‘The Croods 2’: a good way to get some adult time

Above : “The Croods: A New Age” is now available for streaming. (Photo: DreamWorks)

There are only so many ways to say a work of art is passable if not particularly good.

Here, for example, are some ways that critics are responding to “The Croods: A New Age,” which is now streaming through a number of services.

Chris Hewitt, Minneapolis Star Tribune: “It’s a conventional animated movie but it’s funny and sweet and it’s not like every animated movie needs to reinvent the wheel.”

Barry Hertz , Globe and Mail: “It mostly all comes together in the end, but you still cannot help but watch the film and wonder why the need for just so much of everything.”

And then there’s James Berardinelli of Reelviews: “Kids will enjoy it and parents will be sufficiently diverted that they won’t be tempted to take a nap. It’s disposable entertainment but the receptacle in question doesn’t have to be a garbage disposal.”

Wow. Of course, you have critics who take more straightforward view … on both sides of the quality question.

Positive: Randy Myers , San Jose Mercury News: “The animation is top-notch and there are plentiful critters, including punch monkeys and literal land sharks (my favorite), to delight the kiddies.”

Negative: Brian Tallerico , RogerEbert.com: “The kind of animated sequel that operates under a ‘more is better’ aesthetic, hoping to numb audiences into thinking they were actually entertained.”

Overall, “The Croods: A New Age” scored an overall 74 percent Tomatomete r rating among critics, as opposed to a 95 percent rating among audiences.

There is no way, of course, to gauge how many of those audience members actually watched the movie and chose, instead, to stream it for their kids while they enjoyed an hour and 35 minutes of peace.

In these closing weeks of 2020, any chance to grab some adult quiet time is worth a good review.