Hello guys and welcome to a brand new 2020 movie review! With this one, I will be discussing one of the few films that dared to release in theaters late last year, one that actually ended up being one of the biggest success stories when most theaters were closed. The Croods: A New Age is the follow up to the hit 2013 Dreamworks Animation film that came out 7 years ago(!) and I find this one interesting for a number of reasons. I remember when it had multiple release dates but then got taken off the release schedule due to Dreamworks being bought by Universal. It seemed unlikely that this would ever see the light of day… until it was announced that it was coming back to life with a new story and creatives in tow. That explains why it took so long for this follow up to get off the ground and given how successful the original was it makes sense why the studio would want a follow up. Plus, while I never really had much of an opinion on this project for the longest time (I saw the first once in theaters, liked it, but never re visited it), a re watch gave me a newfound appreciation for that movie and I became more excited to see more adventures with this cavemen family. Thankfully, just like last year’s Trolls World Tour, I had a grand time with this second film as it ended up being one of the funniest movies I’ve seen from last year! Without further ado let’s get back together with The Croods as a whole new age like never before awaits them!
Taking place some time after the original, we follow the Croods family once again now going out into the wild and trying to find a nice place to settle down and call home, traveling through rough terrain and battling deadly creatures to find it. All the while Grug, the patriarch of the family, is worried that his daughter, Eep, and her boyfriend, Guy, will become separated from the pack due to their blossoming romance. Not helping matters is that Guy hopes to find his own “tommorrow” with Eep which leads Grug to get even more upset than he was before. One thing leads to another and soon enough they accidently stumble upon a beautiful piece of land that has all the water, food, and scenery they would want in a place called home… but they end up getting caught by the real owners, The Bettermans (emphasis on the “better”), who also just so happened to be friends of Guys parents before their deaths. Despite being more than a little condescending toward the titular caveman family they welcome them to their technologically advanced home and introduce their daughter Dawn, whom they want to get together with Guy. Each member of the family has their own feelings towards the Bettermans and their way of life, both positive and negative (Grug leaning towards the latter of course). From there many wacky hijnks ensue as things escalate as more is revealed about what the Bettermans are hiding from the Croods.
When I re watched the original Croods I was impressed at how it was able to balance the comedy that would naturally come from a movie like it with a solid emotional story that was mostly well done and took itself seriously when necessary. With this follow up though, it very much leans heavily into the wackiness this time out to the point where it feels like a different beast compared to it’s predecessor. Strangely enough though it really worked for me as I thought it succeeded in what it was going for, a fast paced, energetic romp that goes all out with the craziness and I was laughing consistently throughout. I can just imagine the fun the writers must have had working on this movie as there are so many clever jokes here that were really funny and set up well and there are plenty of weird out there moments that I appreciated (I am sucker for these kinds of things). Not only that but I also like how certain jokes are structured as some are set up early on, and they appear throughout the feature making them stick in the mind and then they get a really neat pay off at the end with each character having their own little gag or personality that stood out (more on that in a bit). It definitely won’t be everyone’s form of comedy as some may find fast paced slapstick to be exhausting and I do think there could have been more quiet moments to take things in a bit. Still even with all the mayhem it never loses sight of it’s messages which are done well. The film does re tread a bit of ground from the original in learning to adapt and welcome new ideas but it makes sense to include that here and it also calls out discrimination and how that can lead to people’s worst tendencies that only makes things worst which is best exemplified by the feud that develops between the Croods and the Bettermans. It handles these themes well and it made the ending all the more satisfying and it ends in a way that could absolutely mean more adventures with these cavemen which I would most certainly welcome.
One of my favorite aspects of the original was it’s animation as I thought the animators did a wonderful job bringing this vast pre historic world with any number of creatively designed creatures to life. 7 years later and once again this world is such a treat to explore! This time around the colors are even brighter and everything just pops out visually from the different locations with each standing out from the other to the even wackier creatures that we encounter (once again some really cool looking animal combinations). The designs are once again very strong for the caveman and there is a nice contrast between the down and dirty likes of the Croods and the cleaner Bettermans in both their looks and their movements. Speaking of which as someone who does love some good slapstick comedy, the energy the animators bring to the movements is noticeable and is very well utilized in the scenes where physical comedy is present. All of that was great fun to watch with a great running gag involving punching monkeys (who do play a pretty big role in the grand scheme of things) being among the highlights in that regard. Adding to all the wackiness is Mark Mothersbaugh whose score is really bombastic and fits right in with what the movie is going for and he is quickly becoming a recognizable name in scoring animated features. Also bringing a lot of energy is director and longtime story artist for DWA, Joel Crawford who fills in for original helmers, Chris Sanders and Kirk DeMicco. With those two they were able to strike a nice balance with there being some fast paced energy, but also plenty of more atmospheric parts that do give the time to take things in. Crawford unsurprisingly leans heavily into the fast paced energy and for the most part I think he did a splendid job. He moves the camera around in some fun ways and is able to bring much excitement to the proceedings with many of the choices he makes, especially in the really fun climax where he just lets loose and crafts a wild finale. I know that he is currently directing next year’s Puss in the Boots: The Last Wish and while watching this film I can see why he was brought on as that same energy will work wonders for that sequel and it makes me even more excited to see what he does there.
I will say that one concern I did have going into this was that the characters would go through arcs that were very similar to the ones in the first, yet thankfully that wasn’t the case as the writers were able to find appropriate ways to continue their story. Even though Grug was more of the protagonist (at least for a good majority of the feature) back in the first, some of the other members are given equal time to shine here and that is an aspect I thought this one improved upon. Whereas Grug was against anything different and didn’t want Guy to take his family away, here he is simply worried at the possibility of Eve leaving the pack with Guy to find their own “tomorrow” and just wants to improve things for his family. He is definitely not without his faults, but once again he never becomes fully unlikable and it was fun seeing his reactions to all the wild things he encounters (like bananas for example). Plus it’s always a delight to hear Nicolas Cage give a wild performance and he certainly gives it his all as this character. I also felt the relationship between Eve (Emma Stone) and Guy (Ryan Reynolds) was given more attention here and thus is more developed as they experience certain complications regarding the conflict between the two families and how they want to spend their lives. It was also a sweet relationship as the two have strong chemistry and I like how their storyline wrapped up. The rest of the Croods also get their moments with Ugga (Catherine Keener) especially getting a substantial more to do this time around with her concerns regarding the Bettermans and she gets a wonderful bonding scene with Eve (something lacking in the original). Clark Duke’s Thunk gets a really great joke concerning a window that never got old, Kailey Crawford continues to be amusing as Sandy (despite getting the shorter end of the stick in terms of screentime), Belt makes for a cute comic relief who gets a love interest in the form of Sash, and Cloris Leachman (who sadly passed away not too long after the film came out) gets some great laughs as Gran and her whole subplot that relates to female empowerment leads to a great pay off in the finale. This whole family dynamic continues to be great to watch especially with a new wrinkle added in with the introduction of the Bettermans. Both Phil and Hope wonderfully performed by Peter Dinklage and Leslie Mann respectively, start out as more than a little condescending to their new guests and want to hook Guy with their daughter, Dawn which leads to what becomes a heated conflict between the two families. Sure this type of storyline isn’t new, but Phil and Hope’s behavior (along with Grug’s) is called out numerous times, the interactions between the two family are amusing in different ways, and I like how working with Croods makes them become better people and better parents in the process (the way Grug and Phil would end up getting along in particular is quite amusing). I even liked what was done with Dawn (Kelly Marie Tran giving her a bubbly personality) as instead of being the girl who causes conflict between Guy and Eve she forms a fun friendship with the former who relates to her quite a bit. In all I liked how the writers were successfully able to come up with a new conflict for Croods to face and the way it progressed made for a satisfying watch.
All in all I found The Croods: A New Age to be a delightful follow up to an already strong predecessor that is jam packed full of energy, goes all out with the craziness, has some worthwhile messages, fantastic visuals like the original, and it does plenty of fun things with the core characters. The wackiness may not be for everyone, it does re tread similar ground as the first in some ways, and I will admit it could have benefitted from more quieter scenes, those still don’t detract from how much fun I had with the feature. It’s another winning sequel from the folks at Dreamworks Animation and is one of the most pure enjoyable films I have seen from last year. Really do regret not re visiting the first film earlier as my anticipation for this film may have been greater than it was prior to that re watch. In that sense this is a sequel I never knew I wanted and I would more than welcome any more adventures with this wacky family of cave people. Also thanks to this movie I have been thinking about the song “I Think I Love You” nonstop so I must thank it for that!
Rating: A-
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