends. I liked the pterodactyl, but the feathery one was annoying. (Seemed to be a relative of Guido from Film 12 "The Great Day of the Flyers.") I wasn't pleased to see Chomper & Ruby of the TV Series included, making that canon, but they're kept to a minimum. The animation is thankfully still in 2d and is a fair standard. The songs are forgettable. I briefly wondered where Shorty was, an obvious flaw in continuity; then forgot him again. It was fine with the focus on the main five. Less involvement from the adults worked in favour. It's an enjoyable adventure and I'll be curious to see if any more follow.

Thank goodness this franchise is back in my good graces plus it's a sequel to movie 10! While it's not as good as 10, it's still pretty darn good. The new characters are good, Wild Arms was really funny and Etta was a cool character. I also enjoyed the journey they went on. The detours were either fun, funny, or emotional. The 4 new songs were pretty good. Well the third and fourth songs were. The 1st was okay and the 2nd was a stupid LBT song. By the way, thank goodness for the strict limit on the CGI in this movie. The only CGI I noticed were the log in the climax and the water and lava. I also thought it was cool that we saw Littlefoot's father again but the ending wasn't very conclusive. I hope that they pick up on this when the fifteenth movie comes up.

After the horrendous Wisdom of Friends, I was super skeptical about this film. This movie felt like it was being made to cash in on the success of Jurassic World, another NBC Universal product. The director, Davis Doi, did a good job of bringing that LBT nostalgia and magic back. I found the movie very reminiscent of the earlier films (Parts 2-6), especially for a seemingly unnecessary FOURTEENTH installment. This movie was surprisingly not a bad film.So what is this movie about? Littlefoot is excited that his father, Bron, is making his annual visit to the Great Valley. However, he learns that his father is trapped in the wilderness when the "fire mountain" erupted, which left the rest of the herd to go on without him. Littlefoot and company decide to venture out into the Mysterious Beyond and try to rescue Bron.What makes this movie good? For starters, the plot line is actually quite interesting. It's miles better than whatever the heck the writers were thinking back during Parts 11-13. I loved how Littlefoot's bravery was portrayed in this movie. The stress of possibly losing another parent is apparent and is very well-done. Chomper and Ruby actually have a role in this movie and aren't shoved to the side, which I was worried about. Props to the writers for the inclusion of Yutyrannus and Carnotaurus, as well. The pacing is isn't necessarily bad, either. It's well-done enough, and the animation is gorgeous. There are some scenes in which obvious CG makes it slightly jarring to watch, but there are others where the CG actually looks nice.Overall, this is a nice return to the Land Before Time franchise.

After the very mediocre wisdom of friends I was a bit worried, but this new director brought that Land Before time magic back for me. This isn't a perfect movie but it is leagues above the 13th movie simply by not having new annoying characters shoved down on our throats and hogging screen time for the main characters.First I'll talk about the positives. This movie gives a really good reason to focus on Littlefoot and reminded us how brave he was. The stress of possibly losing another parent really get's to him and we see that done very well. The other four all have a good role in the movie and are'nt just shoved to the side like in the thirteenth movie. Ducky is without a doubt the heart of the group and it's shown beautifully hear when she's the one who more or less convinces Cera the reason to leave Littlefoot was selfish.As fun is this movie was there are a few issues that I do have to address here. Firstly the movie moves a bit too fast in certain places, it's not an annoyance but it is something I noticed. Also while Chomper and Ruby do eventually leave the valley to help search for the others, I would have preferred they had a bigger role. Lastly the voice for threehorn sounds off, maybe it's just cause I'm so used to the original voice but this new guy does not sound like he's giving his all in his performance.Aside from the negatives I mention I do think this is a great return to the Land Before time series and hope we get to see more movies.