Fútbol Cavernícola

Early Man is the perfect delight to go and see if you have children under the age of ten. Ten and over can go see Black Panther this coming weekend.

As for Early Man, it's a delight. It has fun humor, a great cast, fun action sequences, and an overall great heartfelt message that every viewer can love, no matter the age.

Some of the issues I have with Early Man is the impossible nature of comparing it to every other Aardman film. It just is not as good as The Shaun The Sheep movie.

With my one tiny issue aside, Early Man is a very fun family film that will unfortunately not do leaps and bounds at the box office due to Black Panther.

I would have to give Early Man a B+ or on an Imdb scale, a 7/10.

Aardman Animations have been part of my life. I will forever remember the moment Wallace wore the wrong trousers or Mrs Tweedy obnoxiously making chicken pies. Their animations are quintessentially British, and I'm somewhat patriotic about that. So it comes with no pleasure that I have to say I really didn't enjoy this. A small tribe of cavemen have been brutally kicked out of their valley. The rise of The Bronze Age creates a pivotal and existential question: who is better at football? Of course, you have your memorable characters that range from a bronze obsessed Lord to a sheepish hog...and there we have our film. Consistently, their animation style knocks it out of the park...Nick Park...*cough* everytime! Stop motion is a skill, an incredible talent and it's great to see fully fledged motion pictures are still being produced. The British voice cast were stupendously well suited, particularly Redmayne and Hiddleston who clearly had fun. Occasionally the witty script, filled with both football satire and ancient puns, did bring a smile on my face. It's just...not enough, I'm sorry to say. Look, Nick Park and the gang are endlessly inventive and provide great family entertainment value. Children will love this no doubt. It just wasn't for me. The plot was ridiculously predictable to a point where I could estimate accurately how the story would unfold. Guess what? I was right. The over reliance of crude slapstick humour (farts, annoying sounds etc.) was far too excessive and seemed dated. It's as if the studio haven't evolved whereas rivals Pixar, Laika and even Dreamworks are way ahead of the game. The story's execution felt primitive. I felt nothing towards the characters, wasn't moved by the plot and the clear moral of the story was forced down my throat. Teamwork...if you didn't get it. I just don't think football was the way to go. A real unfortunate misfire, I hope the studio bring it back with their next motion picture.

Not one of Aardman's best, but watchable and has some funny jokes. It starts out really promising, but by the end is hugely predictable and simply turns into a by the numbers "underdog wins the day" type sports comedy (albeit with Claymation). Previous ones of their films have remained fresh until the end, but this starts to drag a bit once it becomes obvious how the plot's going to play out

I might be one of the few people on this planet that saw this over Black Panther. Sorry.

I really enjoy Aardman's work, especially from shows like "Shaun the Sheep" and "Wallace & Gromit". Their claymation is unique, the slapstick is inventive, the British wit is keen, the characters are endearing and the stories are funny. Only a few of these qualities could describe Early Man, a movie that's pleasant and wacky enough but felt rather uninspired. Which pains me, because I know Aardman could do better.

What are the positives? First off, the claymation has the same offbeat charm as almost every Aardman film ever, so expect that. A few jokes are inventive and got some giggles outta me (like the replay footage in a soccer game is a literal puppet show. Whenever the caveman team wins, the puppeteers wildly exaggerate what happened). Some of the details of how the cavemen live their lives was amusing. The pig was adorable and the end picks up its pace with an entertaining soccer game. Nick Park has a knack for world-building, and this was no different.

But I think that's where the main positives end. What shocked me the most was how formulaic the story was, since you could predict what EVERY SINGLE PLOT POINT was if you've seen enough animated movies. Some of the gags are clever and quirky, but a good chunk of them are also lazy and tired. It seems to rely on dumb puns ("looks like the caveman caved!") and overused physical humor over genuinely witty jokes. The "look at that caveman! He's so dumb!" running gag got old after the first 15 minutes and any chances for good absurdist humor (giant man-eating duck) lost its steam along the way. The CGI backgrounds look tacky and dull compared to the claymation, so it doesn't fit. The characters are likeable but also stereotypical (hero wants to save land, villain loves money, love interest is good at soccer, chief leader is cautious, sidekicks are dumb yet useful), just like the majority of this movie.

But it's not a painful watch. It's sometimes funny and amusing, but with every good moment you still have a thin premise, predictable plot and cliches to move the story forward as an amiable but weak experience. It's the type of movie you could show your kids on a Sunday afternoon or on an airplane, but the eccentricity, wit and creativity just isn't enough to make it worth seeing by yourself in a theater. You might smile, but it won't stick to your mind. It's not painfully average, but it isn't Wallace and Gromit. 5.5/10

I love that Shaun the Sheep 2 teaser though!

If you want Park's best, see his Pirates movie, with Hugh Grant. I know Wallace and Gromitt is what put Park on the map, and W&G are treasured (for good reason), but The Pirates was absolutely brilliant: a laugh a minute, inspired adventure. The process of making a stop-motion movie must be laborious, so it's a shame we see so little from Park's studios. Even though Early Man won't blow you away, it's still worth your time.

Not Park's best work? Yeah. The setup and writing is kind of slow and stodgy compared to Park's previous work, but but it's still very, very, very good content: especially when you compare it to the numerous, mind-numbing 3D animated movies Hollywood pumps out. Off the top of my head, Early Man beats out The Nut Job, Over the Hedge, Turbo, The Boss Baby, The Emoji Movie, My Little Pony... Cars... good lord, I'm making myself sick. Listing all of these subpar movies one after another like this is like eating a bunch of empty calories. Nick Park's work easily stands heads and shoulders over this mass produced crap, even if it's not his best. Early Man is *fun.* It doesn't pander to children: it's clever, fun, and the stop-motion is nothing less than charming.

A year or so ago I saw an animated DC movie, "Batman and Harley Quinn," which was truly terrible. I watch animated shows and find that I don't enjoy them. "What's wrong with me," I think. "Can all animation I see be so terrible? Am I becoming jaded?" But, hey: no, it's not me: most of the animation presented to us *is* bad. You have to see excellent content like Early Man to draw a distinction.