Early Man
Lionsgate | Release Date: February 16, 2018 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
68
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 39 Critic Reviews
Positive:
31
Mixed:
8
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
The New York TimesA.O. ScottFeb 15, 2018
The genius of Early Man is that it cannot possibly be spoiled. The animation is foolproof in its combination of ingenuity and obviousness, and the script obliterates the difference between a laugher and a groaner. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranFeb 15, 2018
A droll romp through prehistoric times, filtered through Park's beyond antic imagination. Read full review
80
SlateSam AdamsFeb 15, 2018
While the film is deliberately crude in some respects — Park once described his aesthetic as making sure that, no matter how carefully sculpted his clay figures were, he always left the thumbprints showing — it’s fastidiously detailed in others, dancing between broad humor and subtle, almost subliminal gags as it plays out the conflict between Neanderthals and their evolutionary successors. Read full review
80
VoxAlissa WilkinsonFeb 14, 2018
A quintessentially Aardman-esque stew of slapstick, homage, and wordplay so wry it barely (but always) misses being groan-worthy, Early Man is a gentle and modest reflection on how we have, from the very beginning, always needed to treat one another with kindness in order to survive. Read full review
80
The GuardianPeter BradshawJan 26, 2018
It’s impossible not to laugh at the inspired silliness and charm of Park’s universe. Early Man is a family film that doesn’t just provide gags for adults and gags for children: it locates the adult’s inner child and the child’s inner adult. It’s a treat. Read full review
80
The TelegraphRobbie CollinJan 14, 2018
There is something about the cast’s doughy physiques that has allowed Park’s flair for caricature to run completely berserk, with every character model pushed right to its expressive limits. Read full review
80
The GuardianSteve RoseJan 14, 2018
Some of the jokes will need carbon-dating to ascertain their age, but the good-natured humour never loses its fizz. Read full review
80
VarietyPeter DebrugeJan 14, 2018
The result is a welcome return to a form of stop-motion that takes pride in the technique’s inevitable imperfections (such as thumbprints in the modeling clay), while putting extra care into the underlying script, with its daffy humor and slightly-off characters. Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comMatt Zoller SeitzFeb 16, 2018
What makes Early Man enjoyable is the way Park and his writers detail the heroes' good-natured oafishness and the bad guys' snooty arrogance. Read full review
75
Tampa Bay TimesSteve PersallFeb 15, 2018
Early Man proudly retains Park’s simple/not simple Plasticine pleasures. Read full review
75
USA TodayBrian TruittFeb 15, 2018
Featuring an impressive voice cast, a clever script, an abundance of pig puns and a duck the size of a T. Rex, the film treads familiar ground by pitting a bunch of Davids vs. egotistical Goliaths on the soccer pitch. But it does so in such a supremely quirky and earnestly heartwarming fashion that it’s hard not to be charmed. Read full review
75
The Seattle TimesMoira MacdonaldFeb 14, 2018
Most of the movies from the British stop-motion wizards at Aardman Animations are pure delight, full of endlessly replayable moments and the kind of enchanting silliness that seems to transport you, however briefly, to a better world. Early Man, their latest effort, is merely good, which is to say that it’s well-crafted and enjoyable. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeTy BurrFeb 14, 2018
Honestly, the chilly dog days of February are crying out for a good, smart, silly stop-motion family film, the kind you can fully enjoy under the pretext of spending an afternoon at the movies with your kids. Read full review
75
Rolling StoneDavid FearFeb 14, 2018
To use the film's terms: You go expecting a World Cup qualifying round. You leave having just seen a decent enough exhibition match. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChroniclePeter HartlaubFeb 14, 2018
The film is charming throughout, literally from the beginning of time to the final goal. Read full review
75
Movie NationRoger MooreFeb 10, 2018
It’s not on a par with the sublime “Wallace & Gromit” films or the brilliant “Chicken Run.” But it’s quite funny, and delightful to see finger prints in not-quite-perfect clay arms and legs. Read full review
75
IndieWireMichael NordineJan 14, 2018
As ever with Aardman, the cleverest moments are also the most fleeting. Read full review
70
The New YorkerAnthony LaneFeb 19, 2018
The stage of Early Man, though, is stuffed with men and women — on the Neanderthal spectrum, it’s true, but propelled by needs and greeds much like our own — whereas the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air are reduced to the role of extras. It pains me to say so, but Hognob is not enough. Read full review
70
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzFeb 15, 2018
Early Man is smart, funny, clever — and a bit of a disappointment. Read full review
70
UproxxVince ManciniFeb 13, 2018
It’s content to be what it is — a bit of silliness, really. It’s an excuse for goofy slapstick and wordplay. And it’s the rare light fare that can be light without feeling like chintzy gift shop pandering. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterLeslie FelperinJan 14, 2018
No matter when the action is set, some things never change in Park’s world. Nor should they. Read full review
70
Screen DailyWendy IdeJan 14, 2018
The laughs are split between deft sight gags and set pieces, and goofy word play. Read full review
67
Entertainment WeeklyChris NashawatyFeb 16, 2018
What comedy there is comes from Tom Hiddleston’s Lord Nooth — a miser with a head like a soft-boiled egg. But the laughs are mild at best. At least there’s director Nick Park’s playful Silly Putty visual imagination to take your mind off just how thin the story is. Read full review
67
The PlaylistWill AshtonFeb 16, 2018
As beautiful as the picture is, the pleasures of Early Man are fleeting. Aardman’s own high bar isn’t quite reached this time around, and it might be best to temper your expectations. Read full review
67
The A.V. ClubIgnatiy VishnevetskyFeb 13, 2018
Early Man can’t overcome the limitations of its premise—one of Park’s less fruitful genre mashups. Read full review
65
Paste MagazineTim GriersonFeb 23, 2018
Park smoothly pilots this film around and through certain narrative conventions—training-montage clichés are parodied, familiar sports-movie characters are rejiggered—and there’s a pleasing familiarity to the whole endeavor. But there’s also a ceiling to how funny or touching any of this is. Read full review
65
The AtlanticDavid SimsFeb 16, 2018
Like any Park film, it’s pretty charming, the kind of kids movie that finds the right mix of slapstick humor and intelligent storytelling to keep everyone in the audience happy. Read full review
65
IGNDaniel KrupaJan 14, 2018
Early Man lacks the warmth and wit of Aardman's best clay creations. Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Fraser AbeFeb 15, 2018
There's a quaintness about the film, from the animation style to the wholesome jokes – there's not much in the way of asides for the adults in the audience – that is refreshing for this pop-culture-obsessed animation era. Read full review
63
Washington PostStephanie MerryFeb 14, 2018
In the grand scheme of movies for kids, the stop-motion comedy is hardly a stinker. But it’s also less fun and inventive than you’d expect, given the company’s stellar, Oscar-winning track record. Read full review
63
Slant MagazineKeith WatsonFeb 12, 2018
The clash between prehistoric pastoralism and technological progress at the center of the film is laden with potential for biting comedy, but Nick Park flattens the conflict into a series of slobs-versus-snobs clichés. Read full review
60
EmpireJonathan PileJan 29, 2018
An often amusing reimagining of Bronze Age history 
that, while it doesn’t quite match the best of Aardman, is still solid family entertainment. Read full review
60
Total FilmNeil SmithJan 26, 2018
A primitive concept (cavemen play football) generates unsophisticated laughs in an animated caper that’s fun but rather second division by Aardman standards. Read full review
60
Time OutPhil de SemlyenJan 19, 2018
It seems a strange thing to say about a film featuring a giant man-eating mallard, but a bit more eccentricity wouldn’t have gone amiss. Read full review
60
CineVueDaniel GreenJan 14, 2018
Thankfully, some typically rich voice-acting and a plethora of visual gags help to gloss over a number of uncharacteristic stumbles. Read full review
50
The Film StageMichael SnydelFeb 16, 2018
In nearly everything other than its visuals, Early Man feels as ancient as its time period, a forgotten relic hibernating in development until its belated release. But coming from a studio and director who’ve repeatedly found new ways to reinvent the wheel, it’s extra disappointing to see them release something so primitive. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleKimberley JonesFeb 14, 2018
Early Man is wanting: of a cleverer narrative, of memorable characters. It’s not bad, necessarily. It just feels like an early draft of a better movie to come. Read full review
50
Village VoiceApril WolfeFeb 14, 2018
Aardman Animations (Chicken Run, Wallace & Gromit, and Shaun the Sheep) generally invests a great deal of care and precision into its storytelling, but this picture is somehow both simple and nonsensical. Early Man is the convoluted, caveman-populated skewering of FIFA that nobody asked for. Read full review
45
TheWrapAlonso DuraldeJan 14, 2018
There’s a mild chuckle every so often in Early Man...but overall the movie collapses in a heap of familiarity and lackadaisicalness. Park is an animation legend, but even the greats occasionally whiff it. Read full review
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