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Bonus Review #10
Film: Ice Age: The Meltdown [PG] 90 minutes
W.I.P.™ Scale: $9.50
When 1st Seen: 31 March 2006
Where Viewed: AMC Theaters Loews Webster 12, Webster, NY
Time: 5:20 p.m.
Review Dedicated to: Travis C. and Taylor C. III of Chicago, IL
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DVD | soundtrack |
I should begin by writing that I was not a huge fan of the original film, Ice Age. So, when I heard a sequel was in production, I was not overly excited. It was unusual for me to dislike a CGI animated film. But, something about the story and the characters just didn't resonate with me. I found them, especially the Sid the Sloth voiced by John Leguizamo, incredibly annoying. So, I entered the lightly packed theatre on a beautiful afternoon, after just having seen Slither with very low expectations, and I was pleasantly surprised. While I really don't think that a sequel was necessary, there really wasn't much more that we needed to know about these particular characters, nonetheless the story, animation, and voice talent were clever, cute, creative, and most importantly, comical. Some of the jokes are a bit off or mean-spirited perhaps; for example, one features a vulture flying over a parade of animals and announcing that, "Unattended children will be eaten." Also, there is some companion scary stuff in two undersea creatures that either chomp or attempt to chomp the heroes at one point or another; however, getting past these details, the rest of the film was just right. I enjoyed tremendously the extended Scrat (voiced by Chris Wedge) cartoon--he's the little squirrel/rat creature people will recall from the first film--he's not really part of the central story; but, instead, has his own story within a story mostly about him doing everything in his power to acquire and retain possession of a single, solitary acorn. It was disappointing that approximately 1/3 of the Scrat story was shown in its entirety in previews. Still, I would argue there hasn't been a cartoon of this type as good, simple, and entertaining since The Roadrunner—beep, beep.
The theme of this second celluloid go around for best friends Manny the Wooly Mammoth (Ray Romano voice), Diego the Saber-toothed Cat (Denis Leary voice), and Sid the Sloth (John Leguizamo voice), as the title hints, is what happened after the Ice Age when all the ice started to melt and the glaciers receded. This provided for some great CGI rendering effects from a field of erupting geysers to gargantuan slabs of ice fracturing from the glaciers and crashing to the land below or into the sea. Meanwhile, the main sub plots involve the search for a life partner for Manny in a time when just about everyone believes that mammoths are extinct and Sid's search for respect from his dearest friends. The former sub plot allows for the addition of three new and amusing character: a wooly mammoth who thinks she's a possum named Ellie, voiced by the incomparable Queen Latifah and her twin brothers Crash (Seann William Scott voice) and Eddie (Josh Peck voice) who really are possums. These three new characters add a lot to the movie, especially Crash and Eddie who are literally tiny bundles of energy and enthusiasm. It was their hilarious introduction via, perhaps, the world’s first game of ‘whack-a-mole’, that changed my thinking on the film in general. Also, I was also pleased to note the voice talent of one of my favorite comedians, Jay Leno, as the doomsayer/snake oil salesmen of the age, Fast Tony the Armadillo.
While I enjoyed the film, and it seemed like a real crowd pleaser among other patrons both young and old, one of the sequences which involved hundreds of vultures singing a new version of the Oliver Twist musical number “Food Glorius Food”, found distasteful and unnecessary. Chalk this musical routine as the most annoying since Will Ferrell’s sang the works of Franz Liebkind in The Producers (2005). Even so, fans of the original film will be nearly guaranteed to be pleased by the sequel and find it an even better film than the original, meanwhile those new to the Ice Age world will be equally delighted. There is still a long way to go, in my view, to reach the quality of story and character development in the CGI world of Pixar® Studios—the very best in the world at this genre in my opinion—but this film shows some signs that other animation studios (in this case Dreamworks SKG®) are in hot pursuit.
The theme of this second celluloid go around for best friends Manny the Wooly Mammoth (Ray Romano voice), Diego the Saber-toothed Cat (Denis Leary voice), and Sid the Sloth (John Leguizamo voice), as the title hints, is what happened after the Ice Age when all the ice started to melt and the glaciers receded. This provided for some great CGI rendering effects from a field of erupting geysers to gargantuan slabs of ice fracturing from the glaciers and crashing to the land below or into the sea. Meanwhile, the main sub plots involve the search for a life partner for Manny in a time when just about everyone believes that mammoths are extinct and Sid's search for respect from his dearest friends. The former sub plot allows for the addition of three new and amusing character: a wooly mammoth who thinks she's a possum named Ellie, voiced by the incomparable Queen Latifah and her twin brothers Crash (Seann William Scott voice) and Eddie (Josh Peck voice) who really are possums. These three new characters add a lot to the movie, especially Crash and Eddie who are literally tiny bundles of energy and enthusiasm. It was their hilarious introduction via, perhaps, the world’s first game of ‘whack-a-mole’, that changed my thinking on the film in general. Also, I was also pleased to note the voice talent of one of my favorite comedians, Jay Leno, as the doomsayer/snake oil salesmen of the age, Fast Tony the Armadillo.
While I enjoyed the film, and it seemed like a real crowd pleaser among other patrons both young and old, one of the sequences which involved hundreds of vultures singing a new version of the Oliver Twist musical number “Food Glorius Food”, found distasteful and unnecessary. Chalk this musical routine as the most annoying since Will Ferrell’s sang the works of Franz Liebkind in The Producers (2005). Even so, fans of the original film will be nearly guaranteed to be pleased by the sequel and find it an even better film than the original, meanwhile those new to the Ice Age world will be equally delighted. There is still a long way to go, in my view, to reach the quality of story and character development in the CGI world of Pixar® Studios—the very best in the world at this genre in my opinion—but this film shows some signs that other animation studios (in this case Dreamworks SKG®) are in hot pursuit.
Available for Purchase or Pre-Order on DVD
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Ice Age: The Meltdown [DVD](2006) DVD
Ice Age: The Meltdown (Widescreen Version) [DVD](2006) DVD
Ice Age: The Meltdown (UMD For PlayStation Portable)(2006)
Ice Age [VHS](2002) VHS
Ice Age (Special Edition) [DVD](2002) DVD
Ice Age [DVD](2002) DVD
Ice Age (UMD For PlayStation Portable)(2002)
Ice Age (Previously Viewed) [VHS](2002) VHS
| CD Soundtrack | VHS | DVD |
| Toy | Related DVD | PS2 |
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