“The Croods: A New Age” is a sequel that tells the story of the Croods family as they evolve from a stone age world to a new and more advanced one. It picks up where the first movie left off despite the films being released seven years apart. The Croods escape from the dangers they faced in the previous film only to encounter the Bettermans who are a family with different and more evolved lifestyles. Various family members want to embrace and learn about each other while others want to preserve their own ways which creates conflict.

“The Croods: A New Age” is a fun easygoing watch. It has a good pace that keeps the plot moving seamlessly. The humor is well-written and while it is cheesy, it is impossible not to laugh at the witty jokes. 

As in the original movie, the animation contains bright colors and attention to detail makes the film worth watching. In addition to the exciting visuals, the voice work is undeniably excellent. All of the performances match the characters perfectly. 

Voice actors including Ryan Reynolds, Emma Stone and Nicolas Cage all seem like they were made to voice their characters. Popular actors and actresses are always fun to have talking in animations because they add familiarity to cartoon characters and to the movie as a whole.

Since there are not very many characters in “The Croods: A New Age,” each one has an opportunity to shine. Every family member gets to develop without the plot having to bounce between characters so often. The writers have found a great balance when deciding how to tell the stories of each character.

The dynamic between all of the family members is perfect. It is great to see the relationship between characters Eve and Dawn especially as they learn and grow from each other. Through the characters, viewers learn about accepting differences and becoming  independent without it feeling too corny. 

“The Croods: A New Age” is very simple. Depending on the viewer, that could be a good or bad thing. It had clear and basic themes that have been covered in thousands of animations and films in general. Plot-wise, the movie is nothing spectacular or original. To the Croods family, everything seems inventive, but to avid moviegoers “The Croods: A New Age” might seem a just little too familiar.