The Croods (2013) – Review

Where to watch The Croods

3 1/2 Stars

The Croods are a prehistoric family that lives a life of routine, darkness and terror. They are the last remaining of the cavemen, their neighbors have all be eviscerated by predatory creatures or viruses, leaving the family crood as the lone survivors of our species. They have flourished by regarding the rules scribbled on the cave walls, stay inside and avoid anything dangerous-most importantly curiosity leads to death. Everyone adheres to this scripture except their feisty daughter Eep (Emma Stone), a rebellious free-spirit who stumbles upon a boy fending for himself, alone in the wild.

This is no ordinary boy, Guy (Ryan Reynolds) holds the secret to making fire and leads the Croods to a new land in search of a better cave. Along this journey Eep becomes increasingly infatuated with Guy. Much to the chagrin of her father, Grug (Nicolas Cage)

Cage having worn-out his onscreen welcome after a series of continually worsening movies, appears in vocal format as the father. His odd speech pattern and vocal range are ideally suited for voice-over animation and his line readings are the best in the film. Emma Stone also shines as the visually similar Eep, surprisingly it is Ryan Reynolds who comes off flat and bland.

The Croods doesn’t have the sweeping beauty or depth of Pixar’s Brave, even though both feature a ginger haired female protagonist. Then again Dreamworks has never been in that league, however The Croods is their sharpest entertainment since the original Madagascar. I prefer this over How to Train Your Dragon and I liked that a lot too. The elements are there for a successful new franchise if the writing and voice talent stay this focused.

Director: Kirk De Micco, Chris Sanders
Stars: Nicolas Cage, Emma Stone, Ryan Reynolds