One reason I love the medium of animation is the amount of variety among animated films. Some are mediocre, middling comedies (“Ice Age: Continental Drift”, “Hotel Transylvania”) while others hope to be sophisticated dramas that will move audiences of all ages (“Up”, “Toy Story 3”, “How to Train Your Dragon”).
Last year, DreamWorks Animation created two films, both of which tried to fill both types of animated fare to varying degrees of success; “Madagascar 3” was a delightful comedy while “Rise of The Guardians” was a surprisingly slow, over-serious affair. “The Croods” their newest adventure hopes to find success more on the order of smash hit “Madagascar 3”, but does it accomplish it’s difficult task?
The Croods are a caveman family, who have survived in their treacherous world by surviving on the dad, Grug (Nicolas Cage) , whose rule of never leaving their cave keeps the family safe. Unfortunately, teenage daughter Eep (Emma Stone) yearns for more, and after discovering sophisticated inventor Guy (Ryan Reynolds), she encourages the family to explore the outside world. Thanks to a devastating earthquake that decimates their cave, the Croods are forced to do such an exploration, and with the help of Guy, will soon discover a world beyond their imagination.
“The Croods” has to be the most beautiful film I’ve seen in ages, it’s bright colors and stupendous landscapes feeling supremely beautiful. The Croods themselves as characters look a bit off in terms of design at first, but such reservations are forgotten five minutes into the film as you soon grow accustomed to their posture and form of walking. Speaking of designs, the dozens of creatures these characters encounter on their trip are delightful, overflowing with imagination and creativity, and all obviously created with merchandising potential in mind. My personal favorite, aside from scene-stealing sloth Belt, has to be a dog-crocodile hybrid critter name Douglas; what can I say, I’m biased!
The voice acting in the feature also works very well, showing some nice voice acting skills from many of the actors. Nicolas Cage has had a rough couple of years, a pity since the majority of his stuff in his career has been fantastic, but his role as Grug is stupendous, giving the man some depth and also delivering some of the films best lines in a suitably humorous fashion. Catherine Keener doesn’t do much as Ugga, Grug’s wife and the motherly figure of the family, a pity since I’m a fan of the actress. Meanwhile Clark Duke, as dimwitted son Thunk, is hilarious, and gets some of the funniest lines of 2013 thus far.
For some reason, Emma Stone and Ryan Reynolds really impressed in their characters, both never calling attention the actors themselves and instead becoming the characters themselves. And as for the aforementioned character of Belt, voiced by director Chris Sanders, well he’s a hoot and a half, with a ton of fun mannerisms that make up some of the most delightful moments of the movie.
“The Croods” lags a bit in it’s second act, an interesting contrast to the first act, where things sometimes seemed too hyperactive. These moments are brief enough to be forgivable, though they’re somewhat monotonous to sit through. Some of the jokes seemed to be a bit dated at times, especially gags about a cranky mother-in law (voiced by Cloris Leachman), although even this scenario produces a couple of nice one liners.
One nice thing about DreamWorks movies is that 3D is also used to a unique and fantastic effect on each of their movies. For instance “Kung Fu Panda 2” used 3D to make action sequences even more involving and “Madagascar 3” used 3D for humorous moments. “The Croods” great use of the format is in enhancing the sense of discovery that the Croods go through, with sparks, flowers and rocks popping of the screen. A great use of 3D, especially in some of the action scenes.
“The Croods” doesn’t quite hit the heights of “How To Train Your Dragon” or “Shrek”, but this is still some top-notch filmmaking nonetheless. With a little more script work it might have been a true classic, but “The Croods” actually works surprisingly well on it’s own. With wonderful emotional moments (especially the ending, which is handled fantastically) and some of the best animation ever produced, “The Croods” leaves no stone (age) unturned when it comes to an entertaining time at the movies.
