Early Man - movie review

Early Man

Plot: Set at the dawn of time, when prehistoric creatures and woolly mammoths roamed the earth, Early Man tells the story of Dug, along with sidekick Hognob as they unite his tribe against a mighty enemy Lord Nooth and his Bronze Age City to save their home.
Cast: Eddie Redmayne, Tom Hiddleston, Maisie Williams
Director: Nick Park
Certificate: PG (infrequent mild bad language, threat)
Runtime: 1hr 29 mins
Release Date: Friday 26th January 2018

Aardman have had a nearly faultless career. It seems like they've been producing stop-motion animation since man first walked the Earth and in their newest movie, they literally focus on the first men to walk the Earth. Nick Park, who previously directed hits such as Chicken Run and the Wallace & Gromit shorts, turns his attention to the caveman era as a small, discreet and idiotic village come to blows against a rival, more civilised group. How do they solve this clash? A good ol' fashioned game of footie.

A group of cavemen preparing for a game of football. Otherwise known as Millwall FC.

With films featuring a renegade group of sheeps, non-violent pirates, runaway chickens and a city within our sewers, creativity has always been a strong suit within Aardman. Thankfully, Early Man does not stray from this predetermined behaviour. It's wacky, crazy and a little too bonkers for its own good in places but one thing Early Man is, is a joy to watch. Due to working in a cinema, I'm often asked by parents about films that could appeal to the whole family. Some animated films clearly cater to the younger clientele with simplistic plots and humour but Early Man is a film I can positively endorse for all to see. I saw it in a fairly busy screen with a variety of ages attending. Little kids were laughing the time away. I, a young adult, chuckled heavily in places and fully grown adults were heard chortling and occasionally the odd belly laugh. Early Man's creativity is what makes the humour soar. Sequences such as a training montage as tragic as Arsenal's most recent season and a warthog serenading Tom Hiddleston in a bath with a harp are prime examples of that humour. Personally, I do feel like the humour goes overboard at times especially with a certain giant, flying Mallard that keeps popping up. Easily though, the greatest part of Early Man and a feature I always anticipate upon a Aardman release, is the sensationally crafted animation. I hate to sound like an old misog but in regards to animation, they don't make them like this anymore. There is just something extremely satisfying knowing the unbelievable amount of effort, time and dedication that went in to film one scene, let alone the entire film. If you look incredibly closely too, you can even spot visible thumbprints on the models allowing the authenticity of the animation to drive home even further. All of the characters are intricately designed leaving no two models looking identical and the sets are bursting with an unbelievable amount of colourful detail and I'd wager that with each viewing, audiences would pick up a new fascinating detail in the background that they didn't notice before.

How to operate Wayne Rooney.

FACT: This is Timothy Spall's second feature film with Aardman, his first being Chicken Run.

Sadly, whilst Early Man is a fun 89 minutes spent at the cinema, it was of a lesser quality than previous Aardman films. Firstly, the voicework was underwhelming which was a real disappointment because of how top notch Aardman's casting has been in the past. Tom Hiddleston seemed to be the only main actor that tried to make a character from his voice thanks to a ridiculously over-the-top French accent. Everyone else didn't seem to do that much with their character. Eddie Redmayne, who plays the lead caveman, Dug, seems as if he's just voicing his character of Newt Scamander from the Fantastic Beasts series but with a lisp. Maisie Williams also can't provide true characterisation so is stuck with a very odd and strange accent that is almost impossible to pinpoint. As for some of the background players, voices appear that you might not recognise such as Rob Brydon, Timothy Spall and Richard Ayoade but they're more than serviceable in their roles and their voices are for more of a humorous intent rather than becoming a fully developed character. The other issue that Early Man suffers from is the runtime. Aardman films have always been extremely short but usually the story is carefully planned out to make it fit. With Early Man, to introduce us to the characters, get us to care about them and become fully invested in their cause, we needed more time spent with them and learning about their tribe. Instead, due to the filmmakers trying to cram as much into an eighty-nine minute runtime as possible, the entire film speeds through everything as if someone accidentally sat on the fast forward button. Feeding off my point from earlier, Early Man certainly features humour that can appeal to most demographics yet there were too many times when it was clearing going for the childlike humour that really didn't hit the sweet spot for me.

And that was how Trump got his hairsyling inspiration.

As far as animated films in general go, this is one that probably won't waste your time and is worth watching if you're up for a family outing. Early Man might not have the same electric spark that previous Aardman films have and that's probably due to a focus on appealing to international markets, but it finds ingenuity in some of the jokes and as always, is a pleasure to see the excellent models come to life.

My Verdict: 6.5/10

What did you think of Early Man? What is your favourite Aardman film? Sound off in the comments below.

If you like what you've seen here don't forget to share this with everyone you know, comment below and check out my other reviews. Thanks for reading!!

Follow the official Luke's Reviews Facebook page: fb.me/LukeStapley26
Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/LukeStapley1