EARLY MAN

EARLY MAN is a stop-motion animated movie from the studio that made CHICKEN RUN and SHAUN THE SHEEP. Taking place in the Stone Age, a tribe of cavemen live in a valley of trees that are completely surrounded by volcanic badlands. The tribe enjoys their life in the valley, and survives by hunting rabbits. Dug (voiced by Eddie Redmayne) thinks the tribe is capable of so much more, like possibly hunting mammoth’s instead of rabbits.

One night, the tribe is attacked and driven out of their valley by an army of people armored with a mysterious element: bronze. Dug accidentally falls into one of their carts and finds himself transported back to their city, which is ruled by the mean Lord Nooth. Dug through his own clumsiness is mistaken for someone else, and accidental enters into an arena that turns out to be a soccer field. The entire city is obsessed with soccer (which they call football, because they’re British), and Lord Nooth is proud of his champion team, whom no one can beat.

When Dug is discovered on the soccer field and apprehended, he boldly challenges Lord Nooth’s winning team to a soccer match, and if Dug’s tribe wins, he and friends can have their valley back. However, if Dug’s tribe loses, they’ll be forced to work in the Ore mines for the rest of their lives. Lord Nooth agrees to Dug’s challenge, thinking the match will make him loads of money, since he requires the citizens to pay “voluntary contributions” to watch the games. The only problem is that Dug and his tribe have no idea what soccer is, or how to play it.

Dug must try to teach himself and his goofy bunch of friends how to play soccer, or else they lose their home forever.

EARLY MAN is a clever, often funny and charming animated movie. The claymation work is beautiful, and imaginative. The voice work is also superb, with each character having unique comedic traits.

Positively, EARLY MAN has positive biblical messages about teamwork, hard work and selflessness. At the beginning, the tribe stands together and says a prayer of thanks, though it’s not clear to whom they’re praying. Also, while the beginning of the movie romanticizes the cavemen’s life in the Stone Age over the ingenuity that came in the Bronze Age, the main character does learn to pursue bigger things by the end, and the whole tribe learns to be more brave and intelligent.

A light caution is advised for young children however, because the entire premise of the story relies on a false teaching of Darwinism that man was created as unintelligent beings and eventually evolved into intelligent ones. Though evolution is never mentioned, the implications are there, and children should be taught the truth, that we were created in the image of God. There are also some light innuendos, implied animated violence and some scatological humor.