14. The Croods
Dreamworks tends to really take me by surprise whenever I watch one of their films. I had seen this movie once before and like Rise of the Guardians, wasn’t super impressed with it despite remembering it being good. I think I was just taken in by how much people said things were good back then that I had my expectations written out for me before I experienced them. It really does help a lot being so far removed from them because I’m able to enjoy things much better.
Unlike the two movies before this one on the list, The Croods’ level of quality didn’t stay at a consistent level for me. However, the reason it’s above those two is because even though it starts a bit low for me… and gets better and better as it goes along and, in my opinion, reaches a level that surpasses them.
I always prefer movies that do that. Inconsistent quality is fine so long as it’s an ever flowing upward tick and not peaks and troughs or worse, a downward spiral. The set-up for this film is that cave men are trying to survive during the incredibly dangerous time before Pangea happened. Now that Pangea is happening, they need to adapt and learn and have *gulp* IDEAS in order to survive.
When you see the family line up you kind of get the sense that you’ve seen these people before and it doesn’t instill you with the best of exciting feelings at the start, despite the stellar action scene that kicks the film off centered around just trying to grab a singular egg to eat for an entire family. The film doesn’t do too much to veer away from the stereotypes associated with this kind of family and its family dynamic, right down to the daughter and the father clashing because their ideologies are different.
As such, I wasn’t too jazzed about spending a lot of time with them. The film takes a wonderful step up when Guy (Ryan Reynolds) enters the picture. He’s a prehistoric guy but he’s got a brain and he takes to the new open world laid out before them by following the philosophy that if you follow the sun you’ll be okay. It’s more metaphorical than he seems to believe but it works. It’s a fairly nuanced take on the idea of living being more important than surviving and it breathes new life into The Croods once they meet him and have no choice but to follow along with his ideas to save their skin.
Of course, it’s not just about not dying anymore. It’s about having fun, discovering new things, and actually being happy. It’s something that the dad, Grug (Nicolas Cage), can’t seem to allow himself to do. Because he’s a dad his priority is making sure everyone is safe and protected and it’s taken its toll on the family. He comes off as still very likable though. You can see that his worries come from a place of love and he’s not being an asshole most of the time either. He’s just being, what he thinks, is pragmatic. When he’s left with no other choice but to do what the others are doing, he’ll do it. He’s not an idiot despite his thing being his ridiculous strength.
Because of this it makes it more believable that he would eventually change. More importantly, it makes you want to see him change as well. I want him to get in good with his family. His wif, Ugga (Catherine Keener) is supportive. His son Thunk (Clark Duke) is stupid but well meaning and follows his every word without question (until he realizes what the rest figure out before Grug) and the little gremlin girl Sandy (Randy Thom) is adorable and doesn’t have an opinion because she’s too young… but I’m sure she would agree.
Then there’s Granny (Cloris Leachman), whom Grug spends the whole movie being delighted by the idea of dying. It’s always funny and their back and forth hating of one another is mutual so it never comes off as bullying. The two of them share a sweet moment at the end that I loved too, so there’s that.
I think the thing that really makes this film stand out is how creative it is though. Due to them being cave people, the teenage daughter Eep (Emma Stone) is characterized as being barbaric in a lot of places and despite her swooning over Guy when he shows up, Guy’s MO is to just get to the mountain so he can live. He reciprocates her feelings naturally over time but it’s never overbearing or the focus. It’s a refreshing take on this kind of thing.
Also, helping is how INSANE the creative design of this film is. It not only looks great but all the creatures and animals are like… so bizarre. There’s elephants with giraffe spots, tigers with huge heads with the coloration of parrots, birds that look like piranhas that can fly in swarms and eat things down to the bone, weird raccoon-lemur things that are actually two creatures attached to one another by their tail, and crocodile-dogs? Not only are they all interesting and unique but there’s SO MANY of them. It’s like they hired Eiichiro Oda to inject a little bit of One Piece into this world. It’s crazy.
Over time, it does become clear that the journey is the obstacle that the family needs to overcome but by the end it did hit me just how great it was that the film wasn’t relying on their teenage daughter character to carry the heart of the film. She’s fine but what stood out to me by the climax was that, no, she’s not the main character. Her dad is.
He’s the one who has to make the change and goes through the character arc to reach the new conclusion he does about himself and his life in the end. The entire climax is centered and focused entirely on him. When he learns to accept Guy and what he’s brought to his family he accepts the fact that he too can have ideas. He first does this by asking “What would Guy do?” and then takes it a step further and asks himself, “What would I do?”
That’s brilliant. It really does work too. Perhaps his plan was a little more advanced than I thought for his first real idea but whatever. It was fun and he saved all the animals he could too.
The miraculous way in which this film got across what it needed to without forfeiting the ability to enjoy his character was what impressed me the most about it and I think that’s one thing that Shrek Forever After kind of missed a little bit. Grug didn’t need to outright say to his wife that he wished to go back to the way things were before he met her. It’s too far and despite enjoying that film it does leave a bit of a blind spot for me as far as how well constructed it is.
Not here though. I think they nailed it with this one and I might actually look forward to seeing it again one day.
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14 Apr 2025 17:53 CEST
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