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Parents' Guide to

The Croods

By S. Jhoanna Robledo, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 8+

Gorgeously animated adventure has intense themes.

Movie PG 2013 98 minutes
The Croods Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Community Reviews

age 6+

Based on 44 parent reviews

age 7+

Wind of changes is good.

I like how this Apeman standing by his hands is portrait of Always Uncontent Conservative. Fighting with new ideas only because they are new looks as cringefull as in the movie.
age 4+

A Masterclass in Animated Cinema

This movie surprised me. Upon my 6th time watching I had picked up the fact that I have never seen a movie this many times. The re watch value is amazing and the action and animation is spectacular. The way the characters interact with each other keeping with their designated character traits always made for great entertainment. Any drama to intervene was intense and masterful perfection. I would recommend this to anyone as the deep core values bleed into our lives today. beautiful movie 10/10

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (44 ):
Kids say (70 ):

What makes THE CROODS great is how it doesn't just rest on its CGI glories (though they're pretty amazing -- see below!). Though the visuals are exciting, there's a steady heartbeat that booms at the movie's center. Stone Age they may be, but Grug -- and, to a certain extent, Ugga -- struggle with a parenting dilemma that iPhone-lugging moms and dads experience, too: having to let go of children on the cusp of adulthood and, even more important, learning from them, too, as they experience a bigger, more complicated world. The Croods explores this dynamic with compassion and surprising depth. There aren't as many knowing winks at the audience as most other movies in this genre, but you won't miss them much. Would it be icing on the cake if a film with an assertive, intelligent teenage girl as its main character didn't end up having her -- and the other females, for that matter -- rely on the men to save them? Yes. Does it take away from the film's girl-power message? A little. Is this an awesome film anyway? Definitely.

And now back to those visuals: The Croods brings us into a world we've only imagined, animating it with what begins as a textured, painterly rendering and changes into a colorful, remarkable prehistoric world filled with every color on the wheel. The landscape is a buffet of eye candy. The characters' voices are expressive, their faces and gestures equally so. When Eep is lured out into the sun by a tantalizing ray of light, her joy in exploring is palpable. When we see what she sees, we understand why she disobeys. Directors Kirk De Micco and Chris Sanders don't hurry the story along -- a welcome relief -- because there's so much to see and experience with Guy and the Croods. Some scenes are actually a bit overstuffed, teetering on the edge of migraine-inducing: Prehistoric animal mash-ups whiz by, squawking and squealing, while Eep and her family grunt, hurl, bounce, jump, shimmy, and serve up quick banter to boot. But thankfully, we also get quieter moments that allow the characters -- and, by extension, the audience -- to think and appreciate the previous thrills.

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