Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs
(C or 2/4 stars)
Did we really need another Ice Age? Apparently, yes. 'Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs' (I'll refer to it as Ice Age 3), directed by Carlos Saldanha & Mike Thurmeier, reunited us with our favorite furry pals from Ice Age & Ice Age: The Meltdown. Life, once free & easy, has begun to change for our merry mammals as they must embark on a new incredible adventure. Scrat the Squirrel is still trying to hold onto his beloved, but elusive acorn; but time 'round, his foil comes in the form of a female saber-toothed squirrel named Scratte. Not only may he finally nab the acorn, but he may just nab Scratte, as well. Manny the Mammoth & Ellie (voiced by Ray Romano & Queen Latifah) are now together & expecting a baby; leaving Manny to worry that everything goes right with the pregnancy. Diego the Saber-tooth Tiger (Denis Leary) is tired of being their 'pet'.
Not only has he left the herd, but even Sid the Sloth (John Leguizamo) decides to leave; searching for a way to have his own family (like Manny). How does he achieve this? By hijacking 3 unhatched dinosaur eggs, of course. Before long, he has 3 baby T-Rexes. Things are fine until their angry mama shows up looking for her eggs/babies. Apparently, a mysterious lost world of dinosaurs exists under the ice. And when the mama T-Rex kidnaps poor Sid, it's up to Manny, a preggo Ellie, & Diego to enter the world & try to save him. Once there, they're joined by a crazy one-eyed dinosaur-hunting weasel (John Leguizamo); his life's mission is to hunt the most dangerous carnivore of all, Rudy. Can the gang avoid danger (including plant life, & close encounters with the dinosaurs) & rescue their pal?
One of my favorite aspects of the previous Ice Age's was following the short, but humorous misadventures of Scrat the Squirrel. Thankfully, there's more of him in this film; seems like the producers have picked up that his measly subplot is, perhaps, more engaging than the main thread (Manny/Ellie/Sid/Diego). Scrat has always pined for the acorn, but now he can pine for a love interest, as well. Very smart narrative choice, here. Problem is ... most of what goes on when he's not around is fairly dull. Don't get me wrong, 'Ice Age 3' has its sweet moments. It's family-friendly {my mom & grandma enjoy these films – which makes me like them more so}. It's safe. I liked the possum characters. Little kids 'should' dig the action. And there's a nice little theme in there concerning the acceptance of nontraditional families. Having any family is better than having none.
But overall, I thought this was pretty tame & pretty lame; especially when comparing this to the beautiful, thematic, explorative Pixar creations. The action in this film is quite standard; moving from improbable situation to improbable situation as it goes. As mentioned earlier, aside from the elongated Scrat storyline, there's not much else going on during the course of the 90 minutes. I mean, we see dinosaurs. I get it, another way to make an Ice Age movie. But that's all there is to it. How about the animation? Well ... the story is not unique, & neither is the animation {poor textures, muted colorizations, little detail, etc}. Because 'Ice Age 3' is part of a franchise, many people will see it. No one will openly hate it. As mentioned, I get a kick out of my mom & grandma enjoying these films. Watching them enjoy these films makes me like 'em a bit more than I would've.
Not only has he left the herd, but even Sid the Sloth (John Leguizamo) decides to leave; searching for a way to have his own family (like Manny). How does he achieve this? By hijacking 3 unhatched dinosaur eggs, of course. Before long, he has 3 baby T-Rexes. Things are fine until their angry mama shows up looking for her eggs/babies. Apparently, a mysterious lost world of dinosaurs exists under the ice. And when the mama T-Rex kidnaps poor Sid, it's up to Manny, a preggo Ellie, & Diego to enter the world & try to save him. Once there, they're joined by a crazy one-eyed dinosaur-hunting weasel (John Leguizamo); his life's mission is to hunt the most dangerous carnivore of all, Rudy. Can the gang avoid danger (including plant life, & close encounters with the dinosaurs) & rescue their pal?
One of my favorite aspects of the previous Ice Age's was following the short, but humorous misadventures of Scrat the Squirrel. Thankfully, there's more of him in this film; seems like the producers have picked up that his measly subplot is, perhaps, more engaging than the main thread (Manny/Ellie/Sid/Diego). Scrat has always pined for the acorn, but now he can pine for a love interest, as well. Very smart narrative choice, here. Problem is ... most of what goes on when he's not around is fairly dull. Don't get me wrong, 'Ice Age 3' has its sweet moments. It's family-friendly {my mom & grandma enjoy these films – which makes me like them more so}. It's safe. I liked the possum characters. Little kids 'should' dig the action. And there's a nice little theme in there concerning the acceptance of nontraditional families. Having any family is better than having none.
But overall, I thought this was pretty tame & pretty lame; especially when comparing this to the beautiful, thematic, explorative Pixar creations. The action in this film is quite standard; moving from improbable situation to improbable situation as it goes. As mentioned earlier, aside from the elongated Scrat storyline, there's not much else going on during the course of the 90 minutes. I mean, we see dinosaurs. I get it, another way to make an Ice Age movie. But that's all there is to it. How about the animation? Well ... the story is not unique, & neither is the animation {poor textures, muted colorizations, little detail, etc}. Because 'Ice Age 3' is part of a franchise, many people will see it. No one will openly hate it. As mentioned, I get a kick out of my mom & grandma enjoying these films. Watching them enjoy these films makes me like 'em a bit more than I would've.