Every once in a while, the urge to see a movie “just because I have nothing else to do” will rush over me. That is what was happening when I decided to catch an evening show of The Croods. This couldn’t have been a more pleasant surprise.
Heck, from the very first poster for The Croods, I assumed it would be the next addition to Dreamworks’ forgotten pile of “Let’s Try To Make A Pixar Movie” attempts. My assumption would have The Croods lying there next to Shark Tale and Bee Movie. I’ve never been more wrong.

The Croods are your average, run-of-the-mill, scared of everything family of cavemen (and women) who spend their days hiding in a cave. The only time The Croods leave the cave is to get food, this is at the order of the father figure; his name is Grug, yes. Grug. (Nicolas Cage) The family consists of six members: Eep, (Emma Stone) Ugga, (Catherine Keener) Gran, (Cloris Leachman) Thunk (Clark Duke) and the baby of the group, Sandy. (Randy Thom) No, I didn’t make any of those names up. I promise.

Eep is sick of being contained in the cave and her sense of adventure leads her to Guy. (Ryan Reynolds) Guy and his furry friend Belt are full of ideas to keep them safe. Guy introduces Eep to fire and from that point on, a journey full of incredible scenery, memorable critters, intense moments and loads of laughter follow.

I haven’t had a Toothless Complex in years, but this one brought me way back to the days of How To Train Your Dragon. Every animal The Croods come across gave me the same sense of “I want it!” that I got from the second we laid our eyes on Hiccup’s dragon in the 2010 film.

Despite a few groaners and some strange Nicolas Cage-isms, this flick is nonstop from the first minute. With an incredible sense of direction, a unique color palette and a script by John Cleese: How can you go wrong?

I give The Croods 4 out of 5 boulders.