The Croods is a DreamWorks Animated movie that had a surprising amount of production background. Originally the idea was developed by the British stop motion studio Aardman. Because of Aardman's partnership with Dreamworks at the time, directors Kirk DeMicco and Chris Sanders were interested in the idea and did several revisions of their own until they were satisfied with end result. Almost a decade later and the film has seen its success with plenty of spin-offs tv shows and even a direct sequel in 2020. The question still remains if the original Croods released in 2013 holds up a Dreamworks Classic or an unfortunate misfire.
After their cave is inexplicably destroyed by natural forces the Croods family including the rebellious Eep (Emma Stone) the over-productive father Grug (Nicholas Cage) as well as Thunk, Sandy, Ugga, and Gran discover a jungle world, unlike anything they’ve seen before. Grug leads the pack to try and find a new cave while being strict on what the family can and can’t do which frustrates Eep. Soon they come across another person named Guy (Ryan Reynolds) who shows them how to survive with his new inventions and ways of living. Grug tries to get the family back on his side to stick to his plan but the family will have much bigger problems on their plate as they must cross the jungle in order to get to a place that Guy calls Tommorow.
The story is unfortunately not smart or original as this film does take a lot of elements that were done better in other animated films. However, its execution for the most part makes the journey more than worthy enough to take part in even if the writing could use a little more of a push. The subplot of Grug being an overprotective father learning to let go a little of his grudges has been done better in Finding Nemo and the plot goes on for quite some time that it becomes rather draining after a while. It also doesn’t help that the road trip our characters take does get a little stale and the humor becomes less and less funny. I will give the story this though, the heart of the movie is in the right place and there were a couple of moments in the adventure that was actually funny or intriguing. I expected a little more from director Chris Sanders seeing he previously co-directed the Amazing How To Train Your Dragon movie for the Dreamworks studio. I still will give kudos that his direction in this movie made this honestly okay story a bit more entertaining than it really is.
These characters on paper seem like cardboard cutouts from other well-known animated families but the way they are executed makes them enjoyably fun with well-defined personalities and good voice acting. Eep played by Emma Stone is your typical rebellious teenage daughter which you think would get old after a while but they manage to balance her out with some admirable traits. Grug played by Nicholas Cage is honestly alright, I would much rather watch Marlin’s character progression as a parent from Finding Nemo seeing as he does a better job as an overprotective parent than Grug was but I give Cage credit that at least it feels like he was having fun playing the character he was given which is very admirable. The rest of the Croods family is fun and quirky with Thunk being a bit of a clueless older brother and Sandy being a savage little baby girl. Even Ryan Reynolds from Deadpool fame plays Guy who much like Grug is alright but he isn’t without his charms of how he shows The Croods family a new way of looking at things. These characters do make a standard road trip story feel all the more entertaining.
The animation has been compared to the visual effects of James Cameron’s Avatar but these visuals stand out with creative creature designs and lovely jungle settings. The character designs are very good and they have many exprevise dentures from the way their eyes emote and their clothing choices. The creatures the movie is littered with have extremely imaginative designs, most of them possibly came from the imagination of Chris Sanders’s visual style which can be seen in the movies he has directed thus far. The jungle is very colorful with a lot of bright colors and very lush scenery. There are a lot of creative visual choices some of which can be found a little cartoony but still very interesting on a visual level. Its clear more effort was put into the visuals than the storytelling, but the visuals on their own are some of the most colorful from Dreamworks to this very day.
The music was composed by Alan Silvestri who worked with Chris Sanders before with Lilo and Stitch. Unfortunately, even though he does his best, there is not that much that separates this movie’s music score from every other music score from any other animated film. It’s a shame because at first, the score starts out unique with caveman and primitive inspired tunes but then slowly but surely becomes standard which is surprising seeing that this was coming from such a talented composer.
I can see how some audiences could like this movie, but I also see how some might finish this movie and want something even more. In the end, The Croods is a decent movie that unfortunately doesn’t have the same amount of love and passion as How to Train Your Dragon but Chris Sander’s direction did help make this movie stand on its own feet even if this isn’t the best thing the director has ever created compared to his other movies. This movie will definitely entertain children, but older folks might not quite get into the cartoony and zany antics of this caveman family as much as their young ones. I admit I do have a soft spot for this movie mainly for its visuals and mostly likable characters, but I wouldn’t put this movie up there with the best of best when it comes to other well-put-together Dreamworks movies.
(Final Grade: B-)