THE CROODS – The Review

Cavemen (and women) have long been a staple of comedy films and cartoons. From almost the start of cinema, funny men donned the fur skins and fright wigs. Buster Keaton started in the silent era soon followed by the Three Stooges up to more recent flicks like the 1980’s classic CAVEMAN. But they were also taken fairly seriously in ONE MILLION BC and QUEST FOR FIRE (and of course the opening scenes of 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY). Two long running newspaper comic strips,”Alley Oop” and “B.C.”, starred early humans while the comic books had Howie Post’s “Anthro” and Joe Kubert’s “Tor”. It was only logical that animators would pick up the club with theatrical shorts like DAFFY DUCK AND DINOSAUR from Chuck Jones and Tex Avery’s THE FIRST TEXAS BADMAN. Artist Bob Clampett whipped up some early sketches for a proposed prehistoric family short, but it took Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera to score big with the first made-for prime-time-TV smash hit “The Flintstones” (which in time spawned a feature-length animated movie and two big-budget live-action flicks). Well now the fine folks at Dreamworks Animation are unleashing the story of another family that’s far from ‘stone-age modern”. Here come THE CROODS!

This family unit is led by big poppa Grug (Nicolas Cage) who struggles to keep his clan safe and fed. There’s his patient wife Ugga (Catherine Keener), her cranky mother Gran (Cloris Leachman), goofball son Thunk (Clark Duke), feral baby girl Sandy, and the wild card, teenage daughter Eep (Emma Stone). She’s adventurous and curious, two traits that Grug tries to discourage. She won’t even be part of the family sleeping pile at night in their protective cave. One evening she spots a light piercing the darkness. Squeezing out of a cave opening, she meets a teenage wondering nomad named Guy (Ryan Reynolds) and his traveling pet, a sloth named Belt. Guy has discovered fire along with the knowledge that the earth is changing (slowly forming the continents we all know). After giving her a conch shell (“Blow into it and call me if you’re in trouble”), Eep rejoins the family. When a massive earthquake strikes the next day, the rocky landscape breaks away to reveal a lush, green forest full of wonders along with new dangers. When these strange beasts attack, she summons Guy with the shell. Can this stranger, who has somehow entranced  Eep, convince the stubborn Grug to make the journey to the two towering peaks and save the family?

After a shaky first few features (SHARK TALE), Dreamworks continues the spark of excellence begun with the first KUNG FU PANDA and HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON. The new film is not quite as strong as those two, but it’s miles above many of the dismal family fare that’s been filling the multiplexes, particularly the recent ESCAPE FROM PLANET EARTH. This one should keep the folks at Pixar on their toes. After some terrific 2D hand-drawn style cave painting illustration in the opening moments, we’re treated to a manic slapstick sequence with the whole family trying to score a bird’s gigantic egg. It’s wonderfully expressive movements and action are enhanced by the 3D effects (this may be the best 3D cartoon animation yet). And the use of color is dazzling, especially when the family enters the new jungle world. Nope, we’re not given the old standard wooly mammoths and sabre tooth tigers. There’s wonderful hybrids like elephant mice, peacock flying turtles, an alligator dog, and deadliest, a swarm of piranha parakeets that zoom about and leave nothing but skeletons in their wake. Kudos to the film’s directing team Kirk DeMicco and Chris Sanders for allowing their art team to let their imaginations run wild.

Of course all this eye candy would get a bit tiresome with some good characters to tell the story. The real heart of this tale is the relationship between Grug and Eep. It’s the teenager wanting to spread her wings while poppa just wants to protect her and hang on to his princess for as long as he can. The design of Grug is closest to the cartoon caveman standard of hulking mass and big melon-head. But there’s no pigden English in this dialogue. His form of speaking may be more articulate than many TV sitcom daddies. And this part gives Cage a real chance to shine (more so than most of his live-action roles). He has a great rapport with Stone, who gives Eep a great rough-and-tumble attitude while still being a flirty, swoony teen. With her bright red hair, Eep could almost be an ancestor of BRAVE’s Murida, save for the cavegirl’s powerful-looking upper body (that rock-climbing is quite the workout). Of course the tots will be most smitten with the Tasmanian Devil-like Sandy (“Release the baby!”) and the snarky, expressive Belt. Actually there’s a character for every family member to enjoy. Yeah, that’s right! This is a flick that will entertain the whole family! Let’s hope the rest of the animated features due out this year will be as well produced. To paraphrase one of Grug’s sayings, THE CROODS is never not loads of fun!

4 Out of 5 Stars