Early Man review

Thanks to their seemingly constant rotation on our TV since I was a child I've loved A Grand Day Out, The Wrong Trousers and A Close Shave for as long as I can remember, which naturally turned me into a huge fan of Aardman Animations after films like Chicken Run, Flushed Away and Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (a film I'd happily consider to be a personal favourite) proved that they could handle the leap to feature-length just fine, especially if director Nick Park was at the helm. Between their distinctive visual style, their steadfast dedication to the craft of stop-motion claymation and a thoroughly British sense of humour, there's simply no-one else quite like them - so why is that Early Man, Aardman Animations' latest film and the first film directed by Nick Park in a decade, left me feeling so deeply disappointed?

The answer is simple: because it's a real disappointment when compared to a lot of what they've done in the past. With the sole exception of the animation itself (which is simply fantastic throughout), there isn't an area where Early Man doesn't pale in comparison to the studio's previous works, from how well its story is told to how funny it is to the level that it's ultimately pitched at. Set in prehistoric times, we follow a stone age caveman named Dug who lives in a lush green valley alongside his fellow tribesmen and tribeswomen. But after being forced out of the valley by a bronze age civilisation led by the villainous Lord Nooth, Dug and his tribe must reclaim their home in the only way they'll be allowed to - by beating the bronze age civilisation at a game of football.

It's a unique premise to be sure, but unfortunately that doesn't actually translate into Early Man feeling all that original or interesting as a movie, the main reason being that Dug and those around him simply aren't very interesting characters. His sole personality trait (that he's slightly more ambitious than the rest of his tribe) is introduced to us very early on, but bizarrely has no real bearing on either the film's story or Dug's character arc, leaving him feeling poorly-defined and quite forgettable as a protagonist. He might have an amusing animal companion, but believe me when I say that they're no Wallace and Gromit, despite Aardman Animations' best attempts to replicate that dynamic.

Which means that without a protagonist worth rooting for, Early Man's story - which behind the caveman set dressing follows the standard structure of a million other sports films to a fault - simply isn't a very engaging one, a problem that a machine-gun style approach to jokes can't make up for, regardless of how hard it tries. I'd be lying if I tried to claim that it wasn't funny at all (the sheer number of puns and pratfalls means that sooner or later, something's going to tickle your funny bone), but the hit-to-miss ratio is ultimately too low for Early Man to work in more than just fits and bursts. That these fits and bursts seem to coincide with whenever Lord Nooth appears is no coincidence - he's definitely Early Man's best invention, a snooty and greedy ruler voiced wonderfully by Tom Hiddleston, who seems to relish the opportunity to dive headfirst into a hilariously overt French accent.

But he's just one bright spot in a film that's otherwise frustratingly mediocre, lacking the heart, wit, charm and originality that I've come to expect from Aardman Animations. It's like if following Toy Story and Monsters Inc. and The Incredibles and Up, Pixar turned around a made something like Madagascar - it might be a film that families with young children are going to enjoy and that's fair enough, but that doesn't stop it from still being a huge step down for the studio, feeling ordinary and uninspired in comparison to their previous efforts. An outright terrible movie? Probably not. But for the first time, Nick Park has directed a movie that I can't ever see myself wanting to watch again - and as a fan of Aardman Animations, that's a real shame.

★★☆☆☆
2 stars