MONDAY MOVIE REVIEW: The Croods
The Croods are a little paranoid, and with good reason. In stone age-era earth, even making breakfast can be a life risking endeavor. But Eep Crood wants to do more than hide inside of a cave for the rest of her life. Then she meets Guy, a boy who knows how to make fire, and outfox the dangerous predators that roam the land. Unfortunately, he also knows that life as they know it is about to end. The world is breaking apart, forming new continents and landmasses. Those who hide in caves are likely to get squashed. The Croods agree to follow Guy to higher ground, but how will this single minded family adjust to this radical new life style?
Before going to see The Croods, I complained to my fiance that, despite being three months into the year, 2013 hadn't delivered any impressive or even all that interesting movies. In comparison, by this time last year, we had The Hunger Games which was a solid movie going experience. Fortunately, my concerns were addressed with The Croods. Although not a perfect film, it's one that I honestly enjoyed from start to finish. Not only was it funny and exciting, but the tough female characters (including the fierce dreamer Eep) totally made up for the disappointing experience I had last week with Oz the Great and Powerful.
Not the Message I was Expecting- From the previews, I expected The Croods to be a Finding Nemo-esque tirade against helicopter parenting. Instead, the movie treads a different path. Yes Grug Crood (Eep's father) is very protective of his family, but it's easy to argue that he has a very good reason for being so. After all, he regularly has to worry about his family being eaten by wild animals. As a result, the message here is less against helicopter parenting, and more about the value of taking risks, even when the consequences might be scary ones. In real life, it's so tempting for us to hide in our caves, to stick with what's familiar and easy, rather than try to accomplish new things. Admittedly, by the end of the movie, I couldn't help but feel like they were really hitting you over the head with the message, but this is technically a kids movie after all, even if the overall message of the film could apply just as much (or even more so) to adults.
Look at all the Neat Stuff!- Look! It's a parrot tiger! A mini-land whale! Is that coral? The Croods is a fantastically animated film, not just in the level of detail provided (which trust me, is very impressive) but also in how imaginative it is. When it comes just to creature design, this is the best I've seen in a western film since Avatar, and it doesn't hurt that so many of them are adorable. On top of this, The Croods utilizes this absolutely gorgeous color palate, filled with bright and vibrant color. It makes the film pretty drool worthy in 2D, and I'm sure it popped even more in 3D.
Great Voice Acting- Now that pretty much all mainstream animated movies are voice acted by Hollywood talent as opposed to professional voice actors (although those guys seem to be getting plenty of work in video games, TV shows, and some dubbed anime) the quality of the voice acting in films can kind of vary. The Croods, much like last year's Wreck-it Ralph is an example of Hollywood voice acting done right. Emma Stone is satisfying as the fierce and slightly dimwitted Eep, Ryan Reynolds is charming as Guy, and Nicholas Cage's over the top goofiness suits the format very well.
Final Thoughts- It's true that the The Croods gets a little wonky in the final act, but there's no denying that it's is a entertaining flick. On top of being humorous, The Croods delivers an important message about the importance to take risks. It also succeeds on a technical level in both the quality of the voice acting and animation. If you're looking for a solid family film feature, I would recommend The Croods. Four Stars