The Croods

As time grows that much closer to the summer season, we have started seeing remnants of films that emulate that 'feel' of the season. We have just come off from "Oz the Great and Powerful", and coming up this next week is "G.I. Joe: Retaliation". Well, we now have the animated "The Croods" in our midst.

The Croods is a prehistoric comedy adventure that follows the world's first family, or one that has survived infections, grisly animal attacks, etc, as they embark on a journey of a lifetime when the cave that has always shielded them from danger is destroyed in a huge earth shifting. Now, through an idealistic and inventive boy, Guy (Ryan Reynolds) and his pet snake, Belt (Chris Sanders) whom Eep (Emma Stone) comes across, The Croods--Grug (Nicolas Cage), Eep, Ugga (Catherine Keener), Gran (Cloris Leachman),Thunk (Clark Duke), and Sandy (Randy Thom), through traveling across a spectacular landscape, discover an incredible new world filled with fantastic creatures--and their outlook is changed forever. This not only is a discovery of new lands, but also a discovery of being able to change different views that come from the heart.

This was well directed by Kirk De Micco ("Space Chimps" '08) and Chris Sanders ("Lilo & Stitch" '02, "How to Train Your Dragon" '10). the two don't have a ton of experience in the feature film department, but they really knew how to bring these actors to a place where one minute you're thinking these characters are idiots and crass to feeling bad for these characters and then back again. It was wittingly written by Sanders and De Micco, in that the story really had a place to go here, and being able to convey what they were attempting to convey in a short 95 minute running time was, not only tough to execute, but actually worked.

The animation by Dreamworks Animation was its usual expertly created. The bright colors of the 'new world' as compared to their old world was spot on. Even the main titles by Ariandy Chandra absolutely captured the feel of the film.

If you're looking for a film that rocks, quite literally in some places, that is colorful, with interesting characters and situations they find themselves in, then this film will have you leaving the multiplex with a satisfied grin on your face.

Out of 4 Stars: 4                         Rated: PG                         95mins.