EARLY MAN – Rated PG – 1 hr. 29 mins. – MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS
Director: Nick Park
Starring the voices of: Eddie Redmayne, Tom Hiddleston, Maisie Williams, Nick Park, Timothy Spall and Richard Ayoade
As we venture back in time to the “Age of the Caveman” it seems that a game a game of skill which we most of us have played since childhood, may have originated from our ancestral heritage back in the day! Fast forward a few centuries, as we meet the meek and mild youngster Dug (Eddie Redmayne) trying to encourage his clan to better themselves, and their daily meal options too. When the outside world accidentally finds their Garden of Eden, mean Lord Nooth (Tom Hiddleston) I intrigued by what he has found, and wants to gain this beautiful place for his own…
When Dug decides to take on Nooth, and his elite athletes, in an attempt to save his people, ` and their home, he’s blown away finding that the game that’s encrypted on the walls by his ancestors, is the game he is about to play.
Forced to challenge Nooth’s barbarians to a competition of skill and athleticism, it’s going to take Dug, his new friend Goona (Maisie Williams), and his entire clan in order to keep the almighty Lord from taking away the only home they’ve ever known…
I give EARLY MAN a rating of DON’T WASTE YOUR TIME OR MONEY: As I have never really been a fan of clay stop frame animation (Claymation), I tried very hard to go into this film with an open mind. But it took about 15 minutes of this not so spectacular, and very slow-moving storyline for me to decide, this film was the pits. I mean, even the premise of soccer evolving from caveman at the beginning was cute, but as it continued to play out as the football of the Lords and Queens, suffice to say, I was over it already. I invited my hubby to join me on this little excursion to see this film too, as he LOVES ANIMATED MOVIES, and even he was so board, he was nodding off. And, I watched the children around me taking in this film, it seemed they weren’t too enamored either, leading me to advise you to skip this animated blast from the past, and venture to another film experience with your kids this weekend, because unless they are avid soccer players, or fan of the game, there really isn’t any other reason I can come up with, to make you waste the money, or an hour and a half of your life ;(
Kathy Kaiser
MATINEE CHAT with Kathy Kaiser 