Showing from April 12: The Croods ***

Stars: Nicolas Cage, Emma Stone, Ryan Reynolds, Cloris Leachman, Catherine Keeneral.
Written and directed by Chris Sanders and Kirk De Miccon.
Rated: PG
Showing: Neptune Theatre. Fri 7:30pm; Sat-Sun 2:30pm; Mon-Thurs 7:15pm.
Runtime: 98 minutes
Animation, adventure, comedy

Skip past the lame title and weary Stone Age premise. The Croods is the first pleasant surprise of spring, a gorgeous kids’ cartoon with heart and wit, if not exactly a firm grasp of paleontology.

It’s about a family of cave men and women who have survived, unlike their neighbours, by minimizing risk. But risk is how we grow, how we better our lives and achieve great things. That’s just one of the things the Croods learn as their world turns upside down — literally. Earthquakes and volcanoes do tend to upend a neighborhood.

Daddy Grug, hilariously and sensitively voiced by Nicolas Cage, has just one motto, one he reinforces in their cave as he tells stories and animates his lessons on the cave wall: “Never be NOT afraid.”

His athletic daughter Eep (an energetic Emma Stone) may bristle at that as she invents rock climbing, parkour and assorted other dangerous sports while exploring their limited world.

They hide in their cave at night, huddled in a dogpile. They only go out to feed. An epic egg hunt (the creatures in their world have more to do with Dr. Seuss than Darwin) that opens the film shows what they have to go through just to eat. They basically invent football (and the way Fox Sports covers it) with this gonzo chase through the high desert.

The first decent kids’ movie of the year.