It seems like Hollywood has learned that there is money to
be made in children's animated features. Perhaps not the time consuming drawn
animation but the computer animated feature. Almost every month a new animated
film hits the theaters. For fans this turns into something precious with the
release of those same films on DVD to own and treasure for years to come. Are
all worth it? Perhaps not. But THE CROODS is one that should be.
The movie opens in the early life of a planet much like
Earth (with what follows it doesn't appear to be here but close enough). While
most families disappear the same can't be said of the Croods. That's because
father Grugg lives by a simple rule: don't do anything. The problem is that he
has a teenage daughter named Eep who, like most teens, just doesn't seem to
want to listen. She wants to explore, to wander the world and see what's out
there. Grugg just wants to get by, stay in their cave and go out only as a
group to find food. As she points out to him this isn't living, it's existing.
One night Eep sees a light shining outside of their cave.
She moves the stone placed in front enough to get out and follows the light.
What she finds is someone completely unlike her and her family, a young man named
Guy. It's apparent that Guy is a bit further along the evolutionary scale than
Eep and her group. Not only does he seem different, the light she saw was
something she's never witnessed before, namely fire.
Guy tries to warn Eep that they all need to move because the
end of the world that they know is coming. Their only hope is to make their way
to higher ground, a mountain he has seen in the distance. When Eep takes this
news back to her family they panic and dismiss Guy's warning. That is until the
land begins to shift and shake and the lower mountains on either side of their
cave collapse. Had they been inside they would have all perished. Instead they
find themselves taking Guy's advice and moving on.
This is where most of the story comes from, this fear of the
unknown and being willing to take a risk to find out what lies beyond the
horizon...literally. While they've always lived their lives in a cave, in fear
of any and everything outside of it, there is a whole wide world that the
Croods have never seen let alone experienced, a world filled with danger
certainly but also with great beauty and mystery as well. Now, with no other
options, they will experience this new world first hand.
Along the way there is also a rift that develops between
father and daughter. While Grugg only has Eep's best interest in mind, she and
the rest of the family begin to look up to Guy instead and follow his lead. A
defeated Grugg feels he has lost his family but that soon changes.
The movie is a delight for the eyes and features some
hilarious moments as well. The adventure factor involved is spot on and holds
your interest from start to finish. Some of the running jokes in the film,
especially those involving Grugg's mother in law, work well and remain funny
from start to finish. But most importantly the love shared between the members
of the Crood family is one that will offer a great lesson to children of all
ages.
While the Croods are a far cry from the
"sophisticated" cavemen seen in the Flintstones, they do offer some
amusement for the length of the film. Not only does it entertain it offers life
lessons as well and one couldn't ask much more of a children's film these days.
This is one that needs to be added to everyone's shelf.
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