The Croods - Movie Review

I was assuming, when I first got ready to see this movie, that it was going to be a "cute" movie, in the style of other, similar such movies, like the "Ice Age" franchise, or the countless Disney animated movies that come out.

And for the most part, it was.

But it was also a very clever movie that incorporates a good amount of humor in it. 

***Spoiler Alert***

I will not reveal everything that happens in the movie, but want to explain the scenario, more or less, so that the reader understands what the movie is about.

It takes place during caveman days. The Croods are a family that have managed to survive against the odds, at a time when survival was a full-time occupation, and threats to survival were everywhere. We learn early on by the daughter, Eep Crood (voice of Emma Stone), that they survived because the father, Grug (voice of Nicolas Cage), takes no risks at all. He views anything and everything new with skepticism and such a degree of fear, that it far goes beyond paranoia, even. Most of their time is spent hidden away in caves.

Of course, Eep is a young girl growing up, and she finds this existence highly boring. She longs for something else, and knows that there just has to be something more to life than this. But she is the only one in the family who feels this way. Everyone else shares Grug's overly cautious approach. After all, it has kept them alive to this point, and that's no small thing.



Still, Eep stands alone longs for something more, and resists the conventions, dictated by her father, that everyone else accepts without question. So, one night, when she glimpses light from inside of the cave (which she and the rest of the family automatically mistakes for the sun), she strays from the cave, taking a chance for the first time in her life. It is scary, yet exhilarating. It is adventure - the first time that she is experiencing such a thing.

She follows the moving fire, and finds out that it is not the sun, but a boy carrying fire - something she has never heard of before! In the meantime, back in the cave, Grug wakes up to find her daughter missing. He knows he has to go out and look for her, but unlike with her, there is only reluctance. He does not want to part from the safety of the cave, but in the end, he has to go out and protect his daughter. Everything is new, and no one in the family has experienced this kind of excitement, exposure to something new, before. It is all very exciting!

There existence to this point consisted in routine, in never taking chances. But not for long. Changes are coming, and to survive these, they will need a new approach. That is where the boy with the fire, Guy (voice of Ryan Reynolds) comes in. He has a different frame of mind, and tons of these strange things that the cavemen family have never head of. Namely, new ideas.

When the rest of the family is eventually introduced to Guy, his new ideas inevitably cause friction and skepticism, particularly with Grug. Guy tells them that he is trying to find a new life, and his innovativeness is being used in order to prepare for, and survive, the end of the world that is coming (the signs of this inevitability are evident throughout the movie). The Croods are not exactly swept away (except for Eep, who is clearly impressed by Guy). Yet, they are also taken quite a bit by the novelty of his ideas, and are all impressed. Well, everyone but Grug, that is. A rivalry forms between them, when the warning signs of the end that Guy has been warning everyone about become so obvious (their cave is destroyed) that the whole family, even Grug, feels compelled to follow him to a new destiny, and a new life. Out of necessity, the old ways are out, as is paranoia of anything and everything new.



In the end, the movie is about the journey, and the message is positive, overall. Staying safe and being protective has strong value, but when it gets in the way of exploring new possibilities and accepting changes, it can be stifling and counterproductive. Along the way, on the journey, there is a lot of humor that even made me, a grown man of 38 years, laugh out loud.

That's it. That's all I can tell you, if you have not already seen it. If you have children of the right age for this movie, I would definitely recommend it! I took my seven year old son, and he said he enjoyed it (although he was literally the only one in the theater (there were probably five or so people there, including us) that I did not hear laughing, which almost shocked me. Still, trust me, it is a funny movie that will likely put a smile on your face. More importantly, it will put a smile on your child's face!