Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs Review
by Jonathan Moya (jjmoya1955 AT yahoo DOT com)July 15th, 2009
Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs
(2009)
A Movie Review
By
Jonathan Moya
2.5 Out of 5 Stars or B-
The Plot: (from MRQE.com)
The sub-zero heroes from the worldwide blockbusters "Ice Age" and "Ice Age: The Meltdown" are back on an incredible adventure for the ages. Scrat is still trying to nab the ever-elusive nut (while, maybe, finding true love); Manny and Ellie await the birth of their mini- mammoth, Sid the sloth creates his own makeshift family by hijacking some dinosaur eggs; and Diego the saber-toothed tiger wonders if he's growing too "soft" hanging with his pals. On a mission to rescue the hapless Sid, the gang ventures into a mysterious underground world, where they have some close encounters with dinosaurs, battle flora fauna run amuck--and meet a relentless, one-eyed, dino-hunting weasel named Buck.
The Review:
The one enduring thing about the Ice Age series is the nut and squirrel sequence. As the rest of the creatures march into extinction and the plots go glacial, the squirrel's dance with the acorn becomes classic, balletic, poetic and endearing. This time around, Scrat finds a Scratte (rhymes with sautee) to tangle and tango with and love the nut. The two bicker and dance the dance of love while trees, the foam of water and other long neck dinosaurs form clever heart patterns in the background. The acorn becomes a ring, a rival and eventually the only thing that matters. Scrat and the acorn are at one point encased in their own separate bubbles that waltz into and float away from each other. The symbolism of their bittersweet fate is clear.
The pack of the last two films, having struggled to become friends and family, now is facing the prospects of parenthood. Their adventure takes them to a lost world in search of Sid the Sloth (voice of John Lequizamo) after the angry mother of the three baby dinosaurs Sid has adopted comes back to claim her brood and makes Sid the family pet. The two wooly mammoths Manny (Ray Romano) and Ellie (Queen Latifah) and Sid the saber tooth tiger (Denis Leary) are aided in their search by Buck, a mad weasel with a pirate's eye patch ( amusingly voiced by Simon Pegg also having a banner year as Scotty in the reboot Star Trek) on his own quest for a great white dinosaur.
Shot in 3-D, like every other animated film with a $20 million plus budget, Ice Age 3 barely justifies the gimmick. The primordial dinosaur world has sweltering jungle lushness. Buck's manic energy is perfect for eye-popping visuals. The finale with dropping waterfalls, Sid floating on molten magma and pterodactyls piloting through narrow chasms are a 3-D delight echoing the best moments from the Star Wars six pack-- mainly a New Hope and Revenge of the Sith. Still, twenty percent of Ice Age is well, ice, which is resolutely 2-D and white and rife with the usual force perspective gags. Only Pixar's Up fully integrates 3-D in a natural way.
Fortunately, Scrat and his acorn come in every fifteen minutes to stop gap the dragging action. Ellie's mid film delivery forces a too long scene were Sid must come to the rescue-- the naturalness of mammoth labor being too rough for its PG audience.
Ice Age 3 is pleasant for the kids and tolerable for the adults, just like a warm baby bottle. It gets a B-.
The Credits: (From AllMovie.com)
Carlos Saldanha - Director John C. Donkin - Producer Lori Forte - Producer Peter Ackerman - Screenwriter Michael Berg - Screenwriter Yoni Brenner - Screenwriter Jason Carter Eaton - Screen Story Mike Reiss - Screenwriter John Powell - Composer (Music Score) Harry Hitner - Editor Michael Knapp - Art Director Chris Wedge - Executive Producer Christian Kaplan - Casting Michael J. Travers - Production Manager Galen Tan Chu - Supervising Animator Peter de Seve - Character Design David Mei - Model Effects Supervisor James Palumbo - Co-Editor Michael Thurmeier - Co-Director Patrick Worlock - Production Supervisor
With: Ray Romano - Manny [Voice] John Leguizamo - Sid [Voice] Denis Leary - Diego [Voice] Simon Pegg - Buck [Voice] Queen Latifah - Ellie [Voice] Seann William Scott - Crash [Voice] Josh Peck - Eddie [Voice] Bill Hader - Gazelle [Voice] Kristen Wiig - Pudgy Beaver Mom [Voice] Eunice Cho - Diatryma Girl [Voice] Karen Disher - Scratte [Voice] Harrison Fahn - Glypto Boy [Voice] Maile Flanagan - Aardvark Mom [Voice] Jason Fricchione - Adult Molehog Male [Voice] Kelly Keaton - Molehog Mom [Voice] / Shovelmouth Mom [Voice] Joey King - Beaver Girl [Voice] Allegra Leguizamo - Aardvark Girl [Voice] Lucas Leguizamo - Aardvark Boy [Voice] / Beaver Kid 2 [Voice] Clea Lewis - Start Mom [Voice] Jane Lynch - Diatryma Mom [Voice] Christian Pikes - Little Johnny (Aardvark Kid) [Voice] Avery Christopher Plum - Beaver Kid 1 [Voice] Joe Romano - Ronald (Shovelmouth Boy) [Voice] Carlos Saldanha - Dinosaur Babies [Voice] / Flightless Bird [Voice] Sofia Scarpa Saldanha - Molehog Girl 1 [Voice] Cindy Slattery - Bird [Voice] Chris Wedge - Scrat [Voice]
Copyright 2009 by Jonathan Moya
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