'Early Man' Review
07:01
Starring: Eddie Redmayne, Tom Hiddleston, Maisie Williams, Timothy Spall
I'm proud to be British. There are many reasons as to why, and I suppose there are many as to why not, but if any of these were going to stand out above anything, it has to go to our film industry, and in the case of this review - Aardman Animations. The works of Nick Park including that of Wallace and Gromit and Chicken Run are so embodied in our culture we have every reason to be proud, outstanding animation and storytelling are a big middle finger to the rest of the animation world, and nobody does it like Nick Park. And now, Early Man is Park's next offering - a prehistoric tale telling the story of the beginning of man, the world, and of football. But does it measure up to Park's old works, or is it a bit of a fossil? (Sorry, I had to, new year new me!)
Early Man tells the story of Dug (Redmayne) a young caveman living peacefully with his ragtag group of tribesmen and their Chief Bobnar (Spall). One day, their valley is ambushed by Lord Nooth (Hiddleston) who plans to mine their home for bronze, to which young Dug challenges Nooth to a game of football to win back their land. With the help of Goona (Williams) the tribe prepare for something bigger than hunting rabbits.
To begin and make one thing clear, I saw the teaser for this film way back last year and that is it. I've not seen anything that remotely gives away anything about a big theme of the film being football. And I'm glad I never looked into it enough to find out. The mix of cavemen and football is so clever and interesting here. The commentary on today's football acts, lifestyle and overall culture is so well done and incredibly funny. You couldn't get more British than this. It's a welcome surprise to see this tackled (ok, I should stop) in a film such as Early Man.
The animation is absolutely stunning as always. The giant teeth, the big noses and the obnoxious moustaches are all there to love and recall from Park's previous works and it's what gives Aardman it's unique quirks. Each of the characters look greatly unique as well, and it's evident to see a lot of thought has gone in to making them look as good as this. The voice acting is great too, but I have to give a shout-out especially to Tom Hiddleston's who's villain or Lord Nooth is so funny and ridiculous, it feels very much Aardman as anything ever could.
But it will never measure up to Park's last few films (other than Flushed Away, which I'm not a big fan of at all). One thing I have an issue with in more of Park's recent works is the reliance on dialogue. Wallace and Gromit is great for letting the audience decide for themselves what is going on with the non-speaking characters and it's something that made Shaun the Sheep Movie so entertaining. And that's where this film does falter, in it's writing. The second act is a drop and sometimes becomes quite predictable. It feels very exposition heavy and that's fine for this film's market audience of course, but what makes these films great is how they can tell a story visually, and for Early Man, it just doesn't make the cut.
Having said that, I still had an enjoyable experience, and I'd definitely watch again. As said, it'll never match up to what we have had in the past from Park but it's still something that reflects British culture fabulously and so funnily. If you are wanting a nice surprise to start this year off, Early Man is the film for you.
7/10
0 comments