The Croods

In reviewing past DreamWorks Animation movies, I have indicated countless times what I think about the studio and they way they do business. I will only rearticulate here that which is relevant for "The Croods". The movie was okay, as are most DreamWorks animated films. The film has goodness but a few flaws that cause a variety of consequences. I don't think it is worth seeing in the high price theaters.

DreamWorks has a very bad habit of spoiling great humor in their trailers such as on "Puss in Boots". Belt's theme music, as I call it, would have been a great part of the film had it not been in the trailer. The mother-in-law gags also would have been funny if we didn't already know they were in the film. You don't put the best jokes or the running gags in the trailers because by the time the movie is over and the payoffs for those jokes arrive, the audience is sick of them anyways (at least subconsciously). Trailers are meant to provide a sneak peak, not a full-on showcase. After seeing a trailer, you should want to see a film and not feel that you have already seen it because that is what I felt after seeing a trailer for this film. In terms of physical humor, I saw a lot of Wile E. Coyote-type gags that were funny but not hilarious. The directors could have spent more time working on those. "The Croods" did have some relatable themes and story motifs such as an overprotective father watching his daughter fall in love and a dominant male being threatened by a younger, more impressive outsider. One good thing is that this latter story motif was not in the trailers. As a result, we are more entertained by this plotline because we were not expecting it. The problem I see is that "The Croods" has no central conflict. Which one of the aforementioned story patterns is the dominant one? Is it Grug and Eep's relationship? What about the love story between Guy and Eep? The relationship between Grug and Guy is also dramatic and entertaining. As I watched the movie, I had trouble figuring out which conflict to focus my attention on. I think the reason for this was that I was also having trouble identifying the protagonist. The trailers establish Eep as the main character as did the opening sequence but Nickolas Cage is the first name on the cast list and Ryan Reynolds is #2 while Emma Stone is third. Grug goes through the most change in the film but then Eep concludes the film by narration. Maybe the filmmakers were trying to draw success by mimicking the opening and closing of "How to Train Your Dragon". In any case, the film lacked a clear center. "The Croods" reminded me of "The Land Before Time" but made their plotline more unique so that is good. The opening "football" hunting sequence was interesting but nothing special. Guy is established as more intelligent than the Croods but this part of the plot lacks plausibility because everyone in the film has the same ability to communicate. Behavior & physicality is obviously what makes the family different than Guy but if they are less intelligent then how can they speak English just as well as Guy can? They should have had the family speak differently at the start but then change as the film progresses. One thing I was watching for was to see if DreamWorks would insert unnecessary 3D special effects. I feel that everything in a movie, including special effects, should move the story forward. The impressive visual sequences in "How to Train Your Dragon" for example provided strength for the story being told. The same was not the case for "The Croods". The popcorn fireworks did not seem necessary from a story standpoint for example. Fortunately, there was one moment when the special effects helped the story. The sudden reveal of the stars shows Guy's cleverness. He not only knows how to make fire but when to put it out. One thing I will give DreamWorks credit for was creating a satisfying climax. The change of heart that Grug has towards Guy as they are stuck in the tar works because Grug learns of Guy's back-story. As a father and protector, he has pity for Guy because Guy has no family. Guy has had to think for himself and that is why he is more intelligent. Another good dramatic part of "The Croods" is that the filmmakers really sold the fact that Grug had no way of being saved. His self-sacrifice was genuine. The climax was good until Grug stops to pick up pet after pet after pet. Douglas was a welcome sight during this moment but there was no reason for the other creatures that Grug saves to be there. Speaking of them, I feel that the fanciful creatures distracted us from the film's story. We focus less on the family and more on their surroundings. On the other hand, if more realistic prehistoric creatures had been created, things would have been too close to "Ice Age".

There are familiar names that worked on "The Croods". Co-director Chris Sanders has given us such films as "Lilo & Stitch" and "How to Train Your Dragon". James Baxter has been animating at DreamWorks for a long time and both he & Sanders were part of the Disney Renaissance. The casting was okay. I feel that Cage's voice wasn't perfectly suited for Grug but Emma Stone and Ryan Reynolds were okay. It seemed that the voices for the secondary cast members worked better than the voices for the three main characters of Grug, Eep and Guy. This film was supposed to be claymation but after DreamWorks cut ties with Aardman, it became a 3D computer animated movie.

"The Croods" will entertain if you see it but you may come away feeling that it wasn't worth the money you spent to see it in 3D. The flaws were such that the good points of the movie were not as strong as they could have been. I did not see any big reason for this particular story to be told. When I go to a movie, I want to see a story that is good enough to warrant its presence on the big screen. Stories that are told to make money are not as immortal as stories that are told to entertain. Some evidence that DreamWorks Animation is a hit-and-miss company is that they keep changing distribution companies. This is the first DreamWorks Animation film to be distributed by 20th Century Fox because the previous deal with Paramount wasn't renewed. Pixar on the other hand has never left Disney but instead both companies help each other for mutual benefit. DreamWorks Animation's previous film, "Rise of the Guardians", lost money and resulted in hundreds of layoffs. "The Croods" did make a decent amount of money and for some reason was nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars instead of "Monsters University". The film's Academy Award nomination however didn't mean much as "Frozen" and "Despicable Me 2" were also in that catagory with Disney winning in the end.

3 Stars