The Croods: A New Age - Blu-ray Review

Michael Scott

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The Croods: A New Age


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Movie: :3stars:
Video: :4.5stars:
Audio: :4stars:
Extras: :4stars:
Final Score: :4stars:



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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.

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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.




Video: :4.5stars:
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The Croods: A New Age is one of the VERY few modern titles that got a 3D release on home video. Most studios have dropped 3D as a viable home entertainment sales method, but Universal decided to give us a 2D, a 3D and a 4K UHD option for those people who are still hanging onto their 3D TVs. While we got the flat 2D and 4K UHD discs to review, sadly we’ll have to forego commenting on the 3D conversion, but still wanted to let you know about the option.

The 1080p disc is fantastic. The Croods was an absolutely JAW DROPPING disc back in 2013 (and the 4K UHD disc that followed a few years later was really good too) and Dreamworks continues in the tradition of bright and shiny animation. If I had to be critical I would say that A New Age doesn’t push the animated envelope as much as the first one, but it is still a gorgeously animated film. Rich and vivid colors dominate the landscape ranging from the reds of Eeep’s hair, down to the blues and greens of the Betterman’s oasis. Blacks are deep and inky, and except for some mild banding I really can’t complain about the disc. I did feel that the film wasn’t as detailed in the animation department as the 2013 original (I remember being absolutely wow’d by the look of the water), but that could be simply due to the fact that we’re just over saturated with great animation on 4K and Blu-ray these days.










Audio: :4stars:
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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: :4stars:
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• 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: :4stars:


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 Blu-ray is typical Dreamworks excellence with great video and solid audio. 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 AVC
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
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Recommendation: Decent Rental

 
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