Early Man Review - A Wonderful Return For Aardman

Certificate – PG

Directed By – Nick Park

Starring (Voiced By) – Eddie Redmayne; Tom Hiddleston; Maisie Williams; Timothy Spall; Richard Ayoade; Johnny Vegas; Rob Brydon.

Running Time – 89 Minutes (1 Hour 29 Minutes)

★★★★✩

Aardman has been knocking out brilliant family movies for years and now after three years away they’re back with another triumph in the form of the prehistoric adventure Early Man.

Set at the dawn of time, when prehistoric creatures roamed the earth, Early Man tells the story of courageous caveman hero Dug (Redmayne) and his best friend Hognob as they unite his tribe against a mighty enemy, Lord Nooth (Hiddleston), and his Bronze Age City to save their home.

IMAGE VIA AARDMAN/ STUDIOCANAL

Early Man was my second most anticipated film of 2018 and I’m glad I wasn’t disappointed, even though it wasn’t on the top tier level of Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, Pirates and Shaun the Sheep, it joins the mid-tier with Flushed Away and Chicken Run.

The film is stupidly charming which made me laugh from the beginning and some of the good-natured jokes will make you smile to yourself and will be a hit with the kids as well as adults, which Aardman does so fantastically well.

As well as being a caveman family film, it’s also a sports movie (an underhog story if it were) and it handles the football stuff really well

Redmayne does a nice job voicing Dug and delivers a nice balance of innocent and heroism. A big help was his pet hog/dog Hognob who brings the smarts as well as being utterly adorable and has one of the best scenes in the film.

IMAGE VIA AARDMAN/ STUDIOCANAL

The scene includes Hiddleston’s villainous Lord Nooth and you can tell he had a great time voicing this over-the-top bad guy with a French accent that’d make Allo, Allo proud. So Loki better watch his back because Hiddleston has a new villain to play with.

The supporting cast with the British talent voicing the cavemen with some standouts including Johnny Vegas and Timothy Spall. Meanwhile, Rob Brydon does a wonderful job as the messaging pigeon and the commentators.

This is a great directorial return for Park with Dug and Co that seem perfect for either short TV episodes or full-length sequel.

IMAGE VIA AARDMAN/ STUDIOCANAL

Verdict

While it’s no Shaun The Sheep, Early Man is charming, funny and perfect for the family.