Why in the name of God did I watch The Croods recently? I’d never seen it before, so why now? Well, short answer: I found it on Netflix and apparently there is a sequel coming out next year.
So, here we are.
Set at the time the supercontinent of Pangaea was breaking up, the Croods are a family of cavemen living in a rocky valley. There used to be more families there, but they all died out due to local wildlife or disease or other such factors. As such, family patriarch Grug (Nicholas Cage), while very strong, doesn’t believe in trying new things or taking risks. His main motto is “Never not be afraid.” Anything new will, as far as Grug is concerned, probably kill you, so don’t ever do anything new.
That’s fine by most of his family, namely loving wife Ugga (Catherine Keener), clumsy son Thunk (Clark Duke), critical mother-in-law Gran (Cloris Leachman), and probably feral baby Sandy. The one exception is his oldest, a teenage daughter named Eep (Emma Stone). Eep wants more out of life than just staying in a cave for days at a time, cowering from every new noise. Given she’s a rather athletic girl, she has a cliff she likes to climb, and one day she meets a more developed early human, a guy her age named Guy (Ryan Reynolds). Guy knows the continental split is coming, and he’s a smart guy who invents stuff with help from his pet/belt, a sloth named Belt. And while Guy is somewhat enamored by Eep, his first encounter with the rest of the Croods does not go quite so well. But he does convince them all to go with him, though it goes easier with Grug when the family cave is destroyed in a landslide.
From there, the movie mostly focuses on the conflict between Guy and Grug. Grug sees himself as a protector, but his ways don’t work on the journey. Guy doesn’t really want the position, but starting with Eep, the rest of the family seems to prefer Guy’s ways with ideas and inventions like fire and shoes. Can Grug find a way to evolve and will the family stay together long enough to get to safety?
So, really, the basic plot to this movie is nothing really new, and most of the jokes involving Grug and Gran’s relationship are a bit old. But there’s a lot of creative stuff going on. The Croods’ hunt for an egg at the beginning of the movie is highly kinetic and flows well, as does Eep’s general movements. The script was fairly clever, and unlike far too many modern CGI animated features, wasn’t full of pop culture references that age the movie poorly.
Heck, I liked the overall design of the movie. The Croods looked less primitive than Guy does, though Eep looks less so. The movie’s wildlife are diverse and like nothing that ever did live on the planet (such as a flock of birds that are a cross between parakeets and piranhas), and it basically just adds to the overall fun to the movie. Despite a cast of famous names, none of them really stood out as themselves, and I largely consider that a plus. Heck, this is the most low-key comedic performances I think I’ve ever heard from Reynolds.
So, standard plot, good animation, and a bit of light fun. I think I’m ready for the sequel now.
Grade: B
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