Though the creators of “Ice Age” (and its subsequent lousy
sequels) have already tapped into this kind of prehistoric buffoonery before,
they are back with a new CGI look at our primitive world. This time, instead of
mammoths and saber-tooth tigers, we have a nuclear family of cave dwelling
pre-humans and their relationship with the world around them and the world they
are trying hard to avoid. However, unlike the increasingly banal “Ice Age”
series, “The Croods” has a heart and a brain, and it celebrates its thoughtful
ideas. But unfortunately it also feels like it has to pad those ideas carefully
with eye straining camera movement and a preoccupation with obnoxious physical
comedy. What we are left with is smart
movie that’s acting dumber than we know it is. Like a child underplaying his or
her potential, we have to wade through its pedestrian posturing to get to its true
purpose and its emotional core.
Nicholas
Cage voices Grug, the patriarch of the Croods. He takes on the full
responsibility to keep his loved ones safe by sheltering them from everything. He ineffectually hunts to keep them barely
eating, he almost never lets them leave their cave and he tells horror stories
of life beyond their front yard to keep them afraid to leave. These stories however,
don’t work on his teenage daughter Eep (Emma Stone), who eventually leaves the
protection of her family and finds another traveling cave-boy named Guy (Ryan
Reynolds), who doesn’t seem to be as afraid of everything as her family. When
seismic earthquakes destroys their cave it’s up to Guy to help them find a new home and embrace the beauty
and wonder of the world—much to chagrin of the pathologically protective Grug.
The
voice talent by the cast is surprisingly heartfelt and this stands as one of
Nick Cage’s best performances in a while.
Alongside Cage, Stone, and Reynolds, we also have Catherine Keener, Cloris
Leachman and Clark Duke filling out the rest of family. Given the star power of
the cast, their chemistry is natural and their celebrity doesn’t overshadow
their voice work, but the script doesn’t do these secondary characters any
favors. Beside the central trifecta, the rest of the Croods are severely
underdeveloped—particularly Keener as the Mother—and oftentimes the movie could
function just as well without them.
I find
the look of these human characters to be a bit too angular for this type of
animation and the art direction, while eye catching, is baffling at times. The
prehistoric vision of this production design is downright absurd and strange.
To separate itself from the familiarity of the animalia seen in those “Ice Age”
movies, this film is filled with bizarre critters and monsters never seen any
science books; including rainbow colored giant cats and four winged birds with
turtle shells. I’m not sure what hallucinogenic pollen is floating in the air
in this movie’s world but I guess it’s pretty potent. Nevertheless all of this strangeness is
weirdly appealing and it makes for a visually original experience.
All in
all “The Croods” is a mix bag of animation jellybeans: most of the time it’s
pretty tasty but every once and a while you get one of those pesky, black-licorice
flavored scenes. Often, to the detriment
of the story, director Chris Sanders is trying to push the filmic boundaries.
When his ‘camera’ is needlessly swinging around and the characters are in
twenty minute stints of Three Stooges routines, I was bored and annoyed, but
when the story starts to kick into gear and the their journey begins, I found
myself moved by the tender character revelations and it’s progressive,
pro-science message.
Grace C+
Originally published in the Idaho State Journal/March-2013
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