Early Man - AniMat’s Reviews

It’s Cavemen vs. Gladiators in the ultimate battle of…football?
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[@Dalek44]

Fun Fact: I took part in a crowd recording session for Early Man. I and over 100 other Bristol citizens went to a football pitch to record football pitch crowd chants, cheers, boos and more with microphones around the pitch and everything. Even though it's hard to make out my voice since I was with hundreds of people during recording it's still awesome that I got the chance to take part in an Aardman movie.

[@DizzyGamerOfficial]

wow! you worked on aardman!?! That's Amazing!!

[@henryg4377]

Mabye I've spotted you before in the DVD behind-the-scenes! Also, I love Doctor Who too Mr Dalek44!

[@CoasterThrillz]

Awesome

[@wespapes2054]

Yes, it was a simple film. But it was a delight to see on the big screen. I missed seeing a variation of animation on the silver screen, and this was a welcome return of an old classic style.

[@CheshireCat-cm1si]

Wes Papes It's charm, for me, was in its simplicity. Every movie now has to have twenty different ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ plots, that they forget that a film can be good if given one story to tell. But, I was hoping that it would be a big action/adventure comedy rather than another underdog sports movie.

[@wespapes2054]

Cheshire Cat 5732 That was a desire of mine as well, but I do love a well done underdog movie, and this was one of them.

[@amirgarcia547]

Dang, it sucks that this movie missed out on tons of potential by taking an interesting concept and making it cliché and predictable. I might see it someday since all of Aardman’s movies still have a unique charm to them, but most likely not in theaters.

[@lukethemankey3522]

Yeah kinda agree. Simple, yes, but not every film needs incredibly in depth characters. Sometimes charm and humor(and Loki) is all you need. 7.5/10

[@Tombola1993]

That looks like so much fun. I really want to watch it.

[@HarryThomasPictures]

This movie doesn’t hold a candle to The Curse of The Were Rabbit!

[@laurajones1773]

True. It is also no where near as good as "Chicken Run" either. This as well as "Shaun the Sheep Movie" are some of Aardman's weakest films.

[@HarryThomasPictures]

Laura Jones I know right, Aardman have been going down hill recently!

[@laurajones1773]

I noticed that too. I find "Shaun the Sheep Movie" overrated since it is a generic kids flick with sheep. I think the best Aardman films are the first two films they made which are "Chicken Run" and "Wallace and Gromit the Curse of the Ware Rabbit." The worst Aardman films are the last two films which are "Shaun the Sheep Movie" and "Early Man." Also, I find the animation and the character designs in all the Aardman films, including the CGI ones, look the same. There's no variety in terms of the animation.

[@HarryThomasPictures]

Laura Jones Totally agree I also think Arthur Xmas is overrated, and the character designs for that one are a little bland. And your correct Shaun the Sheep was a generic kiss flick, Aardman’s earlier movies like Chicken Run and Curse of the Were Rabbit are the best since they weren’t afraid to be more mature!

[@jakethebutt]

I actually requested him to do a review of that film!

[@alexismartinez8343]

One thing that really came my mind about this movie is the concept. Originally before DreamWorks and Aardman worked together to make movies, they did announced that they were going to make a stop motion animated film called Crood Awakening about cavemen and based on the book by Roald Dahl The Twits. John Cleese and Kirk DeMicco were co-writing the script. However because of creative differences and their partnership ended, DreamWorks won the rights for the film so they give the project to the Lilo and Stitch director Chris Sanders who would later make How to Train Your Dragon and later would be the film we all know now as The Croods. Could Early Man be the scrapped concept they once wanted to make for DreamWorks or is it just original story?

[@alextheblueman-reviewergam9655]

alexis martinez that does sound like an interesting theory.

[@RobBob6197]

Well, this seems to be the Aardman equivalent of The BoxTrolls.

[@laurajones1773]

I guess so, since they are both stop motion films that are not very original. "The Box Trolls" is like Disney's "Tarzan" with trolls instead of apes and gorillas, while "Early Man" is like "The Croods" with soccer.

[@cjsnappi1535]

Rob Bob I think BoxTrolls is a little bit better...

[@laurajones1773]

For me personally, I think "Early Man" is on par with "The Box Trolls." Both of those movies are meh.

[@Treeeee2008]

I agree. Both movies are some of the studios weaker films, but still pretty good on their own.

[@maurice2deceased662]

Obviously the best character in this film is Mister Rock, his voice actor definitely deserves an award for his work!

[@henryg4377]

Well the award-making people wouldn't have trouble making the award...

[@mc.gemstone]

It's nice to see Ardman again I mean stop motion is not easy that's why it takes so long for them to make movies so they put all there love and care into movie so yeah I would love to see this movie if I can! ^w^

[@ekusned6032]

After a week ago it's finally here Great review

[@Landon11195]

Why did they release this on the same day as Black Panther?

[@Naturenerd1000]

Landon Legate To compeate against Disney.

[@jackiegonzalez6814]

Naturenerd1000 like Don Bluth did a long time ago. ( no pun intended.)

[@ferminmarkpousada1455]

Becuase Lionsgate is an idiot by pushing this over a Marvel movie

[@Isaacarthy]

Plus, when I saw it, Peter Rabbit was also popular.

[@00square1]

It’s nice to see that after going through the entire 2017 year of: 5. A beautiful looking but bland adaptation of an 80’s cartoon. 4. one of dreamworks crappiest movies (no pun intended) 3. A movie you pray never to existed, aside from another one. 2. A sequel to a movie that sounds like a very bad x rated porn movie. 1. And the closest thing the world is going to get to sequel of foodfight. .... we started nice with early man. I hope nothing but the best for 2018.

[@ignagrebe4538]

I guess that 5 and 4 are Fernidand and Boss Baby, but which movies are supposed to be 3,2 and 1?

[@laurajones1773]

I think 3 is "The Star," 2 is "The Nut Job 2:Nutty by Nature" and 1 is "The Emoji Movie."

[@laurajones1773]

I think 5 is "Smurfs the Lost Village."

[@chillplayer1234]

ESQUARE Boss Baby wasn't cr@ppy though. It had a couple good moments and animation was pretty good. It's more of DreamWorks' weaker films.

[@DHynes5]

2018 has showed promise so far with Early Man and Isle of Dogs. We then will have Incredibles 2, Wreck-It Ralph 2 and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse which gives me more hope :)

[@somewackoonyoutube2449]

My ratings: Story: 4/10 Very predictable, incredibly rushed, and I feel like it's massive disappointment, due to it not taking advantage of the Cavemen vs. Gladiators/transition from the Stone Age to the Bronze Age concept. As for the humor, I generally enjoyed it. But, at the same time, some of the jokes fall into the "juvenile" category, which gave me this awkward feeling that this movie is for a younger audience. But, to be fair, it doesn't use juvenile humor *that* much and the feeling I hit from it was probably just me XD. Animation: 9/10 Admittedly, the animation isn't really groundbreaking but it's still well-done thanks to incredibly vivid backgrounds, excellent character animation, and I like how the designs are done in Aardman's classicstyle. Characters: 5/10 The characters are pretty tolerable and the voice acting is appealing. But they could have been more three-dimensional (and better) if this movie didn't rush itself -_- Overall: 7/10 Although it's definitely not Aardman's best film ever, I still found it to be enjoyable enough.

[@chamindajayawardana9398]

This film was decent it was nowhere near chicken run or the curse of the were rabbit it was still enjoyable I mostly like that two of my celebrity crushes Eddie redmayne and Tom hiddleston were in it did you notice newt scamamder , Loki , Arya Stark , Peter petigrew are in it

[@alanoliva2020]

I love Aardman animation, and even if it's a sports film, this should still be good. It's a shame Peter Salus who was Wallace is gone.

[@bulatao195]

Watching this makes it feels like the Fastest 90 Minutes that I've ever went through, everything happened so fast that it feels like time is speeding up with it. (That's how I feel after watching Storks and Cars 3)

[@alexismartinez8343]

Is it just me or does the girl in this movie look like version of Astrid from How to Train Your Dragon? From the blonde hair, Viking fur like clothes, same eye colors and strong tough girl personality. They both look very similar to each other if you compare to them.

[@laurajones1773]

Actually, come to think of it, I think you're right. However, Astrid is much hotter.

[@alexismartinez8343]

Laura Jones I know right.

[@laurajones1773]

Also, I find Astrid to be a much more interesting of a character. Besides, I am a huge "How to Train Your Dragon" fan. I can't wait for "How to Train Your Dragon 3."

[@rebelliouswitch1991]

@@laurajones1773 Wtf

[@superzilla784]

While not as great as Wallace and Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit, it was still a movie I enjoyed. I've gotten kinda tired of the never ending super hero movies and computer generated 3D animations. this was a welcome change from the main stream movies we've been seeing lately. it's just too bad this movie didn't get any more attention.

[@deanfalkyn]

This is the first 7/10 in a Animat Regular Review in a long time, since Sing

[@thedevilbutterfly9536]

Rating Predictions Best 1) Incredibles 2 - 10/10 2) Isle of Dogs - 10/10 3) Wreck it Ralph 2: Ralph Breaks the Internet - 9/10 4) Spiderman: Into the Spider-verse - 9/10 5) Teen Titans Go! To the Movies - 8/10 Honorable Mentions Early Man - 7/10 Small Foot - 7/10 Worst 1) Sherlock Gnomes - 3/10 2) Duck Duck Goose - 4/10 3) Hotel Transylvania 3 - 4/10 4) How the Grinch Stole Christmas - 5/10 5) Animal Crackers - 6/10

[@endrick6380]

It's refreshing to see a different animation art style instead of the oversaturated CGI.

[@elmejorcriticodelmundoxd6199]

Mys scores: Story: 6/10 Animation: 10/10 Characters: 7/10 Total: 8/10 (Good)

[@ultgamercw6759]

I think this film was made mostly for the uk. There was a lot of jokes that I don't think most people outside the uk would get.

[@jakelownds8878]

Wouldn't watch if your a Man City fan who absaloutley hated the 2003 Champions league final.It's a Stone Age version of that. I do like the fact it set "near Manchester" Where I live

[@mariajimenafigueroa8311]

Aardman is such an underrated company.

[@jamesmoyner7499]

I am going to see this film before “Black Panther”.

[@DEV-gz2eu]

I think Lord Nooth might actually be ancestor of Victor Quartermane (the villain of the Wallace and Gromit movie). They got the same lips, the same nose, the same small hands, a similar inferiority complex, and a similar ego. Would not surprise me if these two were related.

[@CodenameKOALS]

This movie would be awesome if it wasn’t about soccer

[@henryg4377]

It's funny to think that when I went to see this film, I actually went to the wrong film! Then I brought a DVD of it months later, and I found it a huge coincidence that it was about football, as I had just gotten into football like a month ago! 0o0

[@maddymiller4146]

These are my thoughts on the movie. I paused the video before it even started so I can form my own review of the movie before I watch Animat’s review of it. Before the video Animation; it’s reminiscent of the Wallet and Gromet movies as it features stop motion claymation. I could see every single tiny detail that went into making this movie and the amount of work and effort it was put into to make the characters ready for the big screen. I liked the animation allot and it was like eye candy. So 10/10 on the animation. The story So the story follows this cave boy through the battle of the Stone Age vs the Bronze Age, I was surprised about how different the Bronze Age and the Stone Age were compared to each other. The Bronze Age brought currency and more efficient tools for preparing meals and living. The story could’ve been better if it taught a lesson on how much the Bronze Age shaped our world in many different ways, instead we got a lesson on playing fair and never resort to cheating in a competition. I wasn’t expecting a history lesson, but in this day in Age, most kids learn through movies and TV shows. This movie could’ve been a fun little history lesson on how the Bronze Age had a big impact on our world. While the Stone Age brought us weapons and stone tools used for hunting our meals. I liked the presentation of how different the Bronze Age is from the Stone Age. 5/10 The characters I love the characters and I found a chance to see right through Lord Nooth‘s lies to trick Dug and the other cave people to give up their home to make way for the Bronze Age. Dug was a sweet character that didn’t know what was going on with the changes in the world and he attempted to stop the changes from happening. Now I have an issue with this plot because it’s saying that should push out new changes that might benefit the future of mankind. Think of it, if we were stuck in the Stone Age we wouldn’t have all this technology to make movies, animated tv shows, live action tv shows and other things that happened because of the Bronze Age. Now this movie could’ve been better if it showed an accurate portrayal of how history shaped our world in a fun movie that even a parent would approve of. 5/10 for me. I agree that the character weren’t developed properly as it was a rushed movie. We never got to get to see the character’s to make them memorable, I had to look at them. After the movie Your review is similar to my review of the movie. This movie is best for distracting kids for an hour

[@ejl423]

I remember when Creature Comforts had a brief run on CBS. I really enjoyed it, and was disappointed when they took it off.

[@maxmantell5009]

Dug=Wallace Hognob=Gromit Goona=lady tottington Lord nooth=victor

[@JessicaKasumi1990]

Now I know what I'm going to watch tomorrow at the cinema. Thanks for the review Mat.

[@TrisNGar]

Didn't know the advertising threw some people off about the plot... I never saw the trailers and went into the film blind cause a friend invited me to watch it in theater. and I just though it was a pleasant story, decent comedy but nothing really grand. the sport element didn't really ruined or lessen what I felt about the film but I'm not much of a sport fan. But it a decent Aardman flick.

[@warriorhatwr1860]

Early man is the #1 best animated film so far by animat.

[@jaydensapp2]

My rating of early man Story 6/10 Animation 10/10 Characters 8.5/10 Overall 9/10

[@AydanG2002]

I’ve been waittttttttttttttttttttttttting for this review

[@Falxifer95]

1:53 in other words REAL football.

[@alienboy1322]

TheSlayFer Ch. T. As an American myself, i prefer American football to be called Gridlock and Soccer to be called Football in the states.

[@cupcakegeek0152]

Everyone seems to have similar opinions on this film, including myself!: Good film, not Aardman's best. Felt a lot shorter than it actually was. Should've been more to the film. In my opinion, this film would've worked better as a 45 min short film. Who agrees?

[@cupcakegeek0152]

I ALMOST loved it, and the film was very funny!

[@alexandermcclelland1520]

Don't talk about foodfight when reviewing Shaun the sheep the movie 2 and give Shaun the sheep the movie 2 the animat seal of approval and the director of foodfight will be the producer of Shaun the sheep the movie 2

[@alextheblueman-reviewergam9655]

Hm. I forgot about this film

[@laurajones1773]

I don't blame you because it's a forgettable movie.

[@gwimbly8683]

From almost making there own venison of The Croods awhile back, I say I still enjoyed It too and did a had a few moments like Hognob's Harp scene and even a puppet replay almost near the end. Though hopefully next time Aardman might make another project that abit better or a least a sequel to Chicken Run, still that gave It that all here and hopefully might planner bigger then last time and hopefully not to lose there touch.

[@cassinihuygens72]

I saw a little bit of this movie last night. It looked pretty good, and it was nice to see Aardman again. The animation is epic as usual, and it’s nice to see something other than CGI. Don’t get me wrong, I love CGI movies such as Meet the Robinsons and Big Hero 6, but there are also some bad CGI movies, such as The Emoji Movie And Hotel Transylvania 3.

[@cassinihuygens72]

Fartoon Abdirahman In my opinion, it’s the worst in the franchise. I like the first. But I respect your opinion.

[@n.t.1474]

I like this movie. Even though, it ain't great as Chicken Run and Wallace and Gromit.

[@unknownastroid_2240]

Wallace and Gromit practically started this era of stop motion with its humor. Shows like those will never get old the will still hold up years and years later down the road

[@jakethebutt]

This film should get more attention since it’s doing terribly at the box office by making only 14 million dollars.... worldwide? I don’t know...

[@tacodog767]

0:55, my response: ehh...

[@johnverrastro2323]

So he’s just not gunna talk about how nooth says crap

[@oldman5247]

I think this movie would've been better if they (other than not rushing the plot and characters) developed the differences between the stone and bronze ages and made a family friendly comedy about colonialism. Granted that sounds like a hard sell, but I bet it would've been more interesting than a by the numbers sports flick. I agree (as you guys can tell) with Animat on this one. Enjoyable flick though!

[@extinctionanimation]

Story:6/10 Animation:10/10 Characters:7/10 Overall:8/10

[@makutamiserix5612]

Did they reuse the model for the cop in Curse of the were-rabbit?

[@meganbean1596]

I LOVE THIS MOVIE SOOOOOOOO MUCH! But if there's a sequel to it i want aardman to do me a favor! Have a scene where treebor interacts with goona a scene he interacts with gravelle and a scene where she interacts with magma!

[@Garyfan2001]

My Ratings for this film The Story - 5/10 The Animation - 10/10 The Characters - 7/10 Early Man - 7/10 (Good)

[@katebottley5143]

This movie is basically if Asterix was a sports movie

[@laurajones1773]

Or The Croods.

[@maxmantell5009]

Cute movie. They should’ve had a Wallace and Gromit or Shaun the Sheep short before it because that would’ve saved it from being a box office bomb.

[@georgerobertson7010]

I might go see this movie.

[@maxmantell5009]

0:38-wrong trousers

[@sparrowthunder5286]

My Thoughts Story - 6/10 Animation - 10/10 Characters - 7/10 Overall - 6.5/10

[@MenchiGuevarra]

I found this movie to be decent

[@kellym621]

I was hoping you would give it a 9/10 with the animat seal of approval, I mean you did say this in your top 5 Best & Worst Animated Films of 2017 "This stop motion film that looks amazing number 1" but I guess you can't expect what you expected.

[@laurajones1773]

Well, I don't think AniMat thought it was as amazing as he expected.

[@KeybladeMasterAndy]

Being at the Bronze Age city at 20 minutes seems rather appropriate.

[@57studios54]

Here’s My Rating For Early Man Story: 7/10 Animation: 10/10 Characters: 9/10 Rating: 9/10

[@georgerobertson7010]

This movie wasn’t playing in the theatre where I live so I never got to see it.

[@jaydensapp2]

I have 4 Theaters I go to see movies there 2 I usually go to but I had to go to a different theater to see this and my little pony in theaters but they played the trailer and had the poster up but my main theater didn't get it in heck in my place isle of dogs and rock dog was a limited release it was in none of my theater sgt stubby I had to see that in the 4 theater I go to cause that the only place it was playing

[@warriorhatwr1860]

The story 8/10 The animation 10/10 The characters 10/10 The movie 7/10

[@harrisoncora4259]

warrior hatwr that’s a joke. Right?

[@harrisoncora4259]

Rob Burns no. It’s a 7.

[@TheAdam1995]

I personally thought it was great. Had it not been for Nick Park's direction and the usual Aardman charm, this would definetly turn out another forgettable waste to add to the pile. Some of it's issues I can easily ignore because of how much fun I've had watching it. Early Man rocked!

[@JM-io3mp]

I bought this dvd right when it came out I love it

[@KirbyFan9000]

My Version Story: 6/10 Animation: 8/10 Characters: 6/10 Overall: 7/10 In Total: 20/30

[@toiletghosthanako-kun2073]

Damnit review Monster family I was waiting on that one from you

[@sharonpereira4501]

This is a good movie.

[@alexandermcclelland1520]

Review the new Peter rabbit 2018

[@andy-roob6945]

That movie's not fully animated.

[@josemourinho2947]

Early man Story 6/10 Animation 9/10 Characters 7/10 Overall 7/10

[@HeckmanFT7]

2018 is gonna be a decent year

[@lamborocksstrikesback7616]

Yay this review is back

[@TwinKids3895]

I kinda wanna see it

[@christopherwallace7903]

Twin Kids Me too

[@arumikahaven]

I was so excited for this at first, being a huge fan of Wallace and Gromit, and Chicken Run, hell even Shaun the Sheep. But as soon as I heard about the football plot, I was disappointed and didn't bother to go see it after that

[@sonicplushycentral6818]

Hey I’m here EARLY man. Bad um tss!

[@Gordonfreeman551]

Review When black birds fly

[@jackiegonzalez6814]

Underfell Nega papyrus aw, hell naw!

[@Gordonfreeman551]

Kieran Stark can you do it? Sadly I don't have one

[@Gordonfreeman551]

Kieran Stark yeah

[@markdonato1914]

Do a review on Aachi and Ssipak please, the movie has 2 languages, 1 is the original korean in 2006 and the second is the English version from MondoMedia in 2014.

[@extinctionanimation]

I saw this movie in theaters and I thought it was really good

[@maxmantell5009]

Dug is wallaces ancestor

[@FrenchFryCheese04]

how do you know

[@TenryuBoshi]

In short, the movie is probably gonna be a hit here in latin america.

[@angelazaplotinsky1791]

oh boy what this a great movie for me cant wait to get this on blu ray thank you Aardman up next is isle of dogs cant wait to see you again wes anderson

[@chillplayer1234]

Angela zaplotinsky Technically the next animated movies are Sherlock Gnomes and Isle Of Dogs simultaneously. I wonder which one Mat is reviewing first. I think he should get the obvious bad movie and save the best for second. Hopefully he pulls something like what he did with The Star & Coco where the former's review came on a Thursday and the latter's review came on a Friday.

[@angelazaplotinsky1791]

chill i swear sherlock gnomes should of been on dvd instead of cimeas just the tralier is just very cringy with adult jokes oh yeah kid are going to enjoy this

[@andy-roob6945]

You oughta review The Brave Little Toaster.

[@elmojedburgh3481]

This Movie Could've Been Way Way Better !!

[@joshietron631]

Story 5/10 Animation 10/10 Characters 7/10 Overall rating 7.5/10

[@alexandermcclelland1520]

Hotel Transylvania 3 is worser than the emoji movie and cloudy 2 and Sony is making a film worser than the emoji movie and cloudy 2

[@chamindajayawardana9398]

Wow so newt scamander vs Loki btw I love Loki he’s so hot

[@goggles2041]

I thought this movie was going to be out on December

[@andreminioli2136]

I can’t wait to watch this

[@mariobabbo3497]

This movie received generally positive reviews from critics, with praise for the animation, voice acting, humor, and faithfulness to the sport. However, it was a box-office bomb, grossing just $54 million against the budget of $50 million, making it the lowest-grossing Aardman film since Flushed Away and Pirates Band Of Misfits as it was released on the same weekend as Marvel’s Black Panther.

[@shaneaycock1890]

Not to be too harsh but this may be one of the worst movies of 2018 for me. I thought Aardman would really come back with something epic, only to find a huge disappointment figuring out that this is a cliche sports movie. I'm sorry, it's just not Oscar worthy this time.

[@sebastianengelsman7255]

Although the film definitely have several drawbacks, it was definitely a very entertaining movie. To make it even better, it had Loki.

[@jaydenbrough8264]

Story 5/10 Animation 9/10 Characters 8/10 Total 7/10

[@alegisdepressed2241]

You forgot about.... DAVID WALSH!!!

[@yakunohayashi9653]

They've waste a lot of GREAT actors: Eddie Redmayne, Tom Hiddlestone and Maise Williams?!?!?!

[@sirwelcome]

How were they wasted?

[@JohnnyCS7]

can you review who framed roger rabbit

[@magicalranter224]

The Epic Dragon 16 you got ur wish

[@GallyGears]

It was great to see an animated movie on the big screen that wasn’t 3D animated- but I’d have to say this film was a bit of a let down. The animation was the best feature, but the plot and jokes were somewhat lacking. The plots been done to death and I really didn’t laugh at any of the jokes besides the game replays and maybe the bird. Plus the pacing was terrible, some scenes went by too fast and then we’d get scenes where we’d just look at the characters faces for a few seconds to long. I was really disappointed considering I grew up with Curse of the Wererabbit.

[@alexandermcclelland1520]

Early man is better than flushed away

[@jackiegonzalez6814]

Alexander McClelland both films are good but not great.

[@sketchalater4656]

I'm not a sports person at all, so I was caught off guard at the whole soccer aspect of it. The trailer that I saw had no hint of if being a sports movie. I decided to sit through it anyway, as I was watching it on a 9hr plane ride, so I had time to kill. Considering that is was about soccer, it was made tolerable enough with it's Aardman charm. I wished that soccer was left out of it. I really thought the soccer part would be like a small side plot of the movie, but I soon realized that oh dear, this is gonna be the whole movie isn't it?

[@maxmantell5009]

Nick park also made Shaun the sheep