The latest trailer for Aardman's upcoming stop-motion film Early Man paints our clearest picture yet. There's plenty of comedy to mine in setting the story around a community of primitive prehistoric humans--and this trailer certainly suggests director Nick Park will be doing just that--but Early Man evolves that premise in a literal fashion. The story will take its characters and audiences out of the Stone Age and thrust them awkwardly into the cutting-edge technology of the Bronze Age. It's a narrative that's been done before, but never with the charm, style, and quirky humor of Aardman.
I particularly love the artistry on display in this new trailer. There's a quick homage shot to cinema's very early stop-motion history, when the filmmaking technology was used to animate prehistoric creatures like dinosaurs and other beasts. But that quaint mini-scene soon expands to show the primitive, stone tool-and-weapon-wielding humans on a hunt. I'd have been happy spending 90 minutes or so here, but clearly Early Man has much bigger ideas and ambitions. There are some incredible technical achievements, beautiful craftsmanship, and hilarious joke construction on display in this trailer alone, promising much more to come in the full feature.
Featuring a voice cast including Eddie Redmayne, Tom Hiddleston, Maisie Williams, and Timothy Spall, Early Man arrives in U.S. theaters on February 16, 2018.
Check out the new Early Man trailer below:
Set at the dawn of time, when dinosaurs and wooly mammoths roamed the earth, EARLY MAN tells the story of how one plucky caveman unites his tribe against a mighty enemy and saves the day! Summit Entertainment, StudioCanal, Aardman Animations and The British Film Institute present, an Aardman production.
For more of our coverage on Early Man be sure to check out these links:
- ‘Early Man’: New Trailer Takes Aardman’s Animation Back in Time
- ‘Early Man’ Trailer Promises Another Adorable, Funny Film from Aardman
