Review of The Croods (2013) by Hoops2448 — 07 Jul 2013

A Caveman animation almost entirely about family sounds like a generic idea for an animated film but The Croods surprises with its unexpected turns, stellar animation and emotional finale. The film follows a family of cavemen called The Croods who are led by father Grug (Nicholas Cage).

However when Grug's daughter Eep (Emma Stone) defies him and leaves the cave and meets Guy (Ryan Reynolds) she learns the end is coming and that she must force her family to change their cave dwelling ways in order to survive, something Grug might be incapable of doing.

The Croods is paint by numbers animation with the plot feeling like a rehash of Ice Age with a bit of The Flintstones thrown in for good measure. The film is generic in its plotting and it feels very much like a flash in the pan, a film for now that people won't remember that well in the future.

However it does have enough for it to have been a shame to miss. That being said, this caveman saga is hobbled very early on by some lacklustre voice acting, especially by Katherine Keener who plays Grug's wife Ugga.

She puts very little into her performance something that becomes very clear towards the end when she under delivers in some key scenes. The film soldiers on though and manages to be unique through its action with some of the set pieces being truly breathtaking.

In fact the attention to detail in the movie is remarkable, the world they have created is one untouched by animation so far and for a film that's main colour is brown, that's impressive. The finale of the film is terrific for multiple reasons but the animation is the best aspect, there is enough action and excitement in the ending as there is in the rest of the movie and the animators managed to put enough into their shots so that it looks amazing but doesn't give you a Man of Steel headache.

In fact The Croods really comes alive in its ending and differentiates itself from other animated fare with a finale that is action packed, funny and carries one hell of an emotional punch that feels quite familiar but still has the desired effect.

Its a well crafted film from the director of How to Train your Dragon and a worthy but not quite as good follow up.