THE CROODS (G)(98 min) THREE AND A HALF STARS
Directed by Kirk DiMicco, Chris Sanders.
Starring (voices) Nicolas Cage, Emma Stone, Catherine Keener.
It’s not often that I get to say the only thing I didn’t like about a film is the script. Usually, if the script is bad, then the film can’t be redeemed. But, there are exceptions, and The Croods is one of them.
The story will be achingly familiar to anyone who saw the last and least of the Ice Age franchise: Back in pre-history, a family dad must deal with a rebellious teen daughter, while trying to outrun a volcanic cataclysm.
The family here are Neanderthals, rather than woolly mammoths, but the plot is the same. And the dialogue is nothing to write home about either; there’s far too much of it, and the jokes are often quite lame. But, to look at,
The Croods is an absolute stunner, and I’m pretty sure that’s why my 8-year-old friends were having kittens from beginning to end.
I haven’t seen a more visually inventive, witty, and just plain anarchic film since Aardman’s The Pirates! Ignore the paint by numbers plotting, and just go for the sounds, the pictures, and the relentlessly daft set-pieces.
The kids will thank you.
