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'Ice Age' Is Not-So-Deep Freeze James Rocchi, Special to MSN Movies
There are very few sure things in Hollywood, but when a film and its sequel
have made close to a billion dollars at the box office worldwide, a third film
seems fairly assured. "Ice Age" and "Ice Age: The Meltdown," from animators Blue Sky
Studios, were well-received kids flicks -- slapstick prehistoric adventures that
followed woolly mammoth Manny (Ray Romano), giant sloth Sid (John Leguizamo) and saber-toothed tiger Diego (Denis Leary) as they bickered and bonded in the
ancient world. In "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs," the by-now familiar
trio -- and pals like Ellie the mammoth (Queen Latifah) and the scrawny,
scuffling proto-squirrel Scrat (Chris Wedge) -- are dealing with domesticity.
Manny and Ellie are having a baby, and the mating bells are breaking up that old
gang of theirs: Manny and Ellie are anxiously awaiting the baby; Sid,
good-hearted but dim-witted, is curious about how he'll fit into the new order;
Diego, feeling like his settled life is slowing his predator ways down, is
thinking about moving on.
But before "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs" can turn into an animated episode
of "thirtysomething" with prehistoric
mammals -- which sounds either horrible or wonderful, when you think about it --
the plot (such as it is) kicks in: Sid, in an ice crevasse, finds three eggs ...
and then falls into a world below the ice, a tropic Eden where dinosaurs still
walk the Earth. Uh, still walk the hidden land inside the Earth. You know what I
mean. The eggs Sid found were T-Rex eggs, and while the trio of hatchlings think
he's mom, mom has a different point of view; meanwhile, Manny, Diego and Ellie
(and opossum pals Eddie (Josh Peck) and Crash (Seann William Scott) follow Sid on a rescue mission
to the land of the dinosaurs, where they meet wild-eyed weasel Buck (Simon Pegg), who's been living by his (scattered) wits
in a jungle of terror.
"Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs" doesn't shoot for the majesty or meaning of
a Pixar production. Instead, co-directors Carlos Saldanha and Mike Thurmeier
just keep the gags coming and never let up, breaking away from our heroes
occasionally to follow Scrat as he's torn between two equally appealing objects
of desire: a comely female of his species and an acorn. The voice work is
fine -- although only Leguizamo and Pegg give what you'd call performances,
while Leary, Romano and Latifah just put their public personas on four legs
instead of two. Buck's actually an appealing enough character that I wished the
movie were more about him than the returning ones: He's scrappy but crazy, rough
and tough but addled.
I'll also note that while the first two "Ice Age" films didn't have anything
like what you could call "scientific rigor" or "biological accuracy," they did
at least take place in a consistent world; the addition of dinosaurs to the mix
feels like a pretty blatant cash grab, but I think it's safe to suggest that the
sound of Charles Darwin rolling in his grave will be drowned out by the ringing
of the cash registers at the box office. And the 3-D animation is well-done, but
again, it's just tacked on to try to squeeze a little more life out of the
fur-covered franchise -- which is, frighteningly enough, the closest thing Fox
has to a guaranteed moneymaker. There are chases and escapes, morals and
messages, comedy and character in "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs," but when the
fur stops flying, it still feels more frozen than fresh.
James Rocchi's writings on film have appeared at Cinematical.com,
Netflix.com, SFGate.com and in Mother Jones magazine. He lives in Los Angeles,
where every ending is a twist ending.
There are very few sure things in Hollywood, but when a film and its sequel
have made close to a billion dollars at the box office worldwide, a third film
seems fairly assured. "Ice Age" and "Ice Age: The Meltdown," from animators Blue Sky
Studios, were well-received kids flicks -- slapstick prehistoric adventures that
followed woolly mammoth Manny (Ray Romano), giant sloth Sid (John Leguizamo) and saber-toothed tiger Diego (Denis Leary) as they bickered and bonded in the
ancient world. In "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs," the by-now familiar
trio -- and pals like Ellie the mammoth (Queen Latifah) and the scrawny,
scuffling proto-squirrel Scrat (Chris Wedge) -- are dealing with domesticity.
Manny and Ellie are having a baby, and the mating bells are breaking up that old
gang of theirs: Manny and Ellie are anxiously awaiting the baby; Sid,
good-hearted but dim-witted, is curious about how he'll fit into the new order;
Diego, feeling like his settled life is slowing his predator ways down, is
thinking about moving on.
But before "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs" can turn into an animated episode
of "thirtysomething" with prehistoric
mammals -- which sounds either horrible or wonderful, when you think about it --
the plot (such as it is) kicks in: Sid, in an ice crevasse, finds three eggs ...
and then falls into a world below the ice, a tropic Eden where dinosaurs still
walk the Earth. Uh, still walk the hidden land inside the Earth. You know what I
mean. The eggs Sid found were T-Rex eggs, and while the trio of hatchlings think
he's mom, mom has a different point of view; meanwhile, Manny, Diego and Ellie
(and opossum pals Eddie (Josh Peck) and Crash (Seann William Scott) follow Sid on a rescue mission
to the land of the dinosaurs, where they meet wild-eyed weasel Buck (Simon Pegg), who's been living by his (scattered) wits
in a jungle of terror.
"Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs" doesn't shoot for the majesty or meaning of
a Pixar production. Instead, co-directors Carlos Saldanha and Mike Thurmeier
just keep the gags coming and never let up, breaking away from our heroes
occasionally to follow Scrat as he's torn between two equally appealing objects
of desire: a comely female of his species and an acorn. The voice work is
fine -- although only Leguizamo and Pegg give what you'd call performances,
while Leary, Romano and Latifah just put their public personas on four legs
instead of two. Buck's actually an appealing enough character that I wished the
movie were more about him than the returning ones: He's scrappy but crazy, rough
and tough but addled.
I'll also note that while the first two "Ice Age" films didn't have anything
like what you could call "scientific rigor" or "biological accuracy," they did
at least take place in a consistent world; the addition of dinosaurs to the mix
feels like a pretty blatant cash grab, but I think it's safe to suggest that the
sound of Charles Darwin rolling in his grave will be drowned out by the ringing
of the cash registers at the box office. And the 3-D animation is well-done, but
again, it's just tacked on to try to squeeze a little more life out of the
fur-covered franchise -- which is, frighteningly enough, the closest thing Fox
has to a guaranteed moneymaker. There are chases and escapes, morals and
messages, comedy and character in "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs," but when the
fur stops flying, it still feels more frozen than fresh.
James Rocchi's writings on film have appeared at Cinematical.com,
Netflix.com, SFGate.com and in Mother Jones magazine. He lives in Los Angeles,
where every ending is a twist ending. | |