The Croods: In search of Tomorrow !

Breaking Barriers !

I have faced some flak for my Facebook posts questioning the gods and religions. I was in a little bit of dilemma about the 'hurting the sentiments' part of the story, though I had no doubts about my convictions. Then I watched "The Croods", a movie as endearing and funny as it is enlightening.

This Dreamworks 3D animation movie is all about a family of 'Cave Man' [Neanderthal Man] Grug and his family. Just because a lot of families were killed in different circumstances, the Dad puts enormous restrictions on the movements of this family and believes 'his rules' alone can save his family and he steadfastly holds on to his beliefs.

The Croods family consists of Grug, his wife Ugga, Eep the 'curious' daughter, Thunk, the dimwit son, Sandy, the always hungry little daughter and Gran, the mother-in-law with a funny bone.

Eep, his teenage daughter is curious and wants to see the world. But she is restrained by her family. 'Curiosity', the Dad says is what killed the bear and others. But the little creature is too restless and goes out to explore and meets an extremely exciting guy called Guy and thus the roller-coaster ride begins.

I wouldn't divulge any more details than this but would like to say, "This is one wonderful journey of discovery of the world beyond us and a world within us". Guy, who comes across as a more evolved species [Homo sepiens] and hence evokes dislike, hatred and disdain from the Croods. But how he manages to break the barriers and how Grug manages to see the light is what makes the 98 minutes of sheer beautiful journey worth.

The best part I liked about the movies is there are no gods, no religions and no blaming or praising the supernatural. Just a journey of learning for the primitive human. We all have traveled a lot of distance from the caves and the fears that plagued the cavemen. But during the journey, we created our own new set of rules and decided to live within the darkness of those rules. This movie should be seen as an eye opener to those who are worried about rules, the gods and religions and religious sentiments.

Kirk DeMicco and Chris Sanders have given us a simply beautiful movie with some pleasing animation and 3D visuals, though people should refrain from comparing the movie with 'Avatar'. In terms of content, "The Croods" is miles ahead though it doesn't match the technical brilliance of the mega-hit 'Avatar. The BGM is brilliant and so is the camera-work.

The action sequences, the hunting for the giant eggs and the earth-quake scenes are all brilliantly crafted. But more than any of the technical aspects, "The Croods" becomes a must watch for the absolutely marvelous journey of learning it presents.

This is all about the evolution of the human species in search of knowledge that is represented by the 'Light' they chase and which they call "Tomorrow". The journey doesn't end where the movies does, we are continuing that !

My Opinion: Brilliant and a Must Watch: **** Stars !