"Early Man" is a film that simply makes no sense...and you'd best NOT try to think too much when you watch. The story is about a group of cavemen who, inexplicably, are displaced from their land by Bronze Age Frenchmen! How can they get their land back, you ask? By defeating the Frenchies in a football (soccer) match! See...I told you it wouldn't make much sense!!

So how do the cavemen manage to learn about football? Well, Dug the caveman is eager....and his ladyfriend, Goona, knows all about the sport and she wants to teach them.

So is it any good? Not especially...but it is pleasant and undemanding entertainment....sort of like third tier Aardman. I wouldn't place this among their best work (such as "Wallace and Grommet") or even among their most modiocre work (such as "Shawn the Sheep")....no, it's clearly not as good...mostly because it's not all that funny and the plot is nonsensical to say the least! Additionally, the characters are mostly forgettable or silly and lack the charm of Aardman's best. In this case, the studio created a film that is hard to love...but not entirely bad either if you set your expectations low...quite low.

By the way, I assume that British audiences would generally like this one more than us Americans. The football-based plot and inside gags about FIFA and the like will likely resonate better with these football-loving folks...and would be totally lost on others.

It's prehistoric Manchester. A meteor crashes into the ground. Early man finds the meteorite and invents the game of football. Some age later, a rabbit-hunting primitive tribe lives in the crater turned lush valley. They have forgotten the game. When they are driven out by a bronze age group, they have to rediscover their heritage to beat their invaders at their own game.

I usually like Aardman a lot more but this one lacks anything special. The characters are fine but I like the Aardman animals more. It's a sports movie but it's soccer which is not the most appealing to me. It's all fine but not one of my favorite Aardman.

Nick Park's claymation creations always manage to put a smile on my face. While it doesn't quite reach the heights of their 'Wallace & Gromit' franchise, 'Early Man (2018)' is a consistently clever and chuckle-worthy affair with plenty of laughs to be had at its typically home-spun humour that just gets better the longer you think about it. The beautifully tangible animation is compounded by awesomely ostentatious vocal work and a wonderfully written script, crafting a fully formed world just one-step removed from our own. It is also far and away the best football film I've seen. Though I'm not a huge fan of the sport and always find the formula of its features rather dull, the piece had me both riveted and grinning ear-to-ear during its ball-to-boots sequences with its wisecracking yet respectful, satirical wit which remains good-natured and suitably subtle even when taking the easiest, or sometimes most obscure, of hits. 7/10