If you’re into stylised prehistoric violence then the chances are Primal is the show for you. From American-Russian director Genndy Tartakovsky, it’s an eye-catching romp where dinosaurs and prehistoric man live side by side.
It reminds us of 1990s humourous claymation romp Gogs. Just with less of the toilet humour and much, much more stylised violence.
Primal mixes in dark humour, action, and horror to solid effect. The first series began in 2019 and 30 episodes later we’re well into season three now. This one is for the manga nerds out there, for sure.
Primal’s Thunderous Take on the Dawn of Evolution
One of the main themes of Primal is loss. In the very first episode we meet a beefed up Neanderthal caveman (he’s called Spear). His family is promptly slaughtered by Tyrannosaurs.
After, he teams up with a friendlier Tyrannosaur called Fang and the pair go about their various misadventures in the world of many swamps and dinosaurs.
But you can see, right from the off, the excellent level of animation at play here.
The heart of the show is about Spear and Fang getting along kind of famously, with 20 minute episodes guiding them through the perils of life back in the good old days.
Again, this is all largely silent. There’s barely any voice acting. There is, you’ll be pleased to hear, an enormous amount of violence in its place.
But also moments of reflection in the aftermath of the violence, with Spear and Fang generally brooding over their existence.
The main reason people are watching is for that animation style! It really does draw you in and reminds us of the dino bit from Disney’s iconic Fantasia (1940).
That includes more melodic bits where there isn’t blood flying everywhere and bones crunching.
Primal has met with widespread critical acclaim, although mainly for its impressive animation style. Whilst that’s fantastic, we must admit we weren’t overly enamoured by everything else. It gets a bit repetitive—lots of ultra-violence, roaring, and Spear smelling of BO.
However, the quickfire nature of episodes allows viewers to dip in and out as they please.
It’s a curious one. A show to be observed, admired, and considered as something of an artistic marvel. Whilst the dark humour and other elements are there to add weight to its themes, overall we find it an engaging time of it.
Even if we do have our reservations on the depiction of dinosaurs alongside human males. That’s just wrong. If that were true, where’s Jeff Goldblum from Jurassic Park? Exactly.
