Early Man is the latest film from Aardman, the studio that is known for producing feature-length stop-motion gems like Chicken Run, Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, Flushed Away, and Shaun the Sheep Movie. It’s
directed by Chicken Run director
Nick Park and written by Shaun the Sheep
Movie screenwriter Mark Burton, and boasts an all-star voice cast that includes
Loki, Arya Stark, and Newt Scamander.
The story is about a Stone
Age caveman named Dug (Eddie Redmayne) who, along with the rest of his tribe
and his doglike pet boar Hognob, is driven out of his home valley by Lord Nooth
(Tom Hiddleston), leader of a nearby football-loving Bronze Age city, who
intends to build a mine upon it.
Determined to take back his people’s land, Dug challenges Nooth’s elite
team to a game of football (soccer). With the
help of a local vendor named Goona (Maisie Williams), he must rally his inexperienced
tribe to prepare for a match that will determine their future.
Aardman movies have always been intrinsically
endearing, and Early Man is no
different. Though it’s not as delightful
as its predecessor, Shaun the Sheep Movie,
it nevertheless charms considerably with its wholesome tone, witty humor, goofy
narrative, and masterful visuals. The
fun that the cast were clearly having as they voiced their characters with comfortably
over-the-top comportment (especially Hiddleston) also brings an additional
feel-good energy to the movie.
I understand if Early Man won’t be universally appreciated. In the first place, it’s the kind of movie
that requires a bit of acquired taste.
On top of that, it’s not exactly groundbreaking or deep. It can even be argued that it’s a pretty standard
animated film. However, I really find it quite a treat because: a.) stop-motion movies are uncommon nowadays (and I’ve yet to encounter a bad one); and b.) its simplicity is devoid of sappy, stupid, and cynical
elements but instead generates enjoyable silliness and heart.
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