In this comical Disney espionage adventure, a herd of nannies team up with Scotland Yard and set off to find important microfilm that was concealed, by a wicked Chinese spy, within the skeleton of a dinosaur that now sits in the British Natural History Museum ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Review by All Movie Guide
All Movie Guide
lost interest.
A tremendously silly piece of fluff, One of Our Dinosaurs Is Missing would seem to be one of the cases where an author thought up a catchy title and the struggled to find a plot to build around it. Certainly the plot of
Dinosaurs doesn't feel particularly well put together, with plenty of extraneous sequences and with the "real" plot simply too loose. The dialogue is also not exactly on the winning team, although one doesn't really expect brilliant conversation in most children's films. Children will probably like
Dinosaurs, as they'll laugh at the pratfalls and the silliness of it all and not worry about its sometimes-incoherence and dull dialogue. The cast is good, at least, which does help quite a bit.
Peter Ustinov's performance is grossly over the top (and probably offensive to many), but it's undeniably lively and strange enough to be entertaining.
Helen Hayes and
Joan Sims are a delight, and
Clive Revill adds a special little flavor to the proceedings. Director
Robert Stevenson has done far better work elsewhere, but he certainly keeps it all moving along and handles it professionally, if without a great deal of inspiration. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide