The Croods: A New Age wants to be about tolerance and ends up about real estate. DreamWorks Animation’s sequel to 2013’s The Croods moves the prehistoric family out of the wilderness and into a walled paradise owned by the Bettermans, a family with agriculture, a sauna and a smug sense of superiority. The premise is sturdy. The execution is a 95-minute dinner party where nobody leaves.
Trailer, via Universal Kids.
Grug, Eep and the Wall
Joel Crawford directs from a script credited to Paul Fisher, Bob Logan, Dan Hageman and Kevin Hageman, with story credit to Chris Sanders and Kirk DeMicco. Nicolas Cage returns as Grug, Emma Stone as Eep, Ryan Reynolds as Guy, Catherine Keener as Ugga, Clark Duke as Thunk and Cloris Leachman as Gran.
Leslie Mann, Peter Dinklage and Kelly Marie Tran join as Hope, Phil and Dawn Betterman. The returning cast is the film’s floor, not its ceiling. Cage plays Grug’s fear that Guy will take Eep away, and the film’s best running tension is a father who cannot say what he means.
A Paradise With Rules
The Bettermans release the Croods but talk down to them. Phil takes Grug into a sauna and works on him, arguing Guy belongs with the Bettermans while Eep stays with hers. Hope tries the same on Ugga and fails. Grug and Ugga start to think about leaving.
Eep finds out Dawn has never been outside the walls. She talks her into a joyride on Chunky, and the trip goes wrong. Guy scolds Eep for it. That fight is the most honest scene in the movie, and the film does not sit in it long enough.
| Character | Voice | Family |
|---|---|---|
| Grug | Nicolas Cage | Croods |
| Eep | Emma Stone | Croods |
| Guy | Ryan Reynolds | Croods |
| Ugga | Catherine Keener | Croods |
| Gran | Cloris Leachman | Croods |
| Phil Betterman | Peter Dinklage | Bettermans |
| Hope Betterman | Leslie Mann | Bettermans |
| Dawn Betterman | Kelly Marie Tran | Bettermans |
Dinner, Punch Monkeys and the Exit
At dinner the tension breaks. Grug lets slip what Phil said to him. The Croods decide to leave and Guy chooses to stay. Punch Monkeys interrupt the exit, angry that Phil has not given them their bananas.
That is the hinge of the whole film, and it turns on fruit.
The Sequel That Almost Wasn’t
The production history explains some of the unevenness. The sequel was announced in April 2013 with Sanders and DeMicco directing, continued through 2014 and 2015, and was cancelled in November 2016 after NBCUniversal bought DreamWorks Animation that August. It was revived in September 2017, with Crawford taking over directing that October. Most of the animation was done from the crew’s homes because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| April 2013 | Sequel announced |
| September 2013 | Cage, Stone, Reynolds confirmed to return |
| May 21, 2015 | Mann and Kat Dennings join the cast |
| November 2016 | Project cancelled |
| September 2017 | Project revived |
| October 2018 | Dinklage cast as Phil Betterman |
| October 2019 | Kelly Marie Tran replaces Dennings as Dawn |
| November 25, 2020 | U.S. theatrical release |
What the Croods Get Right
The film’s real subject is the Bettermans’ condescension, and it lands because Phil and Hope believe their help is a gift. The Croods are loud and messy and the movie knows it.
But the film keeps reaching for a lesson about embracing difference and then solves everything with a chase. The walls, the technology, the cruelty dressed as hospitality — none of it is examined. The Croods and the Bettermans survive together because the plot requires it.
It grossed $215 million, which says more about the franchise’s pull than the film’s quality. The Croods: A New Age is watchable, well-voiced and thin.
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