The Croods: A New Age - 4K Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

The Croods: A New Age



Movie:
4K Video:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:


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Movie
I mentioned this in Fear of Rain, but it’s still rather odd to me how quickly films come out on home video now that theaters are in a post Covid-19 era. The sequel to the 2013 film The Croods hit theaters and PVOD for a few short weeks, only to jump straight to home video as quickly as possible so that Dreamworks and Universal could cash in as quickly as possible. For those who watched the gorgeously animated 2013 original, A New Age is really more of the same, just with a slightly less heart than the nearly 8 year old original. It’s an excuse to hang out with our neanderthal characters and have some goofy fun. It’s never top tier Dreamworks movie making, but everyone involved is obviously having a blast, and the movie is never bad in any way.

Grug (Nicolas Cage) and his family have moved on from meeting Guy (Ryan Reynolds) last movie. Eep (Emma Stone) and Guy are now madly in teenage angsty love (lovingly lampooned throughout the film) and driving Grug nuts. Grug is coming to the ever so common fatherly realization that his family is going to be a person shorter as Eep is approaching the age where she and Guy will want to start their own “pack” as Grug so abrasively yells at the screen. His worry turns into a nightmare for everyone when he tracks down a utopia of fresh food in a walled off garden where he can be the hero for everyone. Sadly for Grug things turn out the exact opposite he intended. Instead of unifying the pack it makes things worse when they run into the Bettermans (played by Leslie Mann and Peter Dinklage), a modern couple who have moved on from caves and sloped foreheads to a more evolved state.

The sandal wearing hippy family were actually the best friend of orphaned Guy’s parents, and have plans for the young man as they have a single daughter named Dawn (Kelly Marie Tran) whom they want to get with Guy, despite his obvious liaison with Eep. Jealousies arise between Eep and Guy, Grug and Mr. Betterman scheme to get Guy split up from Eep, and a giant pack of punch monkeys (who speak 100% through punching each other) kidnap to the two dads to sacrifice to a gigantic monster. Basically another day in the life of a crow-magnon humans.

As I said above, The Croods: A New Age is more of the same. The film blends cheeky humor with over the top familial strife and basically replicates many of the themes of the first movie. Nicolas Cage is still over the top as the patriarch of the family, and Emma Stone and Ryan Reynolds ham it up with their awkward teen romance. That being said, the film is a little TOO much of the same thing. The crow-magnon family squabbles was fun the first time around, but this time it feels a bit too much like an Ice Age sequel. A bit thin, a bit rehashed, but still fun enough to chuckle at while stuffing popcorn down your face (which I actually did, you can’t watch a movie without popcorn in my opinion).

The best way of describing The Croods: A New World is a film that is designed strictly to hang out. The over arching plot of the two dads dealing with their children’s growing up is pretty typical, but most of the time we’re just spending time with the Bettermans and the Croods and chuckling at antics while enjoying a pretty picture. It’s not offensive, it’s not boring, but it’s never overly exciting either. It’s just plain popcorn fluff with great animation.




Rating:

Rated PG for peril, action and rude humor.




4K Video: Video:

Universal 4K UHD titles are something of a mixed bag. Or to be precise, they aren’t always as stunning as one would expect. It could be something to do with their use of HDR, or the animation style chosen, but they don’t always sit head and shoulders above their 1080p brethren. That being said, very few of them (outside of a few early 4K films) are actually truly mediocre. However, this is not one of those mediocre titles. The animation is razor sharp and stunningly clear, with amazing clarity. There's not a MASSIVE upgrade in textural details due to the animation style, but the image is about as clean and pristine as you could imagine. Especially considering how excellent the Blu-ray already looks. . The big upgrade that I notice is the colors due to the use of DV and HDR. The Blu-ray almost looks overly brightened as a result, with slightly faded colors. Now that’s not the case really, but comparing the Blu-ray to the 4K UHD and you’ll see what I mean. The very bright and colorful film is even richer and more vibrant, with beautifully saturated colors. When the Croods first go into the Betterman’s little oasis paradise it’s literally jaw dropping in comparison. Bright pinks, deep blues, and incredibly silky black levels are a huge benefit from the 4K UHD upgrade. I did notice a little banding in the Blu-ray that also wasn’t available here as well. All in all, great upgrade.












Audio:

The Dolby Atmos track (which is found on the Blu-ray and the 4K UHD disc) is a solid entry, but not an overly aggressive or overly exuberant mix. The track is rather laid back most of the time, giving us a good dialog driven entry with some more excitable bits when the action kicks up in the second half. The score creates a very nice sound imaging, with great surround usage most of the time. When the punch monkeys come into the picture things really pick up, with some solid low end thump and even more immersive surround usage. Dialog is always well rendered and precise, but the actual Atmos portion of the track is a bit laid back. You can hear some discreet overhead sounds when the family are fighting the monster, but those overheads otherwise are pretty quiet. A solid mix, but not an overly aggressive or adventurous one.







Extras:

• FEATURE COMMENTARY WITH DIRECTOR JOEL CRAWFORD, PRODUCER MARK SWIFT, HEAD OF STORY JANUEL MERCADO AND EDITOR JIM RYAN
• DEAR DIARY: WORLD'S FIRST PRANKS - In this exclusive original short film, Eep reveals how a comical accident led her and Dawn to discover the joys of tricking their families and set about performing "the world's first pranks"
• FAMILY MOVIE NIGHT: LITTLE RED BRONANA BREAD - In another exclusive original short, join the Croods as they settle down for a very prehistoric family movie night experience. With shadowy figures around every corner, Eep must keep Gran and her delicious Bronana Bread safe from punch monkeys.
• GAG REEL
• TO: GERARD - In this original DreamWorks animated short, an elderly man brightens the day of a little girl through magic.
• DELETED SCENES
• THE CROODS' FAMILY ALBUM - Meet the actors who portray the Croods and their new cast members, the Bettermans. What makes them tick, how do they resemble their characters and what lessons have they learned from making the film.
• THE EVOLUTION OF... - In this fun making of, we hear from the filmmakers and stars of THE CROODS: A NEW AGE about the evolution of the Croods franchise.
• HOW TO DRAW: CAVEMAN STYLE - Join one of DreamWorks talented illustrators inside the cave as they demonstrate how to draw our favorite characters.
• FAMILEAF ALBUM - Inspired by the prehistoric family album given to guy by the Betterman's, we create a fun video showing you how to make your own using real leaves or green construction paper for pages and string (or even dental floss!) to hold it all together.
• STONE AGE ATTACK - A three-part featurette highlighting fun, easy to make recipes that kids and parents can make together.
• Optional English, French Canadian, and Latin American Spanish subtitles for the main feature

Final Score: ​

The Croods: A New Age is an unassuming and unoffensive effort from Dreamworks that really doesn’t aim all that high. I’m not saying it’s bad by any stretch of the imagination, but it’s not aiming for Shrek or How to Train Your Dragon heights. The cast are having a ball with the animated flick, and the 4K UHD disc is a solid entry, especially with all of the extras that the disc gets. Worth a solid rental at least.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Nicolas Cage, Emma Stone, Ryan Reynolds, Catherine Keener, Leslie Mann, Peter Dinklage, Kelly Marie Tran
Directed by: Joel Crawford
Written by: Kevin Hagerman, Dan Hagerman, Paul Fisher, Bog Logan
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 HEVC
Audio: English: Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 Core), Spanish DD+ 7.1, French DD 5.1
Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish
Studio: Universal
Rated: PG
Runtime: 96 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: February 23rd, 2021

Recommendation: Decent Rental

 

[tripplej]

Thanks for the review. I enjoyed the first one and will see this one once available on amazon prime/netflix.

 

[Epoxy1]

Totally agree about the color palette on the 4K...the saturation is off the charts which gives the image immense depth compared to the Blu-ray.

 

[Michael Scott]

Totally agree about the color palette on the 4K...the saturation is off the charts which gives the image immense depth compared to the Blu-ray.

I watched the 4K first and the Blu-ray second, and holy cow. The saturation levels and HDR tweaks almost made the Blu-ray look dull and flat in comparison.