The Focus’s newest film reviewer Patty Papageorgiou-Axford reviews The Croods
Released nationally on 22nd March.Dreamworks Animation’s latest offering brings us a prehistoric adventure suitable for all ages, as we follow the title’s stone age family on a journey through uncharted lands and extraordinary encounters.
The head of the Crood family is Grug (voiced by Nicolas Cage), who has ensured their survival thus far through his strength and his tried and tested motto: “Never not be afraid”. True to his duty as paterfamilias and protector, he never fails to remind them that “fear keeps us alive”.
But living in fear and hiding in cold darkness is too much for his teenage daughter Eep (Emma Stone), who defies his authority and thirsts for change and a life in the sunlight. Restless and frustrated, she strays from the cave and meets hunky traveller Guy (Ryan Reynolds), who carries “little suns” (fire) and brings with him new ideas that tip the balance and threaten family peace. When their cave is destroyed, the Croods’ only choice is to follow a reluctant Guy in his travels, in search of a new home. Grug is forced to face the bitter truth that he no longer has the power to keep his family safe and grudgingly accepts Guy’s lead. What follows is a lovely allegory about old making way for the new, about family issues we can all identify with, about parenting and finding the strength to let our children go when the time has come.
The dynamics of the movie flow predominantly in the father-daughter-boyfriend triangle, while the rest of the characters are just sufficiently fleshed out to provide a backdrop for the story. Ugga (Katherine Keener) is the loyal and long suffering wife and mother, Thunk (Clark Duke) the brainless pre-teen son, Gran (Cloris Leachman) the inconveniently still-living mother-in-law. Sandy the baby and Belt, Guy’s pet sloth offer little more than comedy value to the action, but for a kids’ film, things don’t need to be overcomplicated. The Croods perhaps lacks the emotional depth we see in other animated features, but the family warmth is there throughout and Grug’s self-sacrifice as his last effort to protect his loved ones is sure to bring a tear to your eyes.
The movie more than makes up for any – quite frankly forgivable – deficiencies in the characters or even paleontological accuracy, with backgrounds and scene design bursting with colour and fantastical creatures that children will adore. The animation is clean, expressive and fluid and the short 2D “traditional” sequences in the opening and the end title are simply beautiful. Furthermore, it is truly refreshing to see a female lead that is a far cry from a Disney princess in a fur bikini. Eep is boldly drawn as a curvaceous, strong cavewoman complete with untamed hair and sloping forehead and still succeeds in radiating femininity and beauty. The adults among the audience will pick up on the more subtle point that it is her spirit Guy falls in love with before her looks.
Don’t let the fact that this is a children’s film put you off – if you are tasked with taking a troop of youngsters to the cinema, you could do worse. Albeit predictable, the story is simple, easy to follow and actually fun. At a running time of 98 minutes, it easily holds the younger audiences’ attention span whilst entertaining adults alike.
So why not take the kids, sit back and enjoy.
