After being surprised by how good the first Croods movie was, I had high expectations for the sequel. With there being a seven year gap between this movie and the last one, I had hoped that this movie wouldn't seem rushed, or poorly executed. I was wrong.
The Croods: A New Age is great on a visual level, and the comedy, while not as good as the first movie, is okay.
However, this movie is very unfocused and not written nearly as well as the first movie. Rather than having one, clearly identifiable conflict and a few other minor ones (like in the first movie), The Croods: A New Age waits until halfway through the second act to introduce the main conflict of the story, which makes the pacing of the movie seem at first too slow, and then rushed.
The first movie also had identifiable, yet simple and strong themes, while the second movie has too many weak, underdeveloped ones. That is, except for the feminist message.
The first movie had a great feminist message that never seemed to patronize or get in the way of the story. The women in the first film were well characterized and felt like they had agency and purpose to the plot. The Croods: A New Age throws away all the subtlety and instead does a cringy, ham-fisted, WAMEN POWER! Moment a-la avengers endgame that is the least organic, worst pro-women message I've ever seen from a kids movie.
Watch this movie if you want to distract your kids with bright colors and funny monkeys, there isn't anything substantive to merit your attention.
The Croods: A New Age is great on a visual level, and the comedy, while not as good as the first movie, is okay.
However, this movie is very unfocused and not written nearly as well as the first movie. Rather than having one, clearly identifiable conflict and a few other minor ones (like in the first movie), The Croods: A New Age waits until halfway through the second act to introduce the main conflict of the story, which makes the pacing of the movie seem at first too slow, and then rushed.
The first movie also had identifiable, yet simple and strong themes, while the second movie has too many weak, underdeveloped ones. That is, except for the feminist message.
The first movie had a great feminist message that never seemed to patronize or get in the way of the story. The women in the first film were well characterized and felt like they had agency and purpose to the plot. The Croods: A New Age throws away all the subtlety and instead does a cringy, ham-fisted, WAMEN POWER! Moment a-la avengers endgame that is the least organic, worst pro-women message I've ever seen from a kids movie.
Watch this movie if you want to distract your kids with bright colors and funny monkeys, there isn't anything substantive to merit your attention.