Chix Chat on Film review: Thinking outside the cave.

Rating: 8/10 (24 March 2013)

I was excited about seeing The Croods, because my grandchildren are visiting and I figured it would be a nice little treat for them. We decided to try it out in 3-D since the colors looked so vivid in the trailer. This turned out to be a very bad idea, as soon as we placed the glasses on the youngest he started screaming and buried his face in his mom's chest, the older one refused to wear the glasses so he watched the entire movie out of phase. The appearance of the landscape and the exotic animals was striking because the colors were so vivid. The 3-D special effects continue to impress me as they evolve and enhance the movie going experience, there were moments when it seemed that you could reach out and touch what was taking place on screen, which is apparently what frightened the little ones. It was an interesting concept to apply current events to a family that starts out in fear and darkness dwelling in a cave for survival and having a rebellious teenaged daughter shed some light on the fact that it is time for change. I was surprised that the story even played out a road trip replete with, 'are we there yet' so as to show a relatable family. I assumed from the name that the Croods was a play on words and that they would be well, crude. Gold star for Emma (me, but Emma Stone (Eep) can have one too), they were very crude but were also quick studies. This was a very smart story in that when they knew better they did better. There was nothing in the story that was especially original, but the handling of the themes was refreshing, like the overprotective father, the dysfunctional relationship with the mother in law and the coming of age story for Eep (Emma Stone) .The alpha male competitiveness was fun to watch between Grug (Nicholas Cage) and Guy (Ryan Reynolds), who was an advanced thinker and master puppeteer. In all this was a very entertaining film with some clever word plays, there were times that it strayed from the prehistoric age and got a bit too modern like with the umbrellas, but the belt was really cute. It's a good film for both children and adults, however I think the best fit for children is sans the 3-D. I give it a green light.