Early Man

Early Man – Dug and his Stone Age tribe live a simple life until people of the Bronze Age muscle in on their land. Their only hope is to play a game of football and win against the Bronze Age soccer superstars or be damned to a life of slavery in the mines. They may have no idea how to play but the will is there and, finding an ally who knows what she’s doing, the tribe may stand a chance of reclaiming their land and showing the world that they have every right to be.

Early Man (2018) – Director: Nick Park

By Source (WP:NFCC#4), Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=50502203

Rating: PG

Running Length: 89 mins

Starring: Eddie Redmayne, Maisie Williams, Tom Hiddleston

Genre: Comedy, Sport

REVIEW: ‘EARLY MAN’

Animation studio, Aardman, are well-known for their irreverent Claymation stories, mainly focusing on ordinary, down-to-Earth British life. Setting the movie at the dawn of time, adding a football theme and some good old-fashioned rivalry with the French makes ‘Early Man’ the quintessential Brit flick. Unfortunately these references and in-jokes may make it hard for those outside of this culture to fully understand the gags but it by no means excludes anyone.

It is a shame that the animation quality usually expected of Aardman is lacking in ‘Early Man’, looking more like one of their earliest ventures and the plot of trying to win a football match (is there ever any doubt they’ll lose?) is paper-thin. It is also a shame that female protagonist, Goona, has an initially promising start but merely becomes one of the tribe once she joins them rather than standing out. However, these criticisms by no means takes away from the delightful (and often cheeky) comedy that runs all the way through, making you beam with a big toothy grin from start to finish.

‘Early Man’ takes a rather silly approach to its own plot with many anachronistic jokes such as glancing at pretend watches or a great gag involving a bird acting as voicemail. The emotional journey is minor and the conflict present between the main gang minimal, so really all that ‘Early Man’ has left is the laughs, of which there are plenty for all ages to enjoy.

CONTENT: IS ‘EARLY MAN’ SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN?

The movie opens with humans and dinosaurs coexisting until a meteorite hits the Earth, covering everyone in rocks and dirt. The humans pull themselves out, having survived the disaster but next to them, a dinosaur’s leg sticks out of the dirt indicating that it and the other dinosaur’s have been killed.

Just before going hunting, one of the tribespeople light-heartedly says ‘Right, let’s go kill something!’ before they all go out attempting to kill a friendly rabbit. This is a comedic scene with lots of slapstick however when the rabbit is caught it is held aloft by its ears; this doesn’t cause any suffering to the rabbit but as this action would cause pain and injury to a real rabbit, this ‘fun’ visual could encourage kids to copy it, not realising that they are harming the animal. The rabbit is then tied to a wooden stick which is rotated over a spit, again the animal isn’t bothered by this at all.

At night, a loud rumbling sound is heard by the tribe. They stare into the darkness for a suspenseful minute. A huge creature comes into view and large arrows shoot through the air, narrowly hitting the tribespeople as they flee for their lives. A character has a beloved ‘friend’ who is an inanimate object; this friend gets hit by an arrow and as it’s decapitated ‘head’ rolls along the ground, the character cries out briefly in anguish.

Dug finds himself sneaking around a town and inside someone’s house. He falls and slides along the ground, coming to a stop between a man’s leg’s as he showers. He awkwardly tries to explain why he’s there before he turns his eyes away from the man’s nudity. Later, a man stands naked in front of a large crowd, he has a bare bottom and when shown from the front, only a small flag maintains his modesty; someone in the crowd wolf whistles at him.

Dug is taken into an arena which has a large crowd which jeers at him and several others. A man in the crowd leans towards Dug with an angry expression and gestures a slicing motion across his neck with his finger.

A woman repeatedly makes mildly inappropriate comments about men, for instance when looking at a picture of a footballer she says ‘ooh, nice tight shorts!’. Each time she makes a comment, her son becomes embarrassed and chastises her.

Dug’s friend, a wild boar named Hognob needs to stay hidden but hears a man say ‘stop messing about and get in here with those firm hands of yours!’. The man believes Hognob to be his masseuse and the boar has to go along with this in order to keep his cover.

A messenger bird is sent from the Queen to Lord Nooth a relays a communication, much like an answerphone message. But it also acts like her. When threatening Nooth, the bird holds 2 walnuts in its hand and, with an aggressive look, it squeezes and cracks the nuts clearly indicating that these nuts will be replaced with a part of his anatomy if he continues to displease her.

Dug makes a wager that his tribe will win the football game to win their land back but if they lose, he and his friends will be forced into slavery down the mines. Dug imagines this happening and sees his friends crying out as they are whipped and forced to do hard labour. This lasts for around 30 seconds and has no jokes to break up the darker tone.

An established character is badly hurt, hitting his back hard against a wooden post which breaks on impact. He has a few final words before groaning and gargling. As he lies lifeless, his friends begin to sniffle and sob, however a comedy moment makes this scene much happier.

CAN I SEE A CLIP?

VERDICT: IS ‘EARLY MAN’ OK FOR KIDS?

‘Early Man’ is a decidedly a British comedy that doesn’t put on any airs or graces. As some of the content is a little inappropriate for younger children, we feel that ‘Early Man’ is suitable for kids aged 6 and over.

Violence: 2/5 (lots of slapstick throughout. The final football match gets quite violent)
Emotional Distress: 1/5
Fear Factor: 1/5 (Dug suddenly has a hood put over his head to be kidnapped)
Sexual Content: 1/5 (some mild nudity, some innuendo)
Bad Language: 1/5 (one mild word is used)
Dialogue: 1/5
Other Notes: Deals with themes of friendship, family, protecting your home, imperialism, progress, football,

Words by Laura Record

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