Released: 2002

Version: Video & bootleg VCD

Length: Approx. 81 minutes

Rated: PG

Main Cast: Ray Romano, John Leguizamo, Denis Leary, Goran Visnjic, Jack Black (I), John Hamilton, Chris Wedge, Lorri Bagley.

Ice Age is another example of a computer animated movie. I think this is probably the best one I've seen that's not made by Pixar. Other movies have looked cool, but their storylines have been pretty lame (see Jimmy Neutron). Maybe I only like this one because it has ancient mammals from a bygone age in it, which happen to be some of my favorate creatures.

But enough of that. You want to read a review!

The story begins with a stupid little squirrel-rat cross breed named Scrat (Chris Wedge) running around in the snow trying to bury a nut. Eventually, it gets hurt multiple times. The first part is kind of funny, but when it gets stomped on repeatedly, the funniness goes away. Personally, I found the latter scene offensive rather then laughable.

Fortunately, the rest of the movie is MUCH better. We see herds of mammals going south to avoid the "ice age" and there is a lot of silly banter. Then we meet one of the principal characters, Manfred the Mammoth (Ray Romano) as he heads north. He's a loner and he is one of the best characters in the movie. The only real hit I have with the guy is that the makers of the film have Manfred go into a trance twice in the movie and they make him look really dumb. If they hadn't used the same expression in multiple scenes, it would have been better. Besides, mammoths are related to elephants and everyone acts like elephants are brilliant, so why make its "ancestors" look dumb-founded all the time?

Next we meet Sid the Sloth (John Leguizamo). He's the comic relief in the movie. He ticks off some weird creatures that are called rhinos. They are actually quite different creatures, but because they have a rhino build and coloring, that is what they're called. They are voiced by Stephen Root (I) and Cedric the Entertainer! Anyway, Sid runs away from them and into Manfred, who ends up saving him from the mad "rhinos." 

Sid goes with Manfred on his northward journey,  talking non-stop. Meanwhile, we meet the protagonists: the sabretooths. There's Soto (Goran Visnjic), the leader of the pack, Diego (Denis Leary) who seems to be 2nd in command at times and at other times he's treated like scum ,and there are a few others, like a crazy jittery one named Zeke (Jack Blank [I]). Unfortunately, the other two are not named. Anyway, they're ticked off at the humans because the humans have seriously reduced their pack. So they attack in hopes of getting the chief's child in revenge. All they end up doing is losing the baby and it's mother when she jumps off of a waterfall. 

Finally, Manfred and Sid find the baby in the dying mother's eyes and Sid takes pity on it and they end up trying to return it to it's pack. Diego is commanded to get the baby or not come back, so he ends up having to join up with Manfred and Sid on their hunt for the humans. Diego plans on betraying the others though, of course.

So, that's the set-up. We go on quite a few adventures as they take care of the baby and meet various obstacles. The dodos were quite amusing and so was the baby changing stuff. There's some cool ice effects, a running gag of Scrat and his nut and Scrat always getting hurt somehow and the burgeoning friendships of this unlikely trio. 

There is a twist or two in the plot that surprised me and it also surprised me that I actually ended up caring for most of the characters. Most movies have poorly executed heart-string pullers or other lame plotlines that just make the viewer not care about the creatures/actors they see. 

On with the highlights:

The Good Stuff:

The Bad Stuff:

I thought this was a nice movie. It was well-executed and entertaining. If you see it on video, then you'll also see a short with Scrat. He ends up filling a volcano or a geyser (or maybe it's a tree!?) with nuts and it explodes or something and he ends up having and interesting little air dance before smacking into the ground hard. He also gets hit by a nut/asteroid and that ends up cracking up the land mass on earth so they form our countries (if you're unaware, it is thought among some that the earth used to be one large land mass and that it eventually broke up. This is known as The Expanding Earth Theory). Kind of funny, but again, overly violent for an otherwise cute premise. 

Anyway, get it if you like CGI work or childish cartoons with some funny grown up stuff thrown in too, ala Disney.

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