The Croods

Rating: 5

This DreamWorks movie came out in March of 2013, and, in case I haven’t told you yet, I adore animated movies. My boyfriend bought me this movie on DVD for Christmas and we watched it last night since there was a freakish snow/ice/cold storm coming to KY. And, I promise that I will one day review something other than a movie.

The Croods is a movie set in a fantastical world whose trailers instantly had me intrigued. Besides the story and world of this movie, the fact that Emma Stone was the voice of the main character, Eep, had me wanting to see this movie. The first movie I saw her in was Easy A, and I’ve been a fan since then. This movie didn’t disappoint me.

This movie focuses on a family, The Croods, who have only survived the harsh environment they live in because the leader of their family, Grug (voiced by Nicolas Cage), has created strict rules for all of them to follow. His number one rule–“Always be afraid.” As his daughter, Eep, has gotten older, she’s grown to resent these rules as her curiosity finds her stretching her limits around the confines of the cave. The rest of her family, Ugga (her mother, voiced by Catherine Keener), Gran (her grandma, voiced by Cloris Leachman), Thunk (her brother, voiced by Clark Duke), and Sandy (her baby sister, voiced by Randy Thom), all follow Grug’s rules without a second thought.

POTENTIAL SPOILERS

But, one night, Eve sees something strange outside the cave and risks her Grug’s anger by going out to investigate. She discovers a boy her age, Guy (voiced by Ryan Reynolds), and the strange thing he has created–fire. After some slightly awkward conversation in which she acts like a caveman because she is and he tells her that the world is ending, Guy heads off on his mission for the mountains while Eep goes back to the cave. But, the family has discovered her escape and meet her half way in their search for her. Her father confronts her and she attempts to explain to them what has happened, making them more and more alarmed because Eep is telling them about things that are new and different. Then, the world starts to shake, just as Guy said it would.

Their instant reaction is to flee for the cave, but it’s destroyed in an avalanche of rocks. In the clearing dust, the family is confronted by a lush land full of dangerous and wondrous creatures and so many possibilities. Naturally, Grug wants to do anything but explore this new world, but a predator at their rear forces them to literally dive into it. As they attempt to survive the new terrors that face them, they discover that Guy might be the one thing that will keep them alive and their family bonds are tested.

I loved this movie for both the story and the beautiful animation. The artists and voice actors did a wonderful job of bringing this spellbinding world to life. The animals that they came up with and created are We didn’t see it in 3D because, well, we never see movies in 3D, but I’m sure that this would be a movie fitted to it.

What’s really important in this movie is the bonds of family, specifically the lack of bonding between Eep and Grug. The family seems to loose respect for Grug as they semi-quickly adapt to their new lives and he sticks to what he knows. Grug is deeply hurt by this, but he doesn’t quite know how to fix it. Will he and his family survive this ordeal the way that they started, one unconventional but loving family?

Watch the movie yourself and find out!