The Croods

The Croods, a story about a prehistoric family’s road trip, took in an estimated $44.7 million over the weekend, easily capturing the number one spot. It is a 2013 American 3D computer-animated adventure comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by 20th Century Fox. It features the voices of Nicolas Cage, Ryan Reynolds, Emma Stone, Catherine Keener, Clark Duke, and Cloris Leachman.

 
I have to admit, that after seeing the trailer a few times, this wasn’t a movie my kids or I were too interested in watching.  We really only went to see it because it was the only family movie showing that wasn’t Oz, and we plan to see that next weekend.

I thought the trailers made the film seem like just another stereotypical kids’ film with a protagonist who has dreams to explore and find adventure, and the usual set of over-protective parents who don’t want to give their child the freedom to “find” themselves. And in a way, it is. But it’s also a story about Eep learning to trust her father’s judgement, and about Grug, her father, learning to let go and trust his daughter and everyone else around him.

 
I did read a few reviews that rated the film as mediocre and not all that funny. I laughed a lot more than I expected (especially at Douglas) and was pleasantly surprised upon reading the credits to discover that John Cleese was one of the writers.  Yes, there are a lot of mother-in-law jokes but there are a few good funny moments that more than make up for the cliche.

The Croods’ representation of females:
There were a few times when Eep, voiced by Emma Stone, was climbing rock faces, and the view was from below – I really didn’t like that.  There wasn’t a very clear view of her underwear but enough was seen and for long enough that I was uncomfortable. I did like that Eep was a strong female protagonist and wasn’t a skinny-minny glamorised version of a cave woman. Her mother got hair make-over half way through the movie that can only be described as totally random. To read more about the representation of females in films, click here.

Overall, I would say that this film was definitely better and far funnier than I thought it would be, but it’s not something I’ll be rushing out to buy on DVD or one that would become a firm family favourite.  It’s definitely better than Jack and the Giant Slayer. (Click here for my review.)

Movie going in the United States and Canada remains deeply troubled. Ticket sales for the year to date total $2.06 billion, a 13 percent decline from the same period a year ago. According to Paul Dergarabedian, attendance has fallen 14 percent. (From New York Times)

I can’t help but wonder if this because a trip to the movies is so expensive that it’s downright ridiculous – we went to the cheapest theatre on a Saturday night and it cost $31.00 for an adult and two kids – that was for the tickets only and before the purchase of any snacks.