Skip to main content

MovieReview: Aardman's "Early Man" Is Funny and Charming

EARLY MAN
Starring the voices of Eddie Redmayne. Tom Hiddleston,  Maisie Williams, Timothy Spall
Screenplay by Mark Burton & James Higginson
Story by Mark Burton and Nick Park
Directed by Nick Park
Reviewed by Paul & Patrick Gibbs





Out of Four



Despite having nowhere near the box office pull or name recognition factor of Disney/Pixar, Aardman Animation Studios is second only to that mammoth in terms of quality players in the animation game. Their latest effort, the caveman comedy Early Man, may not reach the lofty heights of their best work (the delightful and criminally under seen Arthur Christmas, for example), but it's funny, charming, inventive and touching.

Academy Award winner Eddie Redmayne stars as the voice of Dug, a likely goofy stone age member of a tribe of rabbit hunters. Dug dreams of bigger things, like hunting mammoths, but Chief Bobnar (voiced by the incomparable Timothy Spall) tells him they just aren't meant for that. Dug also finds himself fascinated by old cave drawings of people playing a strange game that involves kicking a ball around. One day, when the village is attacked by a group of Bronze Age bullies led by the nasty Lord Nooth (Tom Hiddleston doing an odd French accent), Dug discovers the truth behind a game called futbol and challenges Nooth's championship team. The prize: The right for the rabbit hunters to stay in their beloved valley.

Despite the bizarre setup, this quickly becomes a formula underdog sports movie, but that's not a bad thing. The characters are engaging and the humor genuinely funny enough that we're carried along every step up of the way.  Perhaps the most endearing character is Hognob, a warthog like creature who acts as a sort of informal mascot to the rabbit hunters, and whose grunts and snorts are voiced by director Nick Park himself. Where Hognob's story is headed is one of the most predictable elements of the film, but it doesn't matter in the least. You no more need to be surprised than you need to have explained to you why there's a giant man-eating duck. It's just that kind of film.

Redmayne is immensely likable, as are Spall as the Chief and Maisie Williams as Goona, a Bronze Age woman who is sympathetic to the stone age rabbit hunters. Hiddleston's accent is a somewhat strange choice that plays less now than it might have a few years ago, but the very talented actor is clearly having fun and makes a good comic villain. As always the stop motion claymation seems fairly primitive compared to the cutting edge CGI of most animated films, but that hand-made quality is a considerable part of its charm.

To say that Early Man is one of the best films of the year so far is actually quite faint praise considering the fact that it's only February and simply being possible to sit through makes it better than most early in the year fare. But while it will likely be largely forgotten by year's end, we hope to see it show up as a dark horse candidate for 2018's Best Animated Film Oscar. It's an utter delight for all audiences.





The Bearded Trio - The Site For Steven 
Spielberg, George Lucas, John Williams and a whole lot more.

THE BEARDED TRIO ON FACEBOOK
THE BEARDED TRIO ON TWITTER
THE BEARDED TRIO ON GOOGLE+
THE BEARDED TRIO ON PINTEREST

CLICK HERE FOR FACTS ON STEVEN SPIELBERG
CLICK HERE FOR FACTS ON GEORGE LUCAS
CLICK HERE FOR FACTS ON JOHN WILLIAMS

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Did Paul Freeman Accidentally Eat A Fly In Raiders of the Lost Ark?

The Famous Indiana Jones Fly In Belloq's Mouth Scene.  Did It Really Happen? I've always wondered if Paul Freeman unintentionally consumed a fly in this scene in  Raiders of the Lost Ark ?  It's the scene where Indiana Jones shouts down to Bellosh...I mean Belloq and threatens to blow up the ark.  Did a fly go in his mouth? I remember watching this scene back in the early eighties and my ten year old mind thought he definitely had a snack while filming.  I recall talking about 'flygate' in my school playground at the time and the general consensus with my friends was that Freeman definitely had a sneaky snack. Paul Freeman talks about the famous 'fly' scene in an interview with TheIndyExperience.com  and settled 'flygate:' This is a bit of a dicey question so don’t get too upset. (Laughs) A movie’s always got bloopers in it, some have a lot, and some only have three or four. And the most remarkable blooper was right before the opening of th

Star Wars VII Movie Poster - Every End Is A New Beginning

Star Wars VII Movie Poster Just saw this Star Wars VII movie poster on Kyle Newman's Facebook fee d.  The poster is by  Lyndon Berresford and Paul Bateman.  I am loving this.  Who do you think the two characters are?  Lando and Leia?  Han and Leia's children? Have you seen other Star Wars VII movie posters?  Let me know. Rob Wainfur @welshslider

Explaining That "Weird" Cut In Poltergeist. Read The Missing Scene

Why Is There A Strange Cut In The 1982 Horror Classic, Poltergeist? If you're a fan of the 1982 Horror classic, Poltergeist then you will be very familiar with that "weird" cut in the movie.  It's 32 minutes and 47 seconds in to the movie and the scene is where Diane is explaining the strange phenomenon that is happening in the kitchen.  First, she shows to Steve a chair scraping across the floor all on its own then she does the same with Carol Anne.  Steve leans up against the kitchen wall and is completely shocked at what just happened.  It's at this point Diane starts to explain the sensation of being pulled and then...A very abrupt cut.  One moment we are listening to Diane and suddenly it cuts to Diane and Steve at their next door neighbours door.  Why the sudden cut?  It's on the VHS, DVD, Blu-Ray and even the streaming versions.  Why does this awful and weird cut exist in the movie, Poltergeist?  Watch the clip below to see the cut: Well, the ans