Mark Reviews Movies: THE CROODS: A NEW AGE

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Review by Mark Dujsik | November 24, 2020

In movie terms, it has taken quite a while—seven years—to get a sequel to The Croods, an amusing and smart computer-animated film that presented a succinct version of the process of evolution—survival and adaptation. The conflicts, involving a father trying to adapt to the idea that his daughter is her own person and a family of "cavepeople" trying to survive against everything nature could throw at them, made sense and came together well by the end. In The Croods: A New Age, the eponymous family quickly discovers something they never have known: comfort. The filmmakers, all of them new to these characters and this story, quickly become a bit too comfortable, too.

The central gag is a bit of a reversal of one from the first film. In that one, Guy (voice of Ryan Reynolds), an early human, found himself teaching the Croods, a family of Neanderthals, and guiding them to the promise of safety in the unknown land of "Tomorrow." In exchange, the Croods teach the lonely, wandering human about the importance of togetherness.

In this sequel, the family, now with the human as part of their pack, believe they have found that promised place—a bountiful garden, filled with enough food that the scavenging clan's bellies feel full for the first time. The twist is that this place is home to a family of other humans, more intelligent and more resourceful than the Croods. The family members become the outsiders this time, in a world that has everything they could want but has no need or desire for their less-evolved ways.

It's kind of a solid idea, but the quartet of screenwriters (Kevin and Dan Hagerman, Paul Fisher, and Bob Logan) don't seem willing to take it anywhere beyond the obvious. They're more than happy to give us a lot of easy jokes, a pretty simple conflict, and a third act and climax that throw even those elements away for a series of out-of-blue threats and a lot of spectacle.

Picking up some time after the previous film, the story begins with Eep (voice of Emma Stone), the eldest child of the Crood family, and Guy, as their relationship has blossomed into a romance of incomplete kisses. Grug (voice of Nicolas Cage), the clan's patriarch, is still hesitant to embrace the idea of his daughter's love for this early human. He's downright terrified when he overhears the two talking about running away together and starting a pack of their own.

That's when Grug finds the rich garden, hidden behind a tall wall. Yes, the Croods—also made up of Grug's wife Ugga (voice of Catherine Kenner), their son Thunk (voice of Clark Duke), their feral toddler Sandy (voice of Kailey Crawford), and the Ugga's mother Gran (voice of Cloris Leachman)—have finally found a place to call home.

It's already home, though, to Phil (voice of Peter Dinklage) and Hope (voice of Leslie Mann)—wait for it—Betterman, as well as their teenage daughter Dawn (voiced by a delightfully energetic Kelly Marie Tran). This human family knew Guy when he was child, before his parents died, and are thrilled to see him return to his kind. As for their other guests, Phil and Hope are happy to let the Croods know their stay is only temporary.

The good news here is that director Joel Crawford has retained the original film's wacky and eccentric design aesthetic, as well as its goofy sense of humor. There are alternately impressive and amusing sights here, from the lush backdrops to the weird menagerie of fantastical creatures (mammoth-like cows, land-sharks, and a species of monkey that communicates using physical violence—including, in a quite funny moment, a lengthy explanation of their tragic back story).

The Bettermans and their idyllic home/fortress features some smart twists on modern-day concepts (from an elevator to Phil's man cave, where he escapes his family—an idea entirely foreign to Grug), and characters themselves are a somewhat amusing take on politeness barely covering up passive-aggression. Dawn urges Eep, who worries Guy is becoming too civilized for his own good and the good of their relationship, to show her what adventuring is like, and a cleverly satirical gag has Thunk become obsessed with a new piece of technology, the window, which comes to define how he sees the world (He even has a portable version to carry around during a later adventure).

We keep waiting for something more to these new dynamics and these assorted conflicts, beyond what the first film already explored (Grug's unwillingness to accept his daughter's individuality, for example) or a collection of humorous, if a bit obvious, jokes. Everything that has been established or has failed to be developed, though, comes to a halt, as a bigger threat—a literal one, in the form of giant beast, by the finale—emerges.

By the time the movie's ultimate conflict comes around, the screenwriters more or less seem to admit that they've reached a narrative and creative dead end. The Croods: A New Age tries to replicate the design and humor of its predecessor, but by emphasizing jokes and, later, action over its characters, the movie can't copy the first film's heart.

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