Ice Age (2002)
Starring: Ray Romano, John Leguizamo, Denis Leary, Jack Black
Director: Chris Wedge, Carlos Saldanha
Running Time: 77 minutes
US MPAA rating: N/AUK BBFC rating: pg
Animation, Comedy, Family
On DVD If Ice Age is anything to go by, life on earth twenty thousand years ago was none too rosy - and not just because the weather was a tad on the nippy side. It's not that we don't all like to live dangerously here in the 21st century - after all, we've got cellular phones, cigarettes and . . erm . . cholesterol to contend with. But hey, at least we don't have to put up with massive avalanches, exploding lava pits and vicious packs of sabre-toothed tigers. Well, I don't at least.
So spare a thought for the three intrepid heroes of this latest computer-generated animation spectacular, brought to us by the little-known 20th Century Fox sub-division Blue Sky Studios. A woolly mammoth, a sloth and a sabre-toothed tiger (voiced by Ray Romano, John Leguizamo and Denis Leary respectively) form an unlikely alliance to go against the migration-grain and head north to re-unite a human baby with its knuckle-dragging family.
The animation has a distinct Looney Toons feel to it and, while Sid the sloth gets all of the best lines, it's Scrat who steals the show in his all too rare appearances. Half-squirrel half-rat (hence the name, I suppose), he pops up as a hilarious side issue making forlorn attempts to bury his last acorn.
On the down side, the relationship between Sid and Manfred the mammoth seems a carbon copy of the ogre-donkey friendship in Shrek and, as in so many of these CGI-animations, the human characters never look quite right.
But try to ignore these slight quibbles (plus, of course, the major periodical and geographical question marks raised by the idea of all of these creatures co-habiting) and you'll have a whale of a time. While the film never rivals the likes of Toy Story, A Bug's Life or Shrek for either plot depth or humour, kids and adults alike will find the fast pace, one-liners and frost-bound mayhem more than enough to keep them entertained.
DVD Extras: Scrat's new "Gone Nutty" adventure, director's commentaries, deleted scenes, character development of Sid, design galleries and trailers, 'Behind the Scenes' featurette, 'Making of' documentary, 6 new featurettes from 'Blue Sky'.
It's Got: A brilliant scene involving football-playing dodos - for my money a bird not appearing nearly enough in movies these days.
It Needs: The bravery to be less formulaic in its plotline.
Alternatives: Shrek, Toy Story, Toy Story 2, The Lion King
Summary: Top evolutionary mirth, totally predictable, but loads of fun.
Review by Gary Panton
Review Date: 1st May 2003
External Links
Ice Age at the IMDB
Comments5 Comments |
| duuuuuuuuuuuuuuh |
| Comment by:- Anonymous | | 04 October 2004 | ip: logged |
| ice age says: the last melon haha my fave part |
| Comment by:- hhuuuhhh | hgv | 26 November 2004 | ip: logged |
| i want more coppies made |
| Comment by:- tyhazertjus4rxy | dfhgSh | 03 December 2004 | ip: logged |
| I SIMPLY LOVED THE MOVIE - ALSO THE ENDING WAS REALLY TOUCHING - AND WHO SAID THE HUMAN CHARCTERS AINT THAT CONVINCING?!? I FIND THE BABY CONVINCINGLY CUTE H'LO...!! |
| Comment by:- Haris | | 20 December 2004 | ip: logged |
| i loved the film, so to did my boyfriend who even cried a little at the end, I realy like the little animal with the acorn so funny!!! |
| Comment by:- suzanne | | 21 December 2004 | ip: logged |
