"The Croods" - directed by Kirk De Micco & Chris Sanders
Is there any genre of cinema as competitive as animation these days?
I don't think so.
I used to think that Horror was but maybe not.
Even just based on the trailers shown before "The Croods" there is enough to suggest that it is without equal in the extracting money from cinema punters realm.
Or at least trying to.
With titles such as "Epic", "Planes", "Escape From Planet Earth", "Monsters University", "Despicable Me 2", "Turbo" and "Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs 2" and more on the way this year alone you wonder how many will actually make money.
I find most animated movies enjoyable with only a few really grabbing me.
"Rango" and "Wreck It Ralph" are a couple of the recent best for me.
I am not at all afflicted with Pixar's Syndrome in which there is a seemingly blanket refusal to call out any of the studio's movies for being mediocre.
Sorry, but of their 13 releases to date only "Toy Story 2", "Ratatouille", "Up", and "The Incredibles" should be mentioned in the same sentence as 'Oscar'.
"Monsters Inc", "Toy Story", "Toy Story 3" and "Finding Nemo" are good without being great and "A Bug's Life", "Cars", Wall-E", "Cars 2" and "Brave" are average at best.
Today's poorly attended advanced screening doesn't bode well for "The Croods" in this country although to be fair it has already done good business worldwide after just a week in release.
On a $135 million budget it has pulled in $142 million so it will be just fine.
And why not? This is one of the good 'uns.
Beginning with an excellent egg hunting trip scene that turns into a Caveman version of American Football the first thing that becomes obvious is that this is a really, really good looking movie.
The aesthetically similar "Rango" has some very serious competition here.
The desert landscapes and fearsome creatures are extremely well rendered.
Perhaps not quite as well as the sublime Industrial Light & Magic but so, so close.
It certainly reminds of the Johnny Depp lizard flick in the early scenes but it is another movie that constantly popped into my head for most of the running time.
James Cameron's "Avatar".
"The Croods" has so many Avatar inspired moments that I wonder if big Jim has taken time out from his farm in the Wairarapa writing the sequels to check in with his lawyers?
Not to say that "The Croods" isn't its own film because it certainly is and it does plenty right to warrant the box office dollars.
Firstly the voice casting.
Playing Mother and Daughter are Catherine Keener and Emma Stone.
I pray that someone gives these two a live action role together. There is something so perfect about this pairing.
They have similar voices with the slight raspiness but both are so talented and proficient at comedy that the right movie together could be gold.
Anything Emma Stone touches seems to these days give or take a "Movie 43" or two.
Keener has never been given enough of the credit for the success of "The 40 Year Old Virgin".
She gave a pitch perfect performance in a somewhat thankless role.
Joining them is Ryan Reynolds as Guy- Stone's love interest, Cloris Leachman as the decrepit one moment, spry the next Gran and Clark Duke as the Chris from Family Guy-esque son Thunk.
Last but not least is Nicolas Cage as the overly protective patriarch Grug.
Grug believes that the family should remain in their cave with a boulder securely locking them in.
They should fear everything and venture no further than food gathering dictates.
Daughter Eep on the other hand loves the sun and longs to venture.
To use that awful old Hollywood trope- it's Ice Age meets Avatar meets Rango.
It has its own voice and style though and thanks mainly to Belt, enough laughs to see the young audience members through the ninety minutes.
Belt is literally that- a belt.
He appears to be some sort of long armed monkey that Guy has taken as a pet slash accessory.
The creatures and landscapes are great to the last.
They may resemble those on the world of Pandora with their predatory plants, furry carnivores, mist shrouded mountains and so forth but it all works to create a great environment for the story.
Hate to labour the Avatar comparison but there is even a scene in which Grug assumes that he has scared off a pack of threatening creatures only to discover that a larger beast is standing behind him.
Said beast even chases him off a cliff.
Sound familiar?
Thematically this treads similar ground to "Finding Nemo" with the message being that it is okay to protect a child but one has to be careful not to stifle whilst doing it.
With what every Crood family member goes through and survives it is doubtful that they need any protection at all.
Every single one can sprint at a rate of knots over long distance and is several times dropped from great heights, thrown great distances and crushed or hit by heavy objects.
It's all very Roadrunner-ish but never dull and in context not unrealistic.
The opening egg hunting scene I mentioned earlier is a beaut and possibly my favourite moment.
A lot of fun is had with the Croods 'inventing' stuff and these moments were enjoyable too.
Everything from pets, belts, shoes, toupees, catapults, flight and of course football is there.
As for the poor attendance at the bargain priced 3D preview today - well, let's put it down to it being Easter Sunday.
The free Easter chocolate on entry was a nice touch too.
"The Croods" deserves to do well and I'm sure that it will.
This is far better than "Brave" and only a couple of notches shy of the excellent "Wreck It Ralph".
Parents taking kids will enjoy it and judging by the giggling of the youngsters at my session- so will those in their charge
See it and do so in 3D - it is visually gorgeous.
Case in point is the very last shot done from a very low angle and showcasing how good 3D can be when used well.
Prior to that there are some truly beautiful shots of everything from deserts to volcanoes to crumbling landscapes and cool, blue waters.
A fun and enjoyable ninety minutes.
I don't think so.
I used to think that Horror was but maybe not.
Even just based on the trailers shown before "The Croods" there is enough to suggest that it is without equal in the extracting money from cinema punters realm.
Or at least trying to.
With titles such as "Epic", "Planes", "Escape From Planet Earth", "Monsters University", "Despicable Me 2", "Turbo" and "Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs 2" and more on the way this year alone you wonder how many will actually make money.
I find most animated movies enjoyable with only a few really grabbing me.
"Rango" and "Wreck It Ralph" are a couple of the recent best for me.
I am not at all afflicted with Pixar's Syndrome in which there is a seemingly blanket refusal to call out any of the studio's movies for being mediocre.
Sorry, but of their 13 releases to date only "Toy Story 2", "Ratatouille", "Up", and "The Incredibles" should be mentioned in the same sentence as 'Oscar'.
"Monsters Inc", "Toy Story", "Toy Story 3" and "Finding Nemo" are good without being great and "A Bug's Life", "Cars", Wall-E", "Cars 2" and "Brave" are average at best.
Today's poorly attended advanced screening doesn't bode well for "The Croods" in this country although to be fair it has already done good business worldwide after just a week in release.
On a $135 million budget it has pulled in $142 million so it will be just fine.
And why not? This is one of the good 'uns.
 |
| Cast- Top - Nicolas Cage, Emma Stone, Clark Duke.. Bottom - Catherine Keener, Cloris Leachman, Ryan Reynolds |
The aesthetically similar "Rango" has some very serious competition here.
The desert landscapes and fearsome creatures are extremely well rendered.
Perhaps not quite as well as the sublime Industrial Light & Magic but so, so close.
It certainly reminds of the Johnny Depp lizard flick in the early scenes but it is another movie that constantly popped into my head for most of the running time.
James Cameron's "Avatar".
"The Croods" has so many Avatar inspired moments that I wonder if big Jim has taken time out from his farm in the Wairarapa writing the sequels to check in with his lawyers?
Not to say that "The Croods" isn't its own film because it certainly is and it does plenty right to warrant the box office dollars.
Firstly the voice casting.
Playing Mother and Daughter are Catherine Keener and Emma Stone.
I pray that someone gives these two a live action role together. There is something so perfect about this pairing.
They have similar voices with the slight raspiness but both are so talented and proficient at comedy that the right movie together could be gold.
Anything Emma Stone touches seems to these days give or take a "Movie 43" or two.
Keener has never been given enough of the credit for the success of "The 40 Year Old Virgin".
She gave a pitch perfect performance in a somewhat thankless role.
Joining them is Ryan Reynolds as Guy- Stone's love interest, Cloris Leachman as the decrepit one moment, spry the next Gran and Clark Duke as the Chris from Family Guy-esque son Thunk.
Last but not least is Nicolas Cage as the overly protective patriarch Grug.
Grug believes that the family should remain in their cave with a boulder securely locking them in.
They should fear everything and venture no further than food gathering dictates.
Daughter Eep on the other hand loves the sun and longs to venture.
 |
| Visuals are excellent and seem inspired from an eclectic bunch of other films |
It has its own voice and style though and thanks mainly to Belt, enough laughs to see the young audience members through the ninety minutes.
Belt is literally that- a belt.
He appears to be some sort of long armed monkey that Guy has taken as a pet slash accessory.
The creatures and landscapes are great to the last.
They may resemble those on the world of Pandora with their predatory plants, furry carnivores, mist shrouded mountains and so forth but it all works to create a great environment for the story.
Hate to labour the Avatar comparison but there is even a scene in which Grug assumes that he has scared off a pack of threatening creatures only to discover that a larger beast is standing behind him.
Said beast even chases him off a cliff.
Sound familiar?
Thematically this treads similar ground to "Finding Nemo" with the message being that it is okay to protect a child but one has to be careful not to stifle whilst doing it.
With what every Crood family member goes through and survives it is doubtful that they need any protection at all.
Every single one can sprint at a rate of knots over long distance and is several times dropped from great heights, thrown great distances and crushed or hit by heavy objects.
It's all very Roadrunner-ish but never dull and in context not unrealistic.
The opening egg hunting scene I mentioned earlier is a beaut and possibly my favourite moment.
A lot of fun is had with the Croods 'inventing' stuff and these moments were enjoyable too.
Everything from pets, belts, shoes, toupees, catapults, flight and of course football is there.
 |
| Belt - stealing laughs, holding up pants |
The free Easter chocolate on entry was a nice touch too.
"The Croods" deserves to do well and I'm sure that it will.
This is far better than "Brave" and only a couple of notches shy of the excellent "Wreck It Ralph".
Parents taking kids will enjoy it and judging by the giggling of the youngsters at my session- so will those in their charge
See it and do so in 3D - it is visually gorgeous.
Case in point is the very last shot done from a very low angle and showcasing how good 3D can be when used well.
Prior to that there are some truly beautiful shots of everything from deserts to volcanoes to crumbling landscapes and cool, blue waters.
A fun and enjoyable ninety minutes.
| Rated | G |
| Running Time: | 99 minutes (1hr 29 mins without end credits) |
| Starring: |
| Nicolas Cage | --- Grug (voice) |
| Emma Stone | --- Eep (voice) |
| Ryan Reynolds | --- Guy (voice) |
| Catherine Keener | --- Ugga (voice) |
| Cloris Leachman | --- Gran (voice) |
| Clark Duke | --- Thunk (voice) |
| Chris Sanders | --- Belt (voice) |
| Randy Thom | --- Sandy (voice) |
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