Review of The Croods (2013) by John O — 20 Feb 2015

This movie lacks a satisfying plot. Even halfway through, I thought there wasn't any real idea of where everything was going. In the beginning, there was a great action scene. It felt like it was from some cross of Indiana Jones and Man of Steel. I thought this might be a hybrid action flick, but no. It changes a lot from there. The whole "follow the light" motif didn't make much sense, and it got old quickly. Everything was pretty funny, though.

What the film really focuses on is making the characters really cool. There's a realistic family dynamic, and everyone has their own personality. For a while, it seemed like Eep and Guy were the only ones who mattered, but the other family members got their time in the end. Their character interactions make up the whole of the meaningful story progression. What happens around them matters way less. Belt was my favorite; he's cute and has the most jokes.

It looks great. The character designs, including the various animals, look really well made. The environments are great and have a lot of detail. I'm not sure if that makes up for the lack of plot detail, though.