I Croods

This movie is very entertaining for viewers of all age groups. 3D effects are awesome. Kids will love it and so will parents.

Some scenes may remind of the beauty of Pandora in Avatar. Overall a great movie that will make you laugh and make you fall in love with characters.

The animals are out of the world and scenes are very colorful. Its a story of survival in midst of danger. It shows the emotions and challenges that families face today in cave man's life.

The movie shows the life of prehistoric humans. The movie also sheds light on relationships and bonds in family ties.

The Croods seems like it's gonna be just another Dreamworks Animated film that has crazy little characters messing around with their antics on a preposterous world. Well, these kinds of films are remarkably fun and has impressive technical achievements but there's nothing else to merit in the end. The Crood is almost one of those simple crazy films if not because of the philosophy that was displayed on the premise. Basically, it's about a zany version of the prehistoric times and a survival on the continental drift. The conflict of this plot is the titular family's choices if they would choose to follow their overprotective father or a stranger who makes daring ideas to survive from the natural condition. Disappointingly, the conclusion goes to the easy way. It doesn't go beyond the comfort zone, but the visuals transcend. The animation is getting better and better. It's totally fun but there are things that could have been more complex.

Everything is ought to be silly and hilarious. The beginning gives a set of ridiculous sequences to easily get to know about these characters. When it finally proceeds to the actual plot, it tells something sophisticated. It's an opposition between safety and getting away from your comfort zone. It ends up being obvious when it is suppose to be complex. But that is what the film wants, be simple and delightful all the way. The film doesn't necessarily need to be deep or emotional, but there is something clever to its concept that could have been smarter.

The best thing about the film is the characters. The performances simply brought them to life. Emma Stone perfectly gives her role a fitting personality. It sounds perfect for Nicolas Cage to play a caveman. He yells at a monkey in one scene which is a usual pleasure from him, but there is more to the Grug character than just yelling. While Cage is having fun, he brings a strong emotional depth to the rest of his scenes. The characters of Clark Duke and Cloris Leachman provide most of the laughs and they effectively show off its joy.

The visual effects are even more spectacular than the rest of the studio's films. Just like their recent films, it's snappy and energetic. The film's world looks amazingly eye candy and imaginative. The prehistoric characters and animals are wonderfully designed. The animal designs are meant to be ironic, like some of them got their food chain reversed eventually or their hybrid will some day become their fear. It's a slick joke. And for the 3D, you know it's great as long as it's from Dreamworks Animation.

It leaves a great amount of heart and fun, but its enlightenment theme results as being underwhelming and somewhat contrived. It would have made this more than just a typical Dreamworks film, but it doesn't matter because the movie is definitely suppose to be delightful for the entire family. It still takes some clever points. It's also great to see a load of spectacular animation. It is indeed truly enjoyable and full of life. The Croods is far from classic but this is kind of film that would enjoy anytime.

No doubt aimed at the younger audience, it's still a good movie for adults.

It has good animation, and good humour.

The Neanderthal family the Croods lives in a cave, protected by the father Grug in accordance with the rules of survival that he has learned. His teenage daughter Eep is rebel and questions why the family lives in the dark. One night, Eep sees light and she finds the Homosapiens Guy that can control fire and is intelligent and tells that their world will end. When their cave collapses, Eep seeks out Guy to follow him to the new world. But the stubborn Grug does not accept the change of rules and wants to find another cave to protect his family.

"The Croods" is a funny animation with the eternal theme of acceptance of what is new. Grug is a good caveman that based on the experience of his former neighbors, believes that he can protect his family locking them inside a cave. When he meets Guy with new ideas, there is a hilarious friction and competition. But the conclusion is well resolved and his family aggregates a new member and several pets. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Os Croods" ("The Croods")

Dreamworks have been hit and miss for me(mostly hits), while I love The Prince of Egypt and How to Train Your Dragon, Shark Tale and Bee Movie left me underwhelmed. Watching the trailer for The Croods, admittedly I wasn't entirely impressed. But as I love animation so much and because I believe in giving any film a chance, I went ahead and watched The Croods anyway. And it was much better than anticipated and what the trailer made it out to be, in fact I found myself liking The Croods very much. I did think that the ending was a cop-out, it seemed to me that the film didn't know how or when it was going to end and it seemed too convenient also. And I also thought that the film was a little too long, some of the story structure towards the end seemed on the verge of petering out. The animation however is really wonderful, it is detailed and very colourful with the character designs well modelled and convincing in movement. If you see The Croods, try and see it in 3D if you can, I am usually not a fan of the 3D gimmick but this is one of those instances where the action is enhanced instead of the 3D detracting from it. At the top of my head, only the Vincent Price film House of Wax(also given the 3D treatment) has had that effect on me. The soundtrack is rousing and lively, though appropriately subdued in the more touching moments. The dialogue is very funny and extremely smart, with much to entertain children and adults. It is quite sophisticated in tone, although it thankfully doesn't feel too much. Amongst the humour, there's also room for some morals and family issues, and they are nicely done without being too heavy-handed. The story doesn't exactly break new ground and will seem formulaic to some. On the other hand, it is briskly paced, consistently engaging and is heart-warming in more ways than one. The prehystorical slapstick is frantic, but hilarious and never too childish. The characters are also a large part of the fun, they are very likable and amusing characters and you can relate to them. Grug and Guy's relationship was especially convincing. The voice work is great. A more restrained than usual Nicholas Cage is a big surprise and he is an ideal fit for his character. Emma Stone and Ryan Reynolds are equally appealing, and Cloris Leachman relishes some of The Croods' most amusing moments. In conclusion, great colourful fun without being among the very finest from Dreamworks. 8/10 Bethany Cox