The Croods

3 pipes out of 4

While The Croods may be prehistoric, the story is beyond its time. Being a direct response by DreamWorks to the popular Ice Age series by Blue Sky Studios, at first glance it appears simply to be a repeat and redundant. But once you dive into the story that follows a human family instead of animals, you find a much more endearing characters and much a more relatable storyline. Emma Stone offers her husky voice to the young Eep, pushing the boundaries of her overprotective father Grug. With any other voice this may have been an ok character but Nicholas Cage brings every line to life with hilarity. Ryan Reynolds completes the hilarious trinity as Guy, the innovative love interest. The supporting cast is nothing to laugh at with veterans Catherin Keener, Cloris Leachman along with the comedic idiosyncrasies of Clark Duke. DreamWorks has revolutionized animation in the past and they continue to move in new directions, creating a character that is funny and dynamic while not uttering a single word. They also create a wonderful world with just the right amount of realism with while suspending the belief of the audience, with flying turtles and crocodile dogs. Director Chris Sanders lends his voice to my favorite character the pet of Guy, a sloth who has an eye for the dramatic giving his signature ‘dun dun dun’ in sometimes not the best places. Expected to be an Ice Age rip off, the Croods evolved into a world of its own, giving the whole family something to enjoy.