Good fun, great voice-cast - highly recommended

Rating: 8/10 (9 February 2014)

I had seen nothing of the advertising for this movie and I didn't really know what to expect - perhaps more ice age stuff? But no - this has animation with focus on the fantastical, a great voice cast and a story line that is simple yet works surprisingly well and just invites you along for the ride.
Nicolas Cage as Cave-dad is fantastic - Cage should definitely do more voice-acting as it seems to set him free from his usual manic style and just deliver a very different thing. But everyone works - I don't know if the cast recorded their dialog together, but there just seems to be great chemistry between the characters.
And it's FUN! Great comedy - some of it slapstick, some of it from the character interaction and good dialog - and it doesn't take itself overly serious.
A warning to those demanding high doses of reality - this is NOT it. The Croods deliver a prehistoric setting in the best tradition of what-if - strange animals and creatures you could almost believe had existed once upon a time.
Highly recommended.