The Croods: A New Age

The Crood family once again find themselves travelling the world in search of a new home. Eventually they come across a walled-in paradise, full of food, water, and no predators. There they meet the Betterman family: Hope (Leslie Mann), Phil (Peter Dinklage), and Dawn (Kelly Marie Tran). Seemingly more evolved, the Bettermans look down on the Croods, and plot to keep Guy (Ryan Reynolds) with them while sending the rest of the Croods back into the wild.

I am not familiar with the first Croods film, so I’m basing my evaluation of this sequel on its own merits. And I’ll start with saying that it’s fine. This is not a groundbreaking, revolutionary entry into the animation canon, but it’s also not bad. I was mildly entertained throughout, laughed a few times, and only rolled my eyes once. Compared to the unwatchable garbage I usually get subjected to, that’s high praise.

I have further tributes for the voice work, which is phenomenal across the board. This is an all-star cast, and they are not phoning it in. Peter Dinklage particularly shines in his role as Phil, the arrogant and pompous patriarch of the Bettermans. The story has some heartfelt moments, and some sweet messages about overcoming prejudices, learning humility, and working together. I very much appreciated that the writers resisted the urge to pit Dawn and Eep (Emma Stone) against each other to fight over Guy, and instead had them become friends almost immediately. The writing is also decently funny, not just for young kids, but for adults as well. It does slide into potty humor occasionally, but not so much that it becomes unbearable for those with more maturity than the eight year olds this movie is aimed at.

As far as a family movie night suggestion goes, this is not a bad choice. It’s watchable enough for adults to mildly enjoy themselves and amusing enough that most children will have a lot of fun. It does lean into some scary territory a few times, and involves a lot of slap stick violence, so I’m not sure I would recommend it for the preschool crowd, but you can use your own discretion based on your child’s level of sensitivity. Overall, I’m a firm believer that children today need more Nicolas Cage in their lives, and you could certainly do a lot worse.

Directed by Joel Crawford.
Starring Ryan Reynolds, Nicolas Cage, and Emma Stone.
Running time: 95 minutes.
Theatrical release December 18, 2020.
Updated