The Croods – a great film for all the family
By Jeannette | December 8, 2013
The Croods is released on DVD tomorrow, Monday 9th December, 20th Century Fox very kindly sent us an advance copy in order for us to watch and post a review.
Here’s what we thought..
The Croods are the last family left in a harsh, prehistoric world. Due to the fact that their friends have all met grisly ends, to say that the father is protective is a bit of an understatement but kind of an understandable one!
The film opens with a cave drawing-like animation, told in Eep’s eyes…
and the drawings are used by the father to empathise that it’s not a safe world beyond the cave.
Not surprising as they spent so much time in a dark cave, Eep is fascinated by light and how it travels through the tiniest chinks in their cave, it’s this curiosity which leads her to a new discovery – that of fire and a potential friend, Guy.
This is Eep, she’s feisty and desperate for adventure, she reminded me in looks of a Spice Girl:
Guy tells Eep that the end of the world as they know it is coming and once the family’s cave is subsequently destroyed, the family face a dilemma. Do they trust Guy and follow him to lead them to a new world or play it safe – as the dad wants to do – and find another cave?
Further complications arise for Eep’s father when it becomes apparent that Eep and Guy are falling for each other.
The characters in the family and Guy are very believable – a great assortment as in any family – and I particularly liked the Granny character and the interaction between her and the father.
The scenes where the family are chased by animals could be quite scary for younger children but the animals are extremely brightly coloured and don’t look menacing.
Our favourite scene was when Granny discovers fire, near some sweet corn plants. Chaos ensues with sweet corn going everywhere!
There was another real laugh out loud scene when egos overtook the dad and Guy and they ended up squabbling and tumbling over a cliff edge into thick sticky tar! So their descent wasn’t fast and traumatic, more like a snails pace. To try and get them out of the tar at the end, they enticed a tiger-like creature to pull them out via puppets, with an accompanying soundtrack played on bones by Guy’s little companion. It worked but then the tiger went to attack them, only to have tar on his backside, it stretched much just at the right moment and “wheeeeeeee” bye bye kitty!
The overwhelming message we gained from the film is that sometimes risks are necessary, even if you don’t always know the outcome and that fathers have been protective …well, pretty much forever!
The animation is spectacular, I forgot I was watching an animated film with the various scenery and rock shots. It must have been amazing to see on a big cinema screen.
It was extremely nice, though, to continue with our “DVD Sunday” theme with bowls of popcorn, the curtains drawn and the knowledge that we weren’t in a cinema and if the film needed a pause for the toilet or D needed some huge, tight cuddles (she’s had a stressful week), then it was okay and no one would mind.
The Croods is released on DVD tomorrow, Monday 9th December, it would be a great stocking filler for any child interested in animated films and dinosaur-type animals but a great film for the whole family to enjoy.
We were sent a copy of the DVD on pre-release for the purpose of this review and we really enjoyed it.
Here’s what 20th Century Fox had to say about the DVD release:
“DreamWorks Animation’s THE CROODS is the blockbuster hit that earned over £26 million at the UK box office! Written and directed by Chris Sanders (Lilo & Stitch) and Kirk DeMicco (Space Chimps), it’s the must-see animated film of the year. When their cave is destroyed, the Croods family set out to explore a spectacular landscape filled with fantastic creatures, strange surprises…and a whole new world of adventure! Led by an outstanding voice cast featuring Oscar®-winner Nicholas Cage, Golden Globe®-nominee Emma Stone, Ryan Reynolds and Oscar®-nominee Catherine Keener, THE CROODS is the perfect Christmas gift for 2013!”
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