The Spohrs On The Croods!

Annie has been desperate to see The Croods ever since she saw the little sloth in the trailer say, “Duh duh duh!” That, according to my three-year-old, is just about the funniest thing to ever happen in cinema history. Since Annie is back to being good at the movies, I took her on another Daddy/Daughter Movie Date, and our reviews are in!

Annie was practically jumping out of her seat on the drive to the theater and kept saying, “Duh duh duh!” over and over.

“Are you excited?” I asked.

“Yeah! I’m gonna laugh a lot!”

When we arrived at the theater Annie squealed and ran to take a seat here:

Once I pried her away from her seat of honor alongside The Croods we went inside. Annie was into the movie right away, but I don’t think it was what she was expecting. For the first half hour or so The Croods are constantly chased by scary prehistoric creatures who want them for a meal, and they had Annie jumping into my lap and burying her head in my shoulder. Annie never got too scared (she’s pretty brave when it comes to movies), but if your little ones get scared easily this movie might not be for them.

The second act of the movie is one long trek toward some distant mountains, and the momentum lags a bit along the way. Annie probably picked up on this as at one point she asked, “Is the movie over now?” Overall, though, Annie really seemed to like the movie. She stayed in her seat the whole time and even leaned over to ask if she could be “Eep” (Emma Stone’s character) for Halloween. That’s high praise from my Halloween-loving kid.

My review as a certified adult? I thought it was cute/okay. The story was a little too straight-forward for my tastes, and I don’t think I laughed more than a couple times. On the other hand, it had a number of well done action sequences and some nice emotional beats at the end. Of course, the joy in going to these types of movies comes in bonding with your kid and seeing them so happy. With that said, if you’re looking for a kid movie like Wreck It Ralph or Toy Story with lots of jokes aimed at adults… this ain’t it.

On the way home I “interviewed” Annie about the movie and recorded her reaction on my phone. It’s a fun thing to do because you get a chance to see the movie through your kid’s eyes, which is often much different than you imagine.

ME: “Annie, what was your favorite part?”

ANNIE: “When they were happy.”

ME: “When was that?”

ANNIE: “At the end when they were all together.”

ME: “Was the movie scary?”

ANNIE: “No.”

Sure, kid. That’s why you spent half of the movie on my lap.

ME: “Who was your favorite character?”

ANNIE: “Douglas!”

Douglas was a dog character who literally was on screen three minutes. Why he was her favorite – and how she remembered his name –  I have no idea.

ME: Was the movie funny?

ANNIE: “No. Just the ‘duh duh duh’ part.”

ME: “Which movie did you like better? ‘Escape From Planet Earth’ or ‘The Croods?’”

ANNIE: “Both!”

And then….

ANNIE: “When we get home can we pretend to be The Croods?”

ME: “Sure, Sweetie.”

Annie may not have got the laugh-fest she wanted, but she clearly had a good time. I did too, and will soak up our movie dates as much as possible because I know one day she’ll just want me to drop her off with her friends to see Twilight 12. Until then though, I will enjoy moments like these:

“Thanks for taking me, Dada!”