Movie: The Croods
Directors: Kirk De Micco, Chris Sanders
Cast: Nicolas Cage, Emma Stone, Ryan Reynolds, Catherine Keener and Cloris Leachman
Rating: ***
“The Croods” is not an exceptionally out-of-the-box animated flick, but it most definitely is one of those films that draw a fine balance between entertainment and driving a noble message into our thick skulls. Coming from the directors of films such as “How to Train Your Dragon” and “Space Chimps”, fun is found in abundance in this film that harps on the importance of family.
Grug (Cage) is the alpha dog of his caveman family comprising of daughter Eep, son Thunk, wife Ugga and granny Gran. While the family spends most of its time hunting during the day, it bunks in a cave at night, courtesy safety. They are the last remaining family in an arid desert landscape.
Each member of the family is expected to follow Grug’s rules, which mostly includes staying in the cave after dark and not bringing anything new into the family. However, there is always one rebellious member in a family. Here, it happens to be Eep (Emma Stone), who in an effort to break free, rebels with her father and wanders on her own. This results in a chance meeting with the highly inventive Guy (Ryan Reynolds), who warns her about the end of the world.
When the Croods’ cave is destroyed, the family is forced on a journey into a strange world where Grug’s brawn clashes with Guy’s techniques for survival.
Watching “The Croods” reminds one of his own family from the word go. An entertaining film is good, but when entertainment comes neatly wrapped in a box filled with familial values, you embrace it with a smile. While most of the humor in the film is physical and slapstick, it doesn’t fail to make one think at regular intervals.
Revolving mostly around the relationship of a family through a course of events, the film throws light on a father-daughter relationship, trust and family bond. Here, we have an over protective father who likes to have his daughter under his watch at all times. It’s not because he hates or doubts her, but because he doesn’t know to let go. Even though the father-daughter relationship goes through several phases along the course of the film, it never loses its charm. In fact, the entire film rests on this relationship that gets stronger and stronger with every passing minute.
Besides the whole family plot, the film also touches on the idea that it’s unhealthy to live a sheltered life. The conversations between the family members are funny, especially scenes featuring Grug and Gran.
Cage is a peculiar choice for the voice of Grug, but he doesn’t disappoint. Ryan and Emma in their respective roles hit it off quite well. Director Sanders chips in with his voice to a character named Belt, always found clinging on to Guy.
