“It’s an entertaining film kids are sure to love, but for the most part, the humor is played too safe and, even at 90 minutes, the film drags in the second act.” –Zachary Berman

When family-friendly films are really good, they work for the whole family. Take a look at DreamWorks Animation’s Shrek or any Pixar movie (except Cars), and you find films that work on both emotional and humorous levels for parent and child alike.

The Croods — DreamWorks’ newest creation — held a lot of promise to be yet another successful animated children’s movie. The premise alone — a family of “cavemen” (neither Cro-Magnon nor Neanderthal) must conceive new ideas as they attempt to escape the oncoming apocalypse — sounds quite refreshing.

Alas, The Croods never quite attains the universal appeal of How to Train Your Dragon or the original Madagascar. It’s an entertaining film kids are sure to love, but for the most part, the humor is played too safe and, even at 90 minutes, the film drags in the second act.

In the film, teenage cave girl Eep (Emma Stone, Gangster Squad) is desperate to escape the boring everyday struggle of the caveman, in which death is around every corner and, according to her overprotective father Grug (Nicolas Cage, Stolen), the only way to survive is to hide in the cave most of the time and never be curious about anything. (Yes, the movie has a message about taking chances on new things.)

When a slow-moving apocalypse of lava, earthquakes and black smoke arrives and destroys the family cave, Eep and family set out on an adventure to find a new place to live, guided by the more highly evolved Guy (Ryan Reynolds, Ted), a human with a wealth of new ideas (e.g., fire) and a crush on Eep.

There is a palpable sense of doom throughout The Croods, which is set nicely against the visually stunning computer-animated world. Even at the happiest of times, the horizon beyond is a bleak wasteland of death encroaching on the family road trip.

But this is still a family movie, and as such, The Croods never goes too far with its jokes about death and natural selection. At times, the film’s reluctance to joke about its premise can be infuriating, as it refuses to throw in a few jokes that might go over kids’ heads.

For instance, the Croods’ discovery of Guy’s fire starts out quite funny but ends with them also discovering popcorn in the most contrived, annoying way possible.

It’s strange to complain about these kinds of things in regard to a kid-friendly film, but with audiences having been spoiled by the likes of Up, adults, at least, should expect something a little less juvenile.

Near the end, when Grug’s family has to leave him behind (evolution jokes to follow), the movie finally begins to generate some worthy emotional appeal.

After it’s all over, however, the best that can be said about The Croods is that it is at least an adequate adventure, if underdeveloped.

The difference is clear — while I might tell a peer without children to run out and see Brave, I wouldn’t give the same recommendation for The Croods.