What a strange movie.
Now, what I expected was a movie about a human meeting an animal that should be long dead, but instead I got a movie about a dinosaur meeting an animal from much further down the timeline.
However, once the film got to the point of the hard drugs, I realized I wasn’t watching a simple adventure… I was watching a road trip movie.
On this trip, the titular dinosaur and his obedient slave meet a stoner hippie who hears whispers from the birds. He makes his own attempt to claim the human as his own, as they believe us GREATER LIFEFORMS BOW BEFORE US to be beneath them. You know, the “humans are the animals this time!” theme. They later encounter a freaky cult that preys on the weak, much like any religion, and after being helped by a group of cowboys, return the favor of killing off a gang of methheads.
The lead cowboy teaches our dinosaur to overcome fear, and in doing so, he becomes a control freak. When his pet attempts an escape, he won't let him. It's a bit like a Joel/Ellie situation, come the finale. We realize that this dinosaur might not be as good as advertised.
When they reunite with the cult members, the dinosaur goes on a slaughter, even killing one as it flees. He redeems himself in the end, but his dark passenger will always be there, waiting for another sweet release.

I rate this movie filthy vegan propaganda/10.