Directed by: Kirk De Micco, Chris Sanders
Starring: Emma Stone, Nicolas Cage, Ryan Reynolds
Rated PG, 98 minutes
The cast of “The Croods” . (Courtesy photo)
Maybe it’s just because I’m no longer in the target audience for cartoons, but I can’t shake the idea that the thought process behind a lot of new movies consists of identifying specific tropes and then throwing them together willy-nilly. So a movie like “The Croods,” a prehistoric (trope #1) family road trip (trope #2) cartoon, comes along, and I can’t help but feel that it was hastily boxed up and sent out with glitzy 3D effects to fill up space in the theater. And yet, it’s still strangely entertaining.
A family of prehistoric humans – the only family of humans, actually – is at the center of “The Croods.” Led by the burly patriarch Grug (Nicolas Cage, “National Treasure”), the Croods fear the world around them, emerging from their cave only when absolutely necessary. The elder daughter of the family, Eep (Emma Stone, “The Amazing Spider-Man”), longs to get out and see the world, but her family does nothing but hold her back. Until, that is, she meets Guy (Ryan Reynolds, “Green Lantern”), a slightly more advanced human who, importantly, has discovered fire.
The Croods, minus Eep, are wary of Guy and of fire and of leaving the cave in general, but an earthquake hits, destroying their home and forcing them to go elsewhere. Lo and behold, though, the destruction of the canyon wall around them reveals a magnificent landscape of new and exciting (and dangerous) animals and plants and natural formations. They know they must traverse this wild new world–something Eep is more than excited to do—but Grug is reluctant to let his family, and especially his daughter, slip away from the fear-everything lifestyle that has kept them alive for so long.
The big question of the movie is whether Grug will cut some slack on his family and let them discover the world. To the credit of writer-directors Kirk De Micco (“Space Chimps”) and Chris Sanders (“Lilo and Stitch”), the plot also contains various subplots that interweave fluidly with the main one–most notably the desire of our narrator, Eep, to live freely. But at the same time, things like the obvious love interest between Eep and Guy are surprisingly undeveloped, and Grug’s manly-man stubbornness becomes predictable as the movie progresses.
What also becomes evident as the plot continues (it only occasionally thickens, more often continuing nomadically, much like the Croods) is the inherent stupidity of the premise. For example, the movie ignores the fact that the Croods all somehow have superhuman strength, speed, and hand-eye coordination. Now, I’m not one to call out cartoons for being unrealistic, but it strikes me as misguided and ignorant when family members attribute their successes against the dangers of nature to their ability to get along really well with each other when the true victor is brute strength. The central theme of the movie is rendered moot by a plot hole that could have easily been patched up, but wasn’t.
A host of visual tricks distracts us from this, though, and I mean that in a good way. While the use of 3D is negligible, the cleverness of various shots and gags is perhaps the element that most draws us into “The Croods.” A shot toward the beginning of the movie that shows the Croods running throughout the canyon landscape in super fast motion sets the visual tone. The movie not only uses animation as a vehicle for the story, but also embraces the possibilities for which animation allows. It also helps, of course, that the bizarre landscape is visually striking in every detail.
It’s a little disappointing, then, that the vocal performances are lackluster all around. This could be due to the mediocre dialogue, of course, but the performances don’t sell the way they should. For such an energetic-looking movie, the voices sound tired, with the exception of Cloris Leachman (“Young Frankenstein”), playing Grug’s goofily strident mother-in-law.
The inconsistency of the movie in most of its aspects lends itself to a strange viewing experience. I enjoyed watching “The Croods,” and some parts were very impressive—again, Sanders and De Micco really embrace creativity in animation. But I also feel underwhelmed. I can’t tell if this is a cartoon to put in the dung heap or one I’d proudly show my kids, if I had any; it’s somewhere in the middle. I’m more likely to forget about it, which is a shame, but I get the impression that there will soon be another trope mash-up to take its place.
Danny Eisenberg is a 2010 graduate of the Bromfield School and is currently a student at the University of Pennsylvania.
