The Croods

Animated family movies seem to be the only genre that can get away with being totally unimaginative and repetitive. The Croods is brilliant family fun in a seen-it-all-before kind of a way. Its bright colours, striking visuals and assortment of fictitious and adorable creatures aren’t enough to hide the fact that we’ve seen this film a million times before; Ice Age is just one recent example.

When their cave is destroyed, caveman family the Croods have to face their fear of things that are new to trek across unknown land with the help of a strange and inventive boy. Constantly taught to be afraid of anything new or unknown, Eep (Emma Stone) is intrigued by the boy, Guy (Ryan Reynolds) and so a romance blossoms, much to her protective father’s dismay. 

The Croods is a visual feast with flawless animation and more bright colours than you can shake a stick at. The creatures that the family comes across are all weird, imaginative, brightly coloured and totally adorable and if nothing else the film boasts stunning visuals that will draw you in and refuse to let your attention slip. Nicolas Cage does such a great job it’s easy to forget that he’s a terrible actor, perhaps he’s suited to hiding behind and providing the voice of animated characters, it was certainly a less laughable performance than his skit as a half flaming skeleton half motorcycle rider in Ghost Rider.

Belt

The film is full of so much adorableness that you won’t know where to look. Inventive and original creatures of all shapes and sizes (and all colours too) adorn this film and make it unique and fun. Belt (Chris Sanders) a little lemur type thing that keeps Guy‘s pants up is definitely at least an eight on the cute scale, almost squeal-worthy, and anyone that enjoys adorable creatures has definitely come to the right place. The animation is certainly creatively done and the crisp, flawless picture makes it a joy to watch.

As a family film The Croods is everything you could possibly want, it’s funny, cute, full of adventure and has a few little jokes in there for the adults too. It’s visually stunning but the story has  a very de ja vu ‘I’ve seen this before’ feel to it. It’s pretty much Ice Age with humans instead of animals and set in a slightly different time period, but it is what it is and it’s a fail-safe formula that’ll keep audiences happy. A highly enjoyable family adventure, and who doesn’t love an animated comedy once in a while?

 

 

 

This pic was too adorable to leave out!