The Croods
Chris Sanders has co-directed two of the best animated films in recent memory: Disney's phenomenally underrated Lilo & Stitch and DreamWorks' excellent How to Train Your Dragon. His latest—co-directed with the guy behind Space Chimps, Kirk De Micco—lacks the charm and grace of those earlier films, but it's still, you know, fine. A prehistoric road trip movie, The Croods has a squabbling family of cavemen looking for a new home after earthquakes destroy their crappy cave; along the way, they meet up with about a billion adorable animals, all of whom look like they just jumped off the cover of a Lisa Frank Trapper Keeper. There's familial bonding and running from oversized predators and a sloth named Belt who serves as a belt for one of the characters; with voicework from Nicolas Cage, Emma Stone, Catherine Keener, and Ryan Reynolds, it all goes by quickly enough. But if you've got Stitch or Dragon on DVD (AS YOU SHOULD), no need to bother.
by Erik Henriksen