Croods, The (9/30/2013)

Rated PG for some scary action.

Staring Emma Stone (voice), Nicolas Cage (voice) and Ryan Reynolds (voice)

Directed by Kirk De Micco (Space Chimps) and Chris Sanders (How to Train Your Dragon and Lilo & Stitch)

The Croods is not as crude as I expected…which is a good thing.

The Croods tells the story of the world’s first family road trip. When their cave is destroyed, the Crood family must embark on a comedy adventure into strange and spectacular territory in search of a new home. As if patriarch Grug (Cage) didn’t already have enough to handle, it goes from bad to worse when they encounter an imaginative nomad named Guy (Reynolds.) With Guy’s help the Croods conquer their fear of the outside world and discover that they have exactly what it takes to survive – each other.

It may not be crude, but there is a lot of slapstick violence – Grug endures the sort of backbreaking accidents I haven’t seen since Wile E. Coyote and the Roadrunner. And honestly I have missed that.

The film also has plenty of humor (my suspicion is, John Cleese is responsible for most of it) and good vocal performances by Emma Stone, Nicolas Cage and Ryan Reynolds. Yeah, Nicolas Cage actually was good.

I also liked how Eep was strong and fearless but in a less “Disney Princess” kind of way. It was very different from Disney’s Brave.

You can’t review an animated film without talking about the animation. I’m sure some purest will be upset with the “creative license” that was taken with some of the creatures, but most kids will just enjoy the colorful animals!

When it comes right down to it, compared to some of the cartoons pushed as family entertainment, The Croods — which contains no bathroom jokes, no power ballads and no painfully obvious PC sermons — is a bit of a relief…and so I score it as “Rental.”

SHOULD KIDS SEE IT?
This one is fine for the whole family. There are a few frightening scenes involving the characters running away from impending disaster, hiding from creatures that want to eat them, and desperately calling out to characters they think may have died.

CONVERSATION STARTER

1. How would you describe the relationship between Grug and Guy?


2. Have you ever been “forced” to be with someone you didn’t get along with? Tell me what happened?


3. Getting along with people we disagree with is a part of life.


4. Read Ephesians 4:31-5:2
   Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
   
   How does Paul tell us to get along with others?


5. How can Paul’s advice change some of our current situations?