eviews of DreamWorks Animation's The Croods can be described as pretty good overall. But none of the critics are particularly thrilled with it, either. Neil Genzlinger in the New York Times devotes just four short paragraphs to the movie, remarking that it's colorful and has an appealing central character and -- who knows? -- might even give the little ones something more challenging to think about than its tired main plot. Miriam Bale's review in the New York Daily News is even shorter -- just three paragraphs -- in which she initially remarks, The Croods are not meant to be beauties -- they are, after all, a family of Neanderthals. But is the animation meant to be ugly, too? However, she notes that by the end, this weird film manages to find some gentle revelations. On the other hand Tirdad Derakhshani in the Philadelphia Inquirer has just the opposite reaction to the film, calling it visually dazzling, if empty headed. Similarly, Michael Phillips comments in the Chicago Tribune: The landscapes, desert to tropical, certainly are varied, which is more than you can say about the characters.