Eat, sleep, cave, repeat...
CUT from the same mammothpelt loincloth as its 2013 predecessor, this energetic computeranimated sequel forms a protective kill circle around its central theme of female empowerment and turns its back on emotionally layered storytelling and character development.
Plotlines from the original thaw out in The Croods 2: A New Age, disguised by breathtaking visuals in retina-searing colour.
A crudely cleaved class divide between the eponymous cave family and refined rivals, who believe privacy promotes individuality, establishes a flimsy narrative framework to explore intergenerational conflict and the reluctance of parents to let offspring fly the nest.
Grug (voiced by Nicolas Cage) continues to lead his prehistoric brood of wife Ugga (Catherine Keener), son Thunk (Clark Duke), daughters Eep (Emma Stone) and Sandy (Kailey Crawford), and Gran (Cloris Leachman).
The sanctity of the clan is threatened by Eep’s boyfriend Guy (Ryan Reynolds), who floats the idea of establishing a separate tribe with his beloved.
“The pack is stronger together. Eve would never leave us,” Grug assures his unconvinced wife.
Before the young lovebirds formalise plans to blaze their own trail, Grug stumbles upon a foodrich haven cultivated by Phil (Peter Dinklage) and his wife Hope (Leslie Mann), who abide by one rule: Don’t eat the bananas.
“We’re the Bettermans... with an emphasis on the better,” chirrups Hope, who condescends to the Croods on their lower rung of the evolutionary food chain.
Phil and Hope are closely connected to Guy’s past and they plot to prise him away from Eep so he can pair up with their daughter Dawn (Kelly Marie Tran).
The Croods 2: A New Age mocks its title by revisiting scenarios from the first film with additional visual lustre. When the Bettermans fall short as a threat to the Croods’ happiness, director Joel Crawford’s picture introduces a pack of punch monkeys and a gargantuan Spiny Mandrilla to facilitate inevitable reconciliations.
The sequel goes bananas but we follow the Bettermans’ example and resist tucking in.
In cinemas from Friday