Ice Age (2002)

Voices: Ray Romano, John Leguizamo, Denis Leary
Director: Chris Wedge

Rating: PG

Studio: 20th Century Fox

Review Posted: 3.21.01

Spoilers: Minor

Rating: 3/4

By Angelo.

Flash forward a few million years from where “Dinosaurs” (1999) left off, and you’ll end up on the towering glaciers and the frigid tundras of “Ice Age”. With the reliable state-of-the-art graphics that we have come to expect from Disney, “Ice Age” brings with it an amazing peak into a bygone era of environmental transition and mass extinction. With a bunch of wacky wisecracking animals, this new gang of kids’ meal characters will surely make anyone forget the severity of nature’s cruelty.

“Ice Age” opens with a huge migration of every living thing that could possibly walk, crawl or fly. As the global temperature slowly gets colder, early ancestors of modern day animals find themselves heading for warmer climates. However, a few do linger around and we meet the ones who are left behind.

Powerful and stoic, Manfred the Mammoth (voiced by Ray Romano) unintentionally saves the life of a weakly doofus sloth named Sid (voiced by John Leguizamo) from the crushing tramples of two rhinoceros. Deliberately left behind by his family, the ostracized Sid uses the idea of owing his life to Manfred as an excuse of tagging along with his newly found “buddy”. Along the way, the two find a human baby, separated from his tribe. Manfred wants to move on and leave the child behind, but Sid insists on being a Good Samaritan. While the two debate on what to do, the devilish Diego, a Saber tooth tiger (voiced by Denis Leary) slyly pops in and tells them that he knows where the humans are. Diego volunteers to bring the child back to the humans, but when Manfred senses Diego’s carnivorous motives, the mighty mammoth comes up with a plan. Manfred and Sid will return the baby to the humans, with the guidance of Diego (who has a sinister scheme in the works). The three find themselves trekking through snow and ice, while bickering every step of the way.

Besides the setting, there is really nothing in “Ice Age” that we haven’t seen in countless other odd couple films. The elements are familiar, and the rather thin plot does not achieve the dramatic pull a narrative needs to get the audience from beginning to end. However, the perpetual banter between the three characters is more than enough to keep “Ice Age” afloat. The non-stop exchanges of insults, one-liners and comebacks, plus the inherent charm that Disney instills in these characters help maintain the momentum of the film. The movie never suffers from a glacial pacing for the jokes keep coming one right after another. In addition, “Ice Age” is a great movie for kids to watch for it values the importance of friendship, trust and the sense of belonging. The barrage of witty jokes helps keep adults entertained as well.

I also have to mention Scrat, a primordial squirrel that has a recurring cameo all throughout the movie. His unceasing attempts to keep an acorn in his possession add to the comedic impetus. Then there are the aptly named dodoes. Need I say more?

“Ice Age” may not be Disney’s crowning achievement, but it is one heck of an entertaining movie.

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