Ice Age III: Dawn of the Dinosaurs

Director:Carlos Saldanha and Mike Thurmeier
Cast: (Voices of) Ray Romano, Denis leary, Queen Latifah, John Leguizamo, and Simon Pegg
Releasing in cinemas: 25 June 2009
Rated: PG

Frosty family fun

The Ice Age franchise is back for the third time 3D enhanced, a happy sequel to the previous films and doing it particularly well in time for the school holidays. There’s a Disneyesque cuteness about the animated characters with child appeal, while the script provides witty tongue-in-cheek one liners for adults.

The animation’s of a high standard particularly effective seen in 3D. Without exploiting excessively the depth perception the process adds visual exhilaration to many scenes, including the end credits making imaginative use of the stereoscopic vision. If you have to sit through them at least they look good. In the future 3D may become an essential process for animated features.

The team returns with a couple of new characters. Squirrel Scrat still trying to nail the ever-elusive acorn, now with a vamping rival Miss Scratte arousing his romantic interest. Mammoths Manny and Ellie await the birth of their first offspring, while Diego the saber-toothed tiger worries he’s too old to cut the mustard and being with the herd slows him down. Lonely Sid the sloth after finding three dinosaur eggs decides to create his own family, but when they hatch out the mother dinosaur has different ideas. Poor Sid gets carried away.

Much of this adventure isn’t played out in the icy lands, but rather in the colourful underworld of the dinosaurs which is reached by crossing the Chasm of Death, and the Plates of Woe, both reminiscent of Indiana Jones.

To rescue the feckless Sid the herd follow his trail into this vast underground cavern, where they have wild death defying encounters with huge dinosaurs and carnivorous plants, saved by the balmy interventions of their latest friend Buck a one-eyed wacky weasel. Unfortunately he’s suffering from a Captain Ahab complex which leads the others into more peril. It’s a barrel of fun.

The animals are voiced by the same actors. Ray Romano (Everyone Loves Raymond) manages gentle humour as Manny, Queen Latifah (The Secret Life of Bees) makes Ellie a sympathetic mother in waiting, while Dennis Leary (Rescue Me) and John Leguizamo (The Happening) give excellent service as Diego and Sid respectively. New voice on the block is Simon Pegg (Star Trek) as the crazed weasel Buck. Pegg provides a cheerful Long John Silver impersonation whipping off some of the funniest lines.

Highlight scenes include the herd’s first view of the spectacular underground world; Ellie giving birth while Diego fends off some very nasty critters; the confrontation between Sid and Rudy a fierce humongous dinosaur; plus the boisterous running gag of Scrat and Scratte, something of a reincarnation of Roadrunner and Coyote from the old Warner Bros. Cartoons.

Crisply directed by Carlos Saldanha and Mike Thurmeier both from the previous Ice Age films, with art direction by Mike Knapp, it’s really the composite work of a whole city of artists and digital technicians. The effective script’s co-written by Michael Berg and Peter Ackerman. A mention of the excellent music from John Powell’s fine orchestral score to the clever use of pop songs like “You’ll Never Find Another Love Like Mine” when the warring squirrels forget their nut for a moment to tango together.

Dare I say Ice Age 3 is good old fashioned family entertainment, albeit using the latest technology. Take the kids without worrying about ribald jokes or strong language, with the bonus you’ll enjoy the show too. Put high on the holiday list, it would charm the socks off a T Rex.

John Bale

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