Director: Kirk DeMicco, Chris Sanders
Distributor: Universal Pictures Home Entertainment
Duration: 98 minutes
The Croods: A New Age (Blu-ray) – Movie Review
The Croods was a successful movie that was released upon the world in 2013. The cavemen family won over the hearts of many, and we expected to see a sequel rather soon. Sadly, the announced sequel was delayed several times, making it so that the world would only have its next outing with the wacky family in 2021. Now, we finally have a Blu-ray copy in our hands, courtesy of Universal Pictures Home Entertainment, and we couldn’t be more excited. Did the extra time in the oven prove to be a good move for this sequel? Yes, it absolutely did.
The Croods: A New Age basically starts off where the previous movie ended. Guy (Ryan Reynolds) and Eep (Emma Stone) are madly in love and enjoy their time together. The family is still ‘on the road’, trying to find a more permanent place to stay. When they stumble upon a weird wall-like structure, they do not know what awaits them on the other side. Nonetheless, the curious cavemen power through and find what could only be described as the land of milk and honey on the other side of the wall. Soon they discover that this enwalled area is inhabited by the Betterman family, who actually know Guy from when he was a child. While everything seemed perfect at first, Phil Betterman (Peter Dinklage) and Hope Betterman (Leslie Mann) would rather see the Croods crawl back in a cave, while they match Guy to their daughter, Dawn (Kelly Marie Tran).
The movie progresses in a typical fashion, where everything seems to be going swimmingly for the protagonists at the beginning, only for them to encounter a huge problem at the halfway mark that ruins the family’s harmony, to eventually patch things up again. This is quite typical for the genre. That being said, the humor is on point, the story is interesting and the flow and pacing are perfect for both young and old. We didn’t encounter any boring moments and felt the movie was just the right length. We do hope that if a third installment should be made, that it also keeps its runtime around the hour and a half mark, making sure things cannot get dragged out too much.
The voice acting in this movie is absolutely top-level. The main characters from the first film are all voiced by the same cast members, so you basically know what to expect here. We do have to mention that Ryan Reynolds doesn’t always feel like the right choice for Guy, as he is just getting typecasted, which is starting to become a drag. Nonetheless, the newcomers in this film, Leslie Mann, Peter Dinklage, and Kelly Marie Tran, playing mother, father, and daughter of the Betterman family, do a superb job at bringing their characters to life.
When purchasing the Blu-ray version of the movie, you’ll be treated to loads of special features. We do have to mention that most of these features are directed towards a younger audience, as they contain recipes of food seen in the movie, ways to draw the different characters, a few fun short clips, and so on. There was a bit of behind-the-scenes footage present, but for the most part, you’ll get lighthearted extras making sure you can prolong your Croods experience.
Conclusion
The Croods: A New Age was a lot of fun to watch. Even though the sequel was many years in the making, it was well worth the wait. This movie presents you with an authentic family-oriented animated movie, and truth be told, we secretly hope a third movie will be made in the near future. Of course, we don’t want the cow to be milked dry, but we wouldn’t mind this one turning into a proper trilogy. That being said, The Croods: A New Age is a delight for young and old, and the Blu-ray version comes with loads of extras that are sure to entertain the kids for quite some time.
The Croods: A New Age (Blu-ray) - Movie Review,
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