Review: Why 'The Croods: A New Age' kinda rocks, thanks to new voices and a pretty good stick joke
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Granted, it may not be for everyone, but I kind of like a kids’ movie that uses a stick in the eye as a comedic device.
“The Croods: A New Age” (★★★ out of five; in theaters now) uses it three times. Overkill? Nah. Never gets old.
Not everything in the film lives up to what is basically an ultra-violent Three Stooges bit, alas. The sequel to the 2013 hit is, like the original, a pretty good movie with occasional inspired bits, not all of which involve a stick in the eye.
In the first film the Croods, a prehistoric cave family led by Ugg (voice of Nicolas Cage), whose fear of everything has kept his clan alive, fight off change at all costs. But shifting continents and his daughter Eep’s (Emma Stone) more evolved love interest Guy (Ryan Reynolds), force them, along with the rest of the Crood clan, to hit the road.
We get a snap reminder of this in a flashback, and while your opinion may vary, using “I Think I Love You” by the Partridge Family to illustrate Eep and Guy’s burgeoning romance is going to score you big points on the guilty pleasure scale as far as I’m concerned. (Although it gets used more than once, too.)
Peter Dinklage and Leslie Mann are strong additions to the cast
They’re still running when the second film opens, flirting with disaster at every turn, narrowly escaping, looking for a place Guy calls “tomorrow.” (It's a state of mind as much as a geographical location.) Which basically means a place where the chances of being killed by animals or nature are slightly lower. For instance, after one lengthy trial, they land on a shore and Ugg says, “Nothing’s happened to us in the last 10 minutes, so let’s camp here.”
I hope that’s a sly nod to “Lost in America,” when a down-and-out Albert Brooks says, "My feet are tired, let’s live here." Either way, it’s pretty funny.
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Then they stumble upon the future — the Betterman family (subtlety is not a strong suit). Phil (Peter Dinklage) and Hope (Leslie Mann) have built a paradise inside the walls they believe will keep their daughter Dawn (Kelly Marie Tran) safe.
Cue the judgement.
When Ugga (Catherine Keener), Ugg’s wife, tries to scale the wall of one of the buildings instead of taking the elevator, Phil stops her.
“There’s a Betterman way,” he says. “Unofficial motto.”
It turns out the Bettermans were best friends with Guy’s late parents. They want to set him up with Dawn, who is happy just to have a friend in Eep (and vice versa). Dawn is thrilled at Eep’s adventures. “My parents won’t even let me have scars,” Dawn says, pouting.
Whether cave people can exist in a modern world is one major story line.
Nicolas Cage and Ryan Reynolds shine again
Another involves Phil’s only rule — no one can eat the bananas, which grow abundantly. Not even one. Why? That’s the other major story line, the one that makes up the second half of the film.
Naturally, Ugg loves bananas.
At this point the film turns into an adventurous rescue mission (long story — well, not long, but spoiler-y) that involves teamwork and acceptance and empowered women.
Also a bunch of dumb narrow escapes. Can’t have everything.
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What elevates the film — the feature debut for director Joel Crawford — is the talent of the actors. Somehow Cage and Reynolds are so much themselves, even though one of them is a hulking caveman and the other a … not-hulking man barely evolved from living in a cave. Dinklage is good as an unctuous weasel (not literal, which seems worth pointing out in a movie like this) and Mann is funny as the arrogant neighbor everyone on the block hates, except this is before neighbors and blocks. (Neighbor Zero!)
Like the first film, “The Croods: A New Age” is a pleasant enough movie. It may not make you forget the original, but only because you probably already had.
Reach Goodykoontz at bill.goodykoontz@arizonarepublic.com. Facebook: facebook.com/GoodyOnFilm. Twitter: @goodyk.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Movie review: Why 'The Croods 2' rocks — kinda. Here's how to watch it
