Stars (vocally) Nicolas Cage, Emma Stone, Ryan Reynolds, Catherine Keener, Cloris Leachman and Clark Duke Directed by Chris Sanders and Kirk De Micco Wow - DreamWroks Animation and 20th Century Fox must have had a nightmare in trying to promote this movie. But then, this is a movie best to be seen without any expectations. That's simply because the characters are mostly what you'd expect and there's barely any plot to speak of (hence the nightmare of promoting this film). What you have to go on is the utterly gorgeous boundary pushing animation work from PDI/DreamWorks that has to be seen in 3D. Yet, here I am raising your expectations… And is it just me or is PDI/DreamWorks pushing the boundaries on CGI animation way more than Pixar is managing these days? Y'know what? Go see the movie and then come back for this review. Really. Carry on anyway? Okay, your choice. Since the movie revolves around the family unit, the characters are key. The overprotective dad, the rebellious daughter, the slightly dimwit son, the overly hyper (and fierce) baby, loving mother, funny grandmother… you could almost say it's cliche. In the hands of directors Chris Sanders and Kirk De Micco, they transcend their status. And while the plot itself was more of a road trip move, I had faith in Chris Sanders to deliver an entertaining flick, as he delivered (as co-director) Disney's Lilo and Stitch, and DreamWorks' How To Train Your Dragon. Like I mentioned, it's very much a road movie as the family unit suddenly finds themselves homeless within the opening moments because of the prehistoric world changing. They have to keep moving towards high ground and so with the road trip, the 'plot' becomes slightly unpredictable while the usual familial problems get worked out along the way. It does so in a good way without being preachy or hammering in the point. But Sanders and De Micco manage something else with the movie. Something more. Something that you will - and can - discover for yourself, whether you're just a casual movie viewer or an art student, an animation aficionado, a couch-philospher or media savant. Let's just say a lot of things caught my attention and if I were so inclined, I could write pages and pages on it all - but I won't. The animation is gorgeous from the crude design of the characters (they're supposed to be cavemen or neanderthals) to the way action is depicted on screen to the lush world that we see throughout most of the movie. Even the cinematography and camera moves stand out, which might be rare for an animated feature. Even the score by Alan Silvestri stands out. Of the excellent voice cast, Emma Stone does very well as the rebellious daughter, Eep while Nicolas Cage seems far more invested as the father, Grug, than he's been in most of his recent movies. Ryan Reynolds completes the primary triangle as the slightly more evolved Guy, accompanied by some kind of monkey like pet called Belt (because he helps hold up Guy's pants), who's pretty much a scene stealer. Almost every animal that appears has a personality (something Sanders does really well). For me, PDI/DreamWorks has been churning out some great stuff of late, far more appealing than Pixar's output (okay, Brave was good and beautiful if a little shy of their best work, but not really looking forward to this year's Monster's University or Cars spin-off, Planes). Going with something wholly original that's a far cry from their early years with spot-the-cultural-references is another step in raising the bar for PDI/DreamWorks. They even managed to make the last Madagascar movie actually fun, and that's something.
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