The Croods: A New Age – A Solid Distraction (Early Review)

While mainstream animated films have been few and far between this year, they have often provided a nice distraction. Meanwhile, in a tumultuous year such as this one, The Croods: A New Age or The Croods 2 saw the sees part for it in a sense thanks to the moving of potential competition during the American Thanksgiving long weekend. Though it does present itself as an opportunity, the uncertain landscape caused the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic certainly still plays a factor in today’s society. For those who have the opportunity to see the film in a theatre setting will be treated to a solid experience but it is also one worth waiting for to keep the kids distracted if need be. As the film is undoubtedly catered to younger audiences, not that that is necessarily a good or bad thing, the story should not come as that much of a surprise and the humor will surely appeal more to younger audiences. In the end, for what it is, it works.

The Croods: A New Age saw the titular pack forced to find a new place to call home. Travelling far and wide, through some truly treacherous terrain and overcoming the many obstacles in their path, they always had each other for better or worse. As far as Grug Crood (Cage) was concerned, it would be this way forever but some of the pack had different ideas. When it finally appeared that the Croods found their tomorrow, a walled-in paradise that was seemingly the answer to their prayers, they were confronted by another family living there. The more evolved Bettermans (definitely not a coincidence), Phil (Peter Dinklage), Hope (Leslie Mann), and Dawn (Kelly Marie Tran), redeveloped this paradise into what it was thanks to their advanced inventions and irrigation techniques. The contrast between both families was plainly there to see, spawning plenty of predictable storylines and predictable lowbrow humor that got old rather fast.

Meanwhile, those differences between the Croods and the Bettermans erupted into something more than that. Ultimately, these families may be different on paper but they were more alike than they maybe realize (particularly for one of the characters). Nevertheless, both families would need to put their differences aside and come together against a looming threat in the final act that looked to put their relationship to the test. This sent both families on an exciting adventure that took the story to a whole other level that was much more interesting than everything that came before it despite the predictable end and the lessons learned by the characters along the way.

While The Croods: A New Age featured some great Dreamworks animation full of bright colors and detailed characters and environments, the best part of the film was its voice acting from its all star cast. The cast from the original film are all back this time around, featuring Cage as Crug Crood, Stone as Eep, Reynolds as Guy, Catherine Keener as Ugga, Clark Duke as Thrunk, and Cloris Leachman as Gran, and they all deliver here (with the latter being a scene-stealer) while new additions Dinklage, Mann, and Tran as Phil, Hope, and Dawn Betterman were also up to the task. Though the material was on the cheesy side, they kept things somewhat fun to watch.

At the end of the day, The Croods: A New Age doesn’t reinvent the wheel but as it stands, hits the right spot and that’s good enough.

still courtesy of Universal

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Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.