One of the most appealing things about the films of Aardman Animations is their hand-crafted nature. From
fingerprints in the modeling clay to the simple character designs, their films
possess a rough-hewn, tactile quality that sets them apart from the more polished
work of studios like Laika — which puts a more modern
spin on the age-old art of stop-motion animation through the use of 3D printing
and CGI details. Aardman films pack a lot of
personality into their plasticine creations, and they
tend to be filled to the brim with their unique brand of sweet, good-natured
silliness.
The charming
“Early Man” is no different. The latest film from Nick Park, creator of
“Wallace and Gromit” and co-director of “Chicken Run,” the Stone Age
adventure’s simple plot follows a plucky caveman named Dug (voiced by Eddie
Redmayne). Under the leadership of Chief Bobnar
(Timothy Spall), the sweet, but dim-witted tribe reside in their forest valley,
hunting rabbits for food, and generally living in blissful peace. Still, Dug
dreams of something more.
Then one
day, the tribe’s valley is besieged by a Bronze Age army led by the snooty Lord
Nooth (Tom Hiddleston). The
bullying invaders intend to take the valley for themselves, planning to mine
the Neanderthals’ home for its valuable deposits of bronze. Captured and
brought to the Bronze Age city, Dug ends up challenging the more advanced
civilization to a game of football (or as we Yanks know it, soccer), with the
winner gaining control of the valley.
While in the
city Dug also meets Goona (Maisie Williams), who it
turns out is a pretty skilled football player, but has been forbidden from
playing the game because she’s a girl. Dug brings Goona
back to his home, enlisting her to help whip his people into shape for the big
game.
For a movie
that’s nothing but football from its very first scene, it’s kind of impressive
that the American trailers managed to hide that aspect of the plot entirely
(I’m assuming the film’s American distributor didn’t trust the sport to immediately
draw major crowds in this country). The brief prologue that opens the film has
shown how the ancient ancestors of Dug’s tribe first invented the game. While
over the generations those skills have faded from memory, they exist somewhere
deep down inside them all — they just have to get back in touch with their
roots.
“Early Man”
rather quickly reveals itself to be a fairly traditional underdog sports movie,
as a ragtag group of amateurs must overcome their lack of experience in order
to defeat a team of more polished rivals (cue the training montages!). As such,
the script by Mark Burton and James Higginson can’t avoid feeling overly
familiar. But the film is anchored by an unmistakably British belief in the
ability of football to settle all ills. While acting as an ode to the sport, it
manages to work in some lessons about the power of working together and the
negative aspects of tribalism.
Perhaps
predictably for an Aardman film, it’s the odd stuff
on the periphery that’s where the film’s heart truly lies. Most of the human
characters get only the most cursory of characterization. Much more personality
is given to unusual animals — a boar called Hognob
(voiced by Nick Park himself), who’s Dug’s faithful companion, and admittedly,
is basically Gromit with tusks. There’s also some hilarious encounters with a prehistoric
duck, but the less spoiled about that the better.
The film’s
chief pleasures are derived from that offbeat Aardman
sensibility: slapstick, sight gags, and wordplay (a love of puns is required
for any Aardman picture) abound. There’s a cheeky
sense of humor which feels descended from the likes of Abbott and Costello, Mel
Brooks, and Monty Python — down to the Python-esque
French accents sported by the film’s Bronze Age characters.
Though
always amusing, “Early Man” isn’t quite up to the level of the studio’s
legitimately great prior work. But when that past work includes treasures like
“Curse of the Were-Rabbit,” “Shaun the Sheep,” and the underrated “Arthur
Christmas,” that’s at least forgivable. Even the worst from Aardman
is more clever and enjoyable than most of the output from certain major
animation studios. While “Early Man” doesn’t seek to reinvent the wheel, it’s
still enough to put a big, silly smile on your face while you’re watching.
This article appears in Feb 21-27, 2018.
