In a sudden storm, half-brothers Karl (Tyron Leitso) and David Scott (Wentworth Miller) crash into the ocean with their father on a small plane. The brothers escape the sinking plane but their father does not. The pair manage to swim to shore and encounter Cyrus Crabb (David Thewlis), a vaguely sinister fellow who proves to nonetheless be helpful. He guides them to the nearest town. Here, the brothers encounter dinosaurs! An ankylosaurus with a toothache rampages through the street until Marion (Katie Carr) calms it and yanks out the troublesome tooth. Karl and David are agape. With a return to civilization declared impossible, the two must somehow acclimate to this new world. David eagerly embraces Dinotopia, but Karl resists all efforts to assimilate. To add to their troubles, the sunstones that power this world are failing. Without the sunstones, the carnivores - led by a herd of T-Rexes - will lay waste to the cities and towns of Dinotopia.
Right out the gate, the idea of an undiscovered island the size of Jamaica is ludicrous. Sure, maybe in the Age of Sail you could have unknown islands, but not in the Age of Satellites. These dinosaurs survived the extinction thanks to the world below. They took shelter underground until it was safe to come out. The society of Dinotopia has both human and dinosaurs. The human population has arrived in Dinotopia through shipwrecks over the centuries, thus providing a mix of cultures that have integrated into the wider society. Though dinosaurs and humans are equal, there is only one dinosaur of note: Zipeau the Librarian. Zipeau is the only dinosaur who is shown to have mastered English and accompany the heroes on their journeys. Though friendly and helpful, he is rather dull-witted and a klutz: a dinosaur geek.
Jim Carter - best known for his role as Mr. Carson in Downton Abbey - plays Mayor Waldo. Waldo is introduced in something close to a clown costume and never recovers. As the society is collapsing around him, he chows down his vegetarian feast and claims all will be fine. It is unclear if he is really in charge as he often defers to the grunting of dinosaurs. Mayor Waldo is also Marion's father. Alice Krige plays Marion's mother who lives far from Waldo. She has a gift for identifying the attributes of people and this talent is unleashed on Karl and David. She sees David as a man of the sky, which he views as crazy since he is afraid of heights. Nonetheless, he is sent to Canyon City to learn how to fly dinosaurs. Oonu (Colin Salmon) is the commander of the Skybax Riders.
Throughout the series, Cyrus Crabb plots. Usually, he convinces Karl to steal this chronicle from the library or that sunstone from the hatchery in order to advance his inscrutable plans. Despite his attempted murder of Zipeau, Cyrus is still walking freely through the capitol. Like all villains, his cleverness varies depending on the needs of the plot. Thewlis brought enough ambiguity to the character that he could easily have become an antihero. In fact, but for his selfish machinations, Dinotopia would have been doomed with the failure of the sunstones.
The main characters are mediocre. Karl is hostile to virtually everyone in Dinotopia and essentially demands that they figure out how to send him home. He has no interest in getting along with anyone and says so. He is not against committing crimes to further his efforts to escape Dinotopia. He is hard to like. David is more open to Dinotopia, embracing the culture and learning the language. However, he comes across as a loser when he professes his love for Marion and is too terrified to jump over a gap that literally a dozen others have just safely and easily done. Marion is the princess of Dinotopia, though not so named. She has a knack for communing with dinosaurs. Both brothers pursue her, but it is clear she is more attracted to Karl than David. This love triangle is not resolved.
Though this was produced 9 years after Jurassic Park, the dinosaurs are less convincing. Then again, this was a made-for-television production, so the special effects budget was limited. It is good enough. Had the story been better, the effects would not have had to carry so much weight.
Overall, mediocre. Skip.
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