Early Man

            Before Tim Burton and Henry Selick made the world of stop-motion animated movies more mainstream, one company that always comes to mind that perfects it is Aardman Animation. This British company has put out some of the most imaginative and darkly fitting animated shorts that really left an impact on me as a kid, but that’s not to say they had their soft side. Thanks to Nick Park, one of their many talents, the world has been introduced to many amazing works such as Creature Comforts, Shaun the Sheep, and the always likable, Wallace & Gromit. They always bring such a quirky but comfortable presence to each of their shorts, in that delightful manner that always brings a smile to my face.

            Aardman has explored into the world of feature films before, but Nick Park has only brought himself to directing three: Chicken Run, Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, and his newest release, Early Man. The film follows Dug, a young caveman who pines for the tribe to hunt for bigger food. When the people of the bronze age come claiming their land, they must compete in a game of football (soccer) in order to win their home back. In other words, think Space Jam meets The Croods. That last part isn’t actually far from the truth, but we’ll get to that later on.

Now I will say this, I thought the movie was good, but I wouldn’t say it’s Nick Park’s strongest work. But before we get into that, let’s talk about what this film does right. Starting off, the animation is wonderful; seeing a stop-motion film in theaters is one thing, but when you have Aardman bringing it to life, there’s something nostalgic about it that truly makes me feel like a toddler again. Each of the characters has something distinct about their looks to really make you point them out from a distance. And while they do tend to use CGI in some spots, the highlights are when you see the sculpted figures, because it just feels real. I also love the sense of humor it has; while it is mostly caveman puns, I still found myself chuckling at it due to the cast’s delivery. They even throw in some more subtle jokes, or ones that have the perfect amount of buildup to them, and each time it makes me laugh.

The voice cast, while having on-screen talents, are still really good. Each of them feels like they’re having a field day with balancing a sense of class, with some of the more darkly funny moments you don’t expect. The two biggest highlights were with the hero and his villain. Eddie Redmayne portrays the protagonist, Dug, and he really gives a remarkable performance. In fact, I’m going to be honest, I thought it was Rob Paulsen doing the voice; Redmayne’s inflection, some of the ways he delivered his dialogue in some spots, it literally sounded like Pinky from Pinky and the Brain. I might be the only who thought that, but feel free to disagree. The other, is Tom Hiddleston as Lord Nooth, who plays him like a very snooty French king. On paper, he’s not an interesting character, but Hiddleston puts so much into his delivery, that even on some weaker jokes, he managed to make it funny. He definitely made this one of the funniest villains in recent animation.

            This film has had some comparisons made with the previous cave man animated movie, The Croods, and they’re not wrong to assume that. Originally, the film was set to be a collaborative effort with Dreamworks, and it was announced back in 2007; however, after their contract was up, both studios went their separate ways with the concepts. Which one do I prefer? Well, while Early Man has more effort put into the animation, being stop-motion and all, I have to admit The Croods is the better movie all together. Looking back at it, The Croods took me off guard with how serious it took the themes of change in one’s world and conquering fears of the unknown world is a deeply strong message that can also inspire kids to discover the world more. The message in Early Man that I took was be willing to look past history, and learn from the mistakes caused by greed and fame; it’s good, but I just felt The Croods was stronger.

Not only that, but the main issues I have with Early Man have to do with the story and pacing. The bridging between acts two to three just felt slow and relatively uninteresting. I mean, the way Nooth tricks Dug into surrendering just feels out of character for Dug was building things up to. It felt like the film was supposed to end twenty minutes ago, but they needed something to pad out to just barely under the 90-minute mark. And after recently re-watching Shaun the Sheep, and seeing how excellent the pacing and importance each scene carried, this was too noticeable to ignore.

Overall, is Early Man a film I would recommend? Considering Aardman doesn’t get enough credit as is, absolutely. Even with its weaker products, much like Pixar, Aardman Animation just has such charm and likability to it, that it’s hard for me to call bad. With enough likable characters and solidly performed humor, you get invested so much in the story, that the some of the faults are worth it. I know that Black Panther is out this weekend, but I do highly suggest going out to this one as well, when you get the chance.

Rating: B+