The Croods (2013): Cage’s Best Animated Film Yet! [Joey’s Review]
Animated films have been a pretty hit-or-miss proposition so far in #CageClub. While we’ve really enjoyed G-FORCE, films like ASTRO BOY and CHRISTMAS CAROL: THE MOVIE haven’t been winners. With this review, I’m pleased to report that THE CROODS is Cage’s best animated film yet, and an obvious choice for his first animated sequel! (Coming to a theater near you on December 22, 2017. This is now a date I have memorized.)
The message in The Croods is simple — you have to let your children leave their nest for them to really flourish, and you need to be able to adapt or else you’ll die. It’s so simple, in fact, that most of the movie is just a re-hash of these themes over and over again. But you know what? That’s okay! It’s not like TRESPASS, where the filmmakers had literally nothing else to say so they regurgitated the same scene four or five times in a row.
This constant re-hashing of themes in The Croods works well because the world around the Crood family is so creative and filled with things to explore. Every animal they encounter is a chimera — I’ll never tire of carnivorous birds or baby elephants or weird giant sabertooth cat things; they’re all great. This is one of the first Cage films in a while that I want to explore more of and experience more stories in; even after the major journey these characters go through, it feels like there is a whole world of adventures to be had. It makes sense for there to be a THE CROODS 2 coming, as well as a Netflix original prequel series.
This movie has incredibly high production values, which is a real treat after the recent semi-direct-to-DVD fare we’ve been viewing lately (and will continue in the future). There’s also some tremendous voice talent in play here, including Cage, Emma Stone, Ryan Reynolds, Cloris Leachman, and Clark Duke. Even though Cage is basically doing his normal voice, he makes tons of crazy caveman sounds, which is a nice treat. (Also, apparently the audio booth was nearly too small for him, which is great.)
The Croods is, I believe, my favorite family-friendly Cage film to date. It’s definitely worth watching if you have kids, and worth watching even if you don’t! You’ve seen this story told before, but this movie does enough things well enough and new enough that it makes this re-tread worth a watch!
How can I watch it? You’d think it would be on Netflix since the prequel series is there, but it’s not. You have to pay for this.
What’s up next? We’re FINALLY getting our first true straight-to-DVD film: THE FROZEN GROUND.
