First Take: Early Man- it truly is a beautiful game

SYNOPSIS: Set at the dawn of time, when prehistoric creatures and woolly mammoths roamed the earth, Early Man tells the story of Dug, along with sidekick Hognob as they unite his tribe against a mighty enemy Lord Nooth and his Bronze Age City to save their home.

When you mention the words ‘stop motion animation’, us Brits would instantly think of Wallace and Gromit, Chicken Run, Creature Comforts and many other works from the mighty Bristol-based Aardman. Now, after a considerable break, they’re back- wait, Nick Park is back with a brand new original film. And it’s arguably one of the studio’s best movies to date.

Park once again directs the film with relative ease, pacing it very well and utilising the studio’s signature combination of visual jokes, clever camerawork, and the best clay-mation technology available to tell a fictionalised story about how cavemen actually devised the sport of football. Add to that a fantastic script from Mark Burton and James Higginson that has some very funny moments tied into a neat plot that the whole family can understand, and you have a really tight 1 hour 29 minutes that audiences of all ages can enjoy. Harry Gregson-Williams and Tom Howe’s score is also good, but
the real selling point is the iconic Aardman animation- it is outstanding as we have all come to expect.

The voice cast is world class, just listing the names is enough to describe it- Tom Hiddleston, Eddie Redmayne, Maisie Williams, and Timothy Spall lead the cast, and with some brilliant supporting work from Richard Ayoade, Miriam Margolyes, Johnny Vegas, Rob Brydon and Kayvan Novak, they are able to blend humour and plot in a way that doesn’t make the film drag- but I do have to mention the actor behind the noises of Hognob. It’s not often that a director gets much control on his vision, but Nick Park has pioneered that much for the industry that he fully deserves to voice the obligatory sidekick.

THE VERDICT

Early Man is another master stroke from the studio that gave us Chicken Run- for their first truly original, non-adapted film since 2011’s Arthur Christmas, my expectations were high, and as usual they did not disappoint. Families will adore it, university students will adore it, and while awards voters haven’t adored it, it’s set to become another hallmark for the British film industry.

RATING: 5/5