Clear family relationship traveling through a changing earth

Rating: 7/10 (24 March 2013)

"Personally I'm not a fan of the Ice Age movies and Dreamworks trying their version of prehistoric times with the Crood family that are both funny as well as creating some sweet family moments between all the characters"
Prehistoric history has never really been told well for me (I do not care for the Ice Age movies no matter how many of them there are). The Croods is about the cavemen family of the same name which include Grug (Nicholas Cage), Eep (Emma Stone), Ugga (Catherine Keener), Gran (Cloris Leachman) and Thunk (Clark Duke). The family meet Guy (Ryan Reynolds) a modern man who try's to help them get through life as they make their way to safety. The family and Guy must change and adapt throughout.
The best part of the film was the animation of areas the family visited from the beginning desert seeming area to the bright and colourful new world that seemed like an animated version of Pandora from the flying animals to the big ones with teeth but most of the animals in this film where more cute and adorable versions. The family dynamic was nice because most of the characters were different from Eep the dreamer to the old funny grandmother which made for a relateable family even if they were in times before modern humans. The film never felt too long but some weaknesses to the film where repetitiveness of scenes even though some great one liners went well. The character relationship between Eep and Grug was very developed but characters such as Ugga and Thunk felt undeveloped and somehow wasted.
Nicholas Cage has become an non present actor for me and it was fun to hear him play Grug because he was playing the character of himself but not to the big extent which was enjoyable to watch. Emma Stone played the disobeying daughter Eep and she was also enjoyable in the film and I did like how the two actors handled the father/daughter relationship making it a part of the film to care about. Ryan Reynolds is also an actor I do not care for but like Cage in the film he was also nice making some good funny moments which mostly seemed to come from the animation. Other actors who where funny in the film include Leachman and Duke.
An enjoyable film that was funny as well as memorable for it's sweet relationship moments. With good voice-over work and a nice script the film was more then a film for young children.
MOVIE GRADE: B- (MVP: Emma Stone)