Monday, February 26, 2018

Jason Watches EARLY MAN

Well that was some silly fun. Aardman claymation is always fun, going back to the days of Wallace and Gromit and even earlier (the Oscar winning CREATURE COMFORTS is still a delight.)

But it's also about the invention of soccer, and it features a bunny! It's like this movie was made for me. It turns out the remains of the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs made an excellent soccer ball, and the beautiful game was born on day 1. A few eons later, a bunny-hunting tribe sees their idyllic valley overtaken by bronze age invaders. Dug is an optimistic guy who believes they can hunt mammoths instead of rabbits. And he finds a strategy where he can challenge the invaders to a soccer game to win their valley back in a soccer match. Of course, the bronze champions are powerful, but they're all superstars, so Early Man has a chance, if they're united. Get it, early Man United? Yeah, that's a joke in there. Anyway, it gets kind of corny, and follows the sports movie formula in the end, while also making fun of both the formula and the cheating antics of soccer players (a scene of the bronze age star taking a dive is pretty on-the-nose.) Lots of fun.

Running Time: 89 minutes
My Total Minutes: 470,905

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