National Post (National Edition)
THE CROODS
Were you blown away by Cave of Forgotten Dreams, Werner Herzog’s 2010 documentary about millenniaold rock paintings? Well, here’s the prequel — sort of.
The Croods tells the story of a family of Neanderthals who live in perpetual fear and hunger in a dark cave, terrified of anything new or different. Any resemblance to the current state of the movie industry is probably coincidental.
Papa Crood is Grug, voiced by Nicolas Cage. He has a sensible wife (Catherine Keener), a lunk-headed son (Clark Duke) and a wizened mother-in-law (Cloris Leachman) who, given prehistoric lifespans, is probably in her late forties.
The bane of Grug’s clan is Eep, voiced by the aptly named Emma Stone. (Too bad they couldn’t get The Rock to play Grug.) Curious and rebellious, she sneaks out of the cave one night and meets a guy named Guy (Ryan Reynolds).
With his erect posture, knowledge of fire and boy-band hair, what’s not to like? Guy describes the coming end of the world before handing Eep a conch and leaving her with the farewell that defines our species: Call me.
Why is the world ending? It’s left geologically vague, though super-fast continental drift of the type encountered in the animated Ice Age movies might be the culprit.
But don’t put too much faith in the film’s scientific backstory, which includes a host of creatures apparently unpreserved in the fossil record. There are realistic monkeys and a sloth named Belt (also his job), but also land whales, air piranhas and other beasts that look like something Barney Rubble might have dreamed up after one too many rocks-andsodas. And what’s with the fireworksproducing giant popcorn plant?
Then again, co-writers and directors Chris Sanders ( How to Train Your Dragon) and Kirk De Micco ( Space Chimps) clearly aren’t trying for documentary realism here. They’re in search of the easy punchline; for instance, mankind’s discovery of the banana leads directly to a pratfall.
The family-friendly message is equally simple. Grug’s the old guard, eager to keep his kin safe even if it means stultifying their existence. Eep is your typical headstrong heroine, torn between filial duty and a desire to see more of the world. (Apparently, she’s been so cave-bound that the sight of the night sky is a novelty.) The rest of the family, including a feral toddler named Sandy, is so much comic filler.
The Croods is the latest release from DreamWorks Animation, currently splitting its time between guaranteed-moneymaking sequels — the recent Puss in Boots and Madagascar 3; the upcoming How to Train Your Dragon 2 and The Penguins of Madagascar — and new titles, such
Mankind’s discovery of the banana leads directly to a pratfall
as 2012’s Rise of the Guardians and next summer’s Turbo, about a snail who wants to be a race-car driver.
Kids will no doubt get a kick out of the prehistoric shenanigans, which involve a lot of throwing of rocks, a few gags lifted from old Looney Tunes titles and a cut-and-paste score.
Parents won’t have as much to occupy their brains, although the more scientifically minded may wish to consider the recent revelation, backed by DNA studies, that humans and Neanderthals probably interbred tens of thousands of years ago. The G-rated Croods doesn’t take us that far, but it’s not impossible to imagine a domestically focused sequel somewhere down the road. Even a merger with the Ice Age franchise might open up some new creative realms. Ω◊½