Very sweet stop-motion animation film with a story by the numbers but a lot of adorable details while being a sports film at the same time, covering a pre-historic football match. It's mostly the spoofs on modern day details that work fantastically here, the story is predictable but engaging enough. A few more jokes instead of slapstick would have been great. Still, very enjoyable.

Aardman is an animation studio that has impressed me since my childhood years. From Chicken Run to Flushed Away, or even Shaun the Sheep, which is a recent favorite of mine, I was very much looking forward to viewing their recent outing. While it may be one of their weakest of the movies they've produced in my opinion, I still got a kick out of it. So much effort is put into these films that it's very difficult to talk down about them. Sure, the style itself may not be for everyone, but notion that actual cinematography is used in creating a film like this is astounding to me. Early Man isn't a movie that will be recognized as one of the best films of 2018 and nor should it, but these movies don't receive enough recognition. Here's why I believe it deserves your time.Set around the plot of a young boy in Dug and his companion in Hognob, they stumble into a city of Bronze, ruled by Lord Nooth. Coming from the cavemen and women lineage, this is a surprise to them. Learning that this city has developed the game of futball (American Soccer in today's terms) from their very own ancestors, they decide to challenge this city for the right to their land back. This plot is very silly and by the numbers, so I wouldn't say it's a very adult film, but as a movie that has a goal of impressing children, while delivering some adult humour, it works tremendously. I found myself shrugging my shoulders at the sheer notion that a sport was the story that fuelled this film, but that being said, it's a solid little movie overall.As aforementioned, these movies look incredible in terms of how they're made. The animation style is to be commended no matter what the quality of the film itself turns out to be. From the visual gags to the unique characteristics, this is a movie that relies heavily on whether or not the audience can buy into the look of the movie. I found myself laughing at background elements or the way something moved, and it was clear that the intentions of the filmmakers were to accomplish just that. If for nothing else, Early Man is a wonderfully shot and animated feature film.Where the film started to lose me was how the plot itself became one of the most predictable things that I've witnessed in a while. The first act presents some very clever jokes and the characters are all likable, but once the real plot kicks in throughout the second act, I was hoping for a much more clever finale. Sadly, the third act of this movie is simply whether or not our heroes will be successful in beating this team. While the game itself and characters involved are all likable elements, I just found myself slightly uninterested. Still, there's a lot more to like than dislike here.In the end, Early Man tries very hard to be multiple things. A spoof of the tales of the stone age, a children's generic and safe storyline, and almost a political statement at the same time. While all of these elements work, I found them to be an odd mixture for this movie. Early Man is a film that I highly enjoyed from start to finish, but the overly simplistic story took away from what could've been a great film. The setting, animation, jokes, and characters all drove this movie in the right direction, but that's not quite enough when you know where everything is headed all the time. Early Man may be aimed at kids, but there's a little something in here for everyone. Disappointing for a fan like myself, but still a solid movie.

A nice little family film that teaches teamwork over individualism. While not quite as good as Shaun the Sheep... I still had a fun time and laughed at some of the humor.

The cliched sports plot is disappointing, but there are enough great gags to keep the movie fun.

Lacking the enduring quality of some of their earlier projects, Early Man is still a decent effort from respected studio Aardman Animation. The humour is overly slapstick and the narrative structure and plot beats over familiar, but there's a lot going on in all of the scenes, and the animation frequently has just as much going on in the background as the foreground. There's plenty of verbal inventiveness and out-of-nowhere jokes to disguise the cliched storytelling, and the characters are, as usual in an AA production, an exceptionally odd bunch. Most of the voice actors don faux accents for their performances, and as such it's often difficult to work out who is playing who; they truly become the characters they're voicing. If I had to choose between this and a Wallace & Gromit feature, I would definitely choose the latter, for both sentimental reasons and for its comparatively great quality and entertainment value. But Early Man is still a very enjoyable animation, celebrating the little guy and wringing plenty of laughs out of hat so many Brits hold dear: The beautiful game.

It's cute. Completely acceptable sorta funny little thing. It is very predictable and probably forgettable - it had some eye-rolly elements - I wouldn't call it inspired - but it passed some time in a way that was not unpleasant. 5.9 out of 10

Early Man is expectedly wonderfully animated and designed with some solid humor and characters, but the overall storyline is uninspired and the film is a rush job both in pacing and in runtime. It has its moments and it's perfectly solid, but not what you'd come to expect from the likes of Aardman leading to what is inarguably their weakest effort so far.

More good stuff from the Aardman clan. A little slower than their previous movies, but still as good. You really have to be out of touch with your inner kid to not laugh.

It's hard to refuse Aardman Animation Studios or Nick Park for that matter when you know what you're going to be getting in a film of theirs. The real affection of the film is within it's unique sense of wit and charm that puts a great smile on your face while it makes a hilarious commentary on the prehistoric and ancient class politics of civilization and primitives filled with hilarious puns and jokes throughout. Even if on a surface level the unique visuals offer an incredible sense of authenticity and feasible world-building for a film that cleverly parody's today's world with the ancient world, it's easy enough to recommend to both kids and adults. However, I don't personally think this to be one of Nick Park's finest efforts to date, but it still proves Aardman studios worth to create incredible claymation that's both visually stunning and hugely entertaining. Still however, Recommended!!!

Not a great deal of effort story-wise in this latest Aardman Studio offering, but if the cute factor is enough for you and your kiddies, then this entry won't do so badly. The gist of the thing is a punt at the near religious fervor of soccer fandom, and that does get a few chuckles. the best bit is a bird that delivers messages over distances. Adults fans of Aardman will miss the usual depth of humor though, and the underdone quality lacks verve.

The incredibly talented Aardman Animations are back with Early Man, a stop-motion animated sports film that is filled to the brim with puns and clever wordplay pertaining to the world of football. The story follows Dug (Eddie Redmayne) and his Stone Age tribe who challenge Bronze Age invaders led by Lord Nooth (Tom Hiddleston) to a game of Football in order to save their home. You can always trust in Aardman Animations to provide a uniquely stylistic animated film with a fun family-oriented story containing ample humour for everyone, and that is the case here. Early Man is at its core a very fun light-hearted story that the whole family can watch and enjoy with an added bonus for those interested in football/soccer. At only an hour and 20 minutes in length there isn't much depth to the story and it plays out as you'd expect, but with the consistent comedy throughout it's a very satisfying ride.The humour is where the heart of the film shines through and there is plenty of it to go around. There are a lot of smart, quick, witty jokes that mostly come subtly through the rapid dialogue between characters and they hit almost every time. There are next to no fart jokes which is a blessing and very little physical humour but it is there to give the kids some cheap laughs. But I mean there are a number of very funny moments for adults that had me laughing and left a smile on my face the entire time. What I mean by "for adults" isn't that they're dirty jokes, just that they're jokes kids aren't really going to understand or even recognise as jokes. By far the biggest catalyst for all of the laughs have to be the damn football puns and right from the opening seconds they come out swinging. This really is a sport comedy as football is at the centre of the story and the vast majority of the humour is oriented around the sport. And they're not puns that are stupidly obvious and induce eye-rolling either, the wordplay is quite intelligent and that comes down to the great writing.The story itself is very straightforward but still absolutely enjoyable, by locking you in with charming characters and a likeable protagonist you are instantly engaged and along the ride. All of the main characters are fun to watch but also pretty one-note, this doesn't take anything away from the film for me but it should be noted that there isn't really any room for development in here. Of all of the characters only Dug, Chief Bobnar (Timothy Spall), Goona (Maisee Williams), Lord Nooth, and Hognob (Nick Park) have a distinctive personality and any real bearing on the plot, whereas everyone else does serve a small purpose in the story but are mainly there to deliver a couple of quick jokes. The performances are all very strong from a talent filled cast and comedic timing is on point across the board. Redmayne, Spall, and Williams do well in bringing a hint of emotion and heart to the story when needed to where I even welled up in a certain spontaneous moment that had no build-up and really had no right to do so... but it worked.Aside from a few very minor points there isn't really anything major negative to say about Early Man. Aardman have created a fun enjoyable movie that capitalises on the focus on football and milks it for all of the puns it can conjure up and I could absolutely have done with another 50. I laughed quite a bit throughout the film and thoroughly enjoyed myself. It's not a groundbreaking animated feature but it's a lot of fun thanks to the witty humour, likeable characters and short straightforward story.7.1/10

Extremely funny, with unique visuals and a great voice cast, Early Man is one of the most entertaining animated movies ever produced and I was laughing from start to finish. Aardman fans will be very pleased, I was! Well done Nick Park!

Stop-motion animation film from Nick Park. Not as great as Chicken Run but stll worth a watch.

I love this movie. I think that Early Man is the best animation movie of the year.

I love this movie. I think that Early Man is the best animation movie of the year.