Dino drama

FANS of Jurassic Park… strap yourselves in. You are in for a wild ride.
For those who aren’t so much into CGI dinosaurs running wild – maybe take advantage of the extra daylight and take the dog for a walk.
Much anticipated dinosaur drama Terra Nova has been touted the next “big thing” on television.
They didn’t lie, there are many big things running around wreaking havoc – but it took over an hour before the real action got started.
To say Terra Nova got off to a slow start is an understatement.
It sets up a family from the smoggy future relocating their lives back to prehistoric times to give their kids a “real shot at life”.
The idea sounds good, but in practice it took too long to get to the other side.
Once in prehistoric days, we get to see much of the beautiful Daintree Rainforest, shot on location in Far North Queensland and the characters, along with their prehistoric monsters, start to take shape.
It’s not hard to feel a touch of Spielberg magic once the dinosaurs start to attack. Some scenes are so similar to Jurasic Park movies its hard to separate the two.
But the CGI is more like the dated Jurassic Park than recent visual wonders like Avatar.
That said, over the two hour long first episode, Terra Nova got better.
Throw in a couple of Aussie personalities (Damien Walsh-Howling and Dean Gyer) and it’s sure to build an audience.
Terra Nova’s first episode wasn’t great, but it can only go from strength to strength – or so this reviewer hopes. – Melissa Meehan