Rated PG for peril, action, and rude humor.
Back in prehistoric times, a family of cavemen known as the Croods; made up of patriarch Grug (Nicolas Cage), his wife Ugga (Catherine Keener), their three children Eep (Emma Stone), Thunk (Clark Duke), and Sandy, and Ugga’s mother Gran (Cloris Leachman) lived in compete fear of the outside world. They all followed Grug’s one rule of never looking for something new, believing that it will keep them safe. But when they were confronted by a world-shattering danger, they were forced to embrace the aid of a more modern man named Guy (Ryan Reynolds) in order to escape the approaching apocalypse. Luckily, they did, and the family began to adapt to the changing world as they continued to search for a place to call home. This unforgiving journey has now led them to someplace more modern than they could ever realize. They find themselves at the massive farm of the Bettermans; couple Phil (Peter Dinklage) and Hope (Leslie Mann) and their daughter Dawn (Kelly Marie Tran). They are welcoming of the prehistoric pack, until their barbaric tendencies start to disrupt their tranquility. At the same time, the Croods are annoyed by the Bettermans’ stuffy attitude towards them. But as a threat from outside the farm grows closer, they’ll have to get past their differences in order to protect each other. That plot line is really where the film’s problems begin. At the end of the first film, the Croods became accepting of the changing world and found a beautiful, tropical beach to call their home. But when this film begins, we’re given a recap that tells us the family is still searching for a new home while omitting the apocalyptic adventure they went through. In a sense, this film almost feels like a retcon of the first. And with this retcon, the characters are back to who they were at the beginning of the first movie. Grug, in particular, began that one as very anti-modern, but became accepting of the changing world by the end. In this film, he’s back to being anti-modern, as he consistently objects to the way the Bettermans live and his family becoming more accepting of it. It’s always annoying when a sequel undoes character development in order to give us more of the same from the last movie. It’s easy to see why they did this; as the first film came out almost 8 years ago. So they could’ve done this out of fear that people don’t really remember the first film. But they could’ve easily come up with a way to expand on the ending of that one to give us a more satisfying continuation. This eight year gap also shows in the film’s barrage of modern references. A lot has changed with society since the first film came out, and much of that movie’s humor was based upon juxtaposing modern amenities with the prehistoric setting. With so much that has become commonplace since then, this film races to reference as much about society as possible. As a result, these references are more blatantly out in the open rather than blended into the narrative. It also doesn’t help that the humor of this one is more focused on gross out jokes involving bodily functions than the first one. The film’s overall story also struggles. The first one had a clever narrative about adapting to and accepting change. This film trades this out for a rather one-dimensional portrayal of rich vs. poor classism that doesn’t really say anything that other films haven’t already said and handled better. There’s also a number of concepts and subplots that seem to come out of nowhere, especially during the second half. This makes the film feel very overstuffed and doesn’t really make the lasting impact it seems to strive for. There are really only two redeeming elements. The first being the animation. It is incredibly vibrant; with a wider color pallet incorporated into the world. The natural environments and set pieces are full blown eye candy, especially the home of the Bettermans. Everything about their giant farm is so detailed that you’ll want to explore the place yourself. The other is the voice cast. The actors and actresses from the original film all slip back into their respective roles perfectly after being away from them for so long. Nicolas Cage, in particular, gives one of his best performances in a while as Grug. After so many films where he seemed to develop a new character with an over-the-top, psychotic personality, it feels nice to have him back in a role that restrains this. And he sounds like he really likes being back in the role as well. The Croods are back for another beautifully animated adventure, but in their race to catch up with the times, they loose a lot of the heart that made their first one so enjoyable. The script never really figures out what kind of subject to focus on, and the writers struggle to blend more modern references into the story. This sequel isn’t as satisfying an experience as the first film, and though kids probably won’t care, parents might have more fun staying home and watching the first one with them than going out to the theaters to see this one.
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Rated PG for scary images/moments, language, and thematic elements.
Now Streaming on HBO Max In Alabama during the late 1960s, a young boy (Jahzir Kadeem Bruno) is forced to live with his grandmother (Octavia Spencer) after his parents are killed in a car accident. Though she does her best to make a great life for him, their peaceful existence is threatened by the appearance of witches; evil creatures that desire to kill all children in the world. The two decide to pack up and get out of there before the boy becomes their next target. They arrive at a large hotel along the coast, where they believe they are safe. Unfortunately, this hotel is also host to a large gathering of witches, led by the Grand High Witch (Anne Hathaway). She plans to do away with children by poisoning them with a potion that will turn them into mice, which the boy and two other kids end up taking. Now helpless little mice, the trio, along with the boy’s grandmother, must work together to stop the witches before they unleash their terror onto the world. For the past few years, director Robert Zemeckis has been making more contemporary films. And while some of them rank among his best, they’ve never felt like some of his very early masterpieces. That is, until now, as this new adaptation of Roald Dahl’s classic novel has a lot of the same fairy tale-esque magic that defined his earlier films, making it another great entry into his unbelievably impressive filmography. A lot of this feeling comes from the visual effects and animated sequences once we actually start focusing on the mouse children. These scenes bubble with the same kind of colorful imagery that defined his 2004 masterpiece The Polar Express, and I’ll admit that I kind of felt like a little kid again while watching these scenes. It also felt refreshing to have a kid flick that wasn’t afraid to delve into horror every once and a while. The titular Witches are supposed to be meaning threats for our protagonists; a real danger towards their existence. Most kid movies these days have no problem playing down the stakes; like a form of holding a child’s hand. So to have the villains in this film be scary antagonists that feel like actual threats gives the film an edge that’s mostly lacking these days. This is helped by the performance of Ann Hathaway as the Grand High Witch. While her portrayal of the character can get a little campy at times, for the most part she comes off as a genuine villain. Couple that with the very well done visual effects that make her look rather terrifying at times, and you’ve got a witch that feels like she could just off you at any moment. Octavia Spencer also does a great job in the roll of the boy’s grandmother. Her performances has all of the same infectious charm that comes from all her other roles, but this one feels different. She effortlessly slips into the character and it’s very heartwarming to watch her be an accomplice to the kids’ witch hunting plan. That’s not to say it’s a perfect film. The story does take a bit of time to really get going, and the humor doesn’t make any strong landings until the second half of the film. At times, there’s a bit of a tonal imbalance; with the film unsure of whether it wants to be funnier or wants us to take it fully seriously. But these issues aren’t enough to impede on the movie’s overall entertainment factor. The Witches isn’t one of Robert Zemeckis’s best films, but it shows that he still knows how to tap into the whimsical atmosphere that he helped create so many decades ago. It’s an all-around entertaining kids film for the Halloween season (even though I saw it long after Halloween), and ranks among his sadly growing library of underrated gems. Thanks to great visuals and performances, this is one you’ll want to watch with your family if you have HBO Max. |