Saturday, February 01, 2014

review: The Croods



Directed by     Kirk DeMicco and Chris Sanders 


Starring     Nicolas Cage    Emma Stone
        Ryan Reynolds    Catherine Keener
        Clark Duke    Cloris Leachman







Meet the Croods.  Three generations of cave dwellers at the dawn of time.  It would seem that they are the last of their "kind" as all their neighbors came to rather untimely end, each more gruesome end.

The Croods most likely will fall victim to just the same kind of even, that was until the daughter discovers a strange boy with an even stranger pet he calls fire.  

This strange boy is running from the end of the world and to prove his point the Croods'  cave is destroyed by  a massive rock slide.

Now they must travel to find a new cave all the while avoiding all forms of wild flora & fauna that would like nothing more that to have them for lunch.

The Croods is again a step up in animation.  There are several places in the film that all you can think "oh now they are just showing off!"  It really is that sumptuous.  I had to remind myself at times that what I was watching WAS animation.  It wasn't so much the main characters or even the story line which bears little resemblance to historical or archeological records, but the little things in an environment or passing moment that comes and goes with hardly a notice.  Blades of grass wave in the breeze as does hair on their heads.  Fire moves as though alive.  All the little subtleties that convince you that an environment is real.  From huge flocks of birds  to gargantuan explosion, everything blends into an environment that is both surreal and totally real at the same time.

The Croods had something for all ages, but to be honest, it is a movie for the young but for those of you that are sitting there watching, you will find the level of detail in the animation at times breath taking.  

I would give the film a 7 mainly because there was no effort to keep the timeline accurate.  But that will have to be my only bitch, it certain IS worth a watch....if you have kids...add it to your collection even.

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