Review of The Croods (2013) by Nateed — 31 Jul 2021

The Croods is an entertaining movie with lots to love about it. A lot of the movie gets its entertainment through the voice cast which is one of the best parts of the movie. Nicolas Cage and Emma Stone really sell the father-daughter bond even though they are not acting on screen together.

Cage really knows how to bring emotion and Stone does a great job creating the character of Eep and not just "Emma Stone voicing a cave person". I would say the same for Ryan Reynolds as he also made Guy a character that was separate from just "Ryan Reynolds voicing a cave person".

All of the supporting characters do a great job as well and really tie everything together quite nicely. I also really liked how this film sort of experimented with the camera movements and lighting. Cinematographer Yong Duk Jhun does a really nice job here and makes this film feel energetic, lively, and fun while still keeping those visuals for kids.

While the worldbuilding in this film is both great visually and in the story, the animation lacks a bit. Some of it looks really good, while some of it looks unfinished. A lot of the night scenes make the animation look a bit unpolished which I think the lighting team and Yong Duk Jhun need to work on just a bit.

The score is also really well done and feels very cohesive for what's being shown and told on screen. Alan Silvestri captures certain moments beautifully with his powerful score. There are a handful of scenes where there is no dialogue for a couple of minutes and the score takes over with some amazing visuals.

That cohesiveness is so perfect for this film. I do have to say that the story loses itself at times. Some parts of the film feel slightly under-explained and glossed over. I think having the film be a tad bit longer would help the story have a better flow.

That also affects the pacing of the movie which is really fast. Sometimes I wanted the movie to slow down a bit so some scenes can really show the heart of the family and their new connections with Guy.

Nevertheless, The Croods is a heart-filled film with lots of entertaining factors to it. With some great visuals, a great cast, and an awesome score, The Croods really knows how to make it stand out in such a large catalog.

If only the film had some minor tweaks in the script and animation department, this would have been top-tier DreamWorks. Read more reviews like this at postcreditreviews.