★★★★

director: Joel Crawford (Debut)

starring: Nicholas Cage, Emma Stone, Ryan Reynolds and Catherine Keener

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REVIEWER: lyall carter

The prehistoric family the Croods are challenged by a rival family the Bettermans, who claim to be better and more evolved.

I LOVE animated films, I guess I’m still a big kid at heart. So it’s a little strange that an animated sequel comes along where I haven’t seen the original like in the case of The Croods: A New Age. You definitely don’t need to have seen the first film to enjoy this one! The Croods: A New Age is a big, fun, colour filled, animated family blockbuster that will thrill you, make you laugh and shed a couple of tears too.

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Searching for a safer habitat, the prehistoric Crood family discovers an idyllic, walled-in paradise that meets all of its needs. Unfortunately, they must also learn to live with the Bettermans -- a family that's a couple of steps above the Croods on the evolutionary ladder. As tensions between the new neighbors start to rise, a new threat soon propels both clans on an epic adventure that forces them to embrace their differences, draw strength from one another, and survive together.

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As I mentioned above having not seen the first film I wondered whether I would be able to fully immerse myself in the world of the Croods. I needn’t bother worrying about it as the filmmakers did a stellar job giving a brief nod to the film that had gone before which brilliantly brings you into the life of the characters. 

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The story is a rip roaring, adventure tale filled with so many belly laughs (I don’t think I’ve seen my niece and nephew laugh as hard as in this film). There were sticks flicked into eyes, animals with a mish mash of different animal parts and Gran Croods flying hair all of which brought great laughs from the crowded audience of young and old alike.

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The Croods: A New Age is also one of the most beautifully lush, fully realised and detailed world that I’ve seen in an animated film in a long time. We saw this not on a normal cinema screen but an extra large one and even then then the scenes were filled with and popping with exquisite detail. 

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The Croods: A New Age is a big, fun, colour filled, animated family blockbuster that will thrill you, make you laugh and shed a couple of tears too.