Film Review: ‘Early Man’ is Unabashedly Freaking Hilarious

CHICAGO – Humor flows from one individual, and reaches another. Whether the receiver laughs or not is subjective, based on experiences and worldview. It can be agreed, however, that animator Nick Park (“Wallace & Gromit”) is hilarious, and he’ll make the world laugh in “Early Man.”

Rating: 5.0/5.0

Set in the cave man era, what begins as a glimpse into the transition from dinosaurs to homo sapiens, becomes a broad satire of greed and soccer (football, of course, to the rest of the world). Yes, through a convoluted series of events, Park converts the cave man cartoon picture into a satire of the sports underdog genre, and makes it funny on all levels. From a rag-tag bunch of cave dwellers trying to learn soccer, to a giant duck that makes perfectly timed appearances, “Early Man” is the film guaranteed to chase all the blues away. Nick Park is an international animation treasure.

After a meteor takes care of the dinosaurs, early man emerges and makes some lemonade out of their now lemon earth, and invents soccer. Many eons pass, and the cave dwelling ancestors of the game inventors are a happy tribe that features Dug (voice of Eddie Redmayne) and is led by Chief Bobnar (the great Timothy Spall). Their idyllic rabbit hunting existence is shattered by an outside army, metal encased men who have begun the Bronze Age.

The Bronzers not only have superior weaponry, but have established a capitalist society that is based on the need for the precious metal. They exile Dug’s tribe out of their homeland to mine the ore, which is led by the greedy Bronzer Lord Nooth (Tom Hiddleston). There is one hope… if the cave men can somehow learn the game of soccer from a sympathetic coach Goona (Maisie Williams), and defeat the Bronze Age all-stars, they can win back their home.

”Early Man” is currently in theaters everywhere.. Featuring the voices of Eddie Redmayne, Tom Hiddleston, Timothy Spall and Maisie Williams. Screenplay by Mark Burton and James Higginson, from a story by Burton and Nick Park. Directed by Nick Park. Rated “PG”