Early Man isn’t Aardman Studio’s best work, but it will still make you laugh

Movie Title: Early Man

Grade: B-

Rating: PG, 89 minutes

In a Nutshell: If you’re a fan of the Wallace and Gromit stop-motion, cheeky, clay animated series like I am, then you’re always happy when the Aardman team creates anything new.

Unfortunately, this isn’t their best work. Still, it’s family entertainment that will make everyone giggle at least a few times.

Tips for parents:

No profanity.
Some gags and jokes that some kids won’t understand.
It’s super silly.

Uplifting theme:

Teamwork
You can be or do anything you set your mind to.
Girls can play soccer too.

Things I liked:

Lots of visual gags and puns.
The talented voice cast includes Eddie Redmayne, Tom Hiddleston, Timothy Spall, and Richard Ayoade.
I thought all of the characters’ accents were funny and ridiculous.
Wallace and Gromit are actually in a couple of the crowd shots. Yay!

Things I didn’t like:

How sad that I was actually glad when the movie ended. I hate to admit I was bored at times.
The trailer doesn’t really show what the movie is about. As it turns out, it’s a soccer movie ala Stone Age vs. Bronze Age.
Americans won’t catch a lot of the British jokes. For example, there is a zebra pelt on the ground when Dug first enters the Bronze-age village. Apparently, it refers to the British term “zebra crossing.”
Some people won’t get the duck joke. I didn’t.
The story is pretty thin with characters I didn’t feel very invested in.
Visually, it felt dark and rough. I suppose that’s supposed to make us feel like we’re in the Stone Age, but it made me sleepy and uninterested.
Predictable ending.