'The Croods': 3-D Cartoon Cavemen For The Whole Family
Neander-girl meets Sapien-boy, and never the twain would meet again, except that the very next day, Guy's prediction starts to come true. A landslide destroys the cave while the family is out, and beyond the rubble they find a new world of bizarre creatures. Think The Flintstones on James Cameron's Pandora, with the Croods nearly becoming crudites for critters ranging from saber-toothed housecats to a flock of tiny razor-toothed birds that look like piranha-keets.
For a while, I thought there might be a political parable intended here — Cage's conservative dad competing with his daughter's progressive boyfriend for the right to chart a path forward for the family of man — but it's pretty quickly clear that the filmmakers don't actually have much on their mind besides jokes.
Most of these jokes are based on stereotypes nearly as ancient as the cave drawings the characters occasionally reference — not just overprotective dads and girls who love shoes, but savage toddlers, annoying in-laws, and subservient moms.
If the digital 3-D gorgeousness owes a lot to Cameron's world-creating work in Avatar, the plot of The Croods is structurally crude — just a paleolithic road trip with detours for slapstick and sentiment. It's less about breaking new ground, or even breaking in new characters, than about creating an Ice Age-style franchise.
Still, as family viewing, it's pleasant enough: primitive, yes, but in a digitally sophisticated way that's boisterous, funny and will no doubt sell a lot of toys.