Story
The Croods: A New Age begins with the story of Guy (voice of Ryan Reynolds), who is orphaned as a child. He grows up alone, but in his teens he meets Eep Crood (Emma Stone). It’s instant attraction and Guy is welcomed into the Crood family. But Eep’s father, Grug (Nicolas Cage), isn’t happy at the thought of Guy and Eep setting out on their own and leaving the family.
Grug and his family set out in search of a paradise where they can all be happy. They find the walled home of Phil and Hope Betterman (voices of Peter Dinklage and Leslie Mann). The Bettermans reveal they were friends of Guy’s parents. They see the Croods’ arrival as chance to set up their daughter, Dawn (Kelly Marie Tran), with Guy. The Bettermans believe they’re more evolved than the Croods and set out to get rid of the Croods while keeping Guy.
Things get complicated when Grug eats the forbidden fruit – bananas. The Croods find themselves under attack from an army of aggressive ‘punch monkeys’.
Themes
Prehistoric era; cavemen and women; teenage romance; survival
Violence
The Croods: A New Age has a lot of violence, like punching, throwing rocks and spears, and physical fighting. For example:
- Eep punches her brother, Thunk, several times.
- Some dinosaurs chase Eep and Guy. The dinosaurs bite at their heels.
- Grug and Guy fight physically.
- Thunk throws a stick, which stabs a chicken in the eye. Grug imagines throwing a stick at Phil and stabbing him in the eye.
- Monkeys attack the humans and carry the men off in a hollow log.
- The punch monkeys communicate by punching each other. Guy knows how to communicate with them. He punches the monkeys and is punched in return.
- Grug and Phil have a wrestling fight. Grug pulls Phil’s clothes off, leaving him in his underwear.
- A monster ape is about to eat Guy and the others, but they’re saved in time.
Sexual references
The Croods: A New Age has some sexual references. For example, Guy and Eep are attracted to each other and they flirt a lot. They cuddle and kiss several times.
Alcohol, drugs and other substances
The Croods: A New Age shows some use of substances. For example:
- Phil drinks a cocktail in a sauna.
- Dawn appears to be ‘high’ on bee venom and acts weirdly.
Nudity and sexual activity
None noted.
Product placement
None noted.
Coarse language
The Croods: A New Age has some name-calling, including ‘idiot’ and ‘smarty pants’.
Ideas to discuss with your children
The Croods: A New Age is an animated adventure set in prehistoric times. The cave people are often in peril, and their lives are all about survival. This means there’s a lot of comic violence, but some of the scenes are still quite intense and scary. There are also several scary-looking creatures. Therefore, this movie isn’t suitable for children aged under 6 years, and we recommend parental guidance for children aged 6-7 years.
The main messages from this movie are that we’re stronger when we work as a group and that we shouldn’t fear people who are different.
Values in this movie that you could reinforce with your children include teamwork, female strength, lifestyle diversity, and a willingness to see the world in new ways.
This movie could also give you the chance to talk with your children about real-life issues like the difference between societies that work for the common good and those that value individuality.