Movie Review:
Ice Age:
Dawn of the Dinosaurs
Rated by 12 members
Rated PG for some mild rude humor and peril.
Recommended for ages 4 to 10.
Run Time: 97 minutes
Quick Take: Some kids won't like dinosaur threats to their fave characters, but most young Ice Age vets should be up for thrills.
Some Charm of Previous 'Ages' is Extinct in 'Dawn of the Dinosaurs'
Wooly Mammoths were not on the planet back when dinosaurs ruled the earth.
I know this because I used to have small children (who are now teenagers) who knew more about the Mesozoic Era than they knew about ... this one. And because a little voice during the recent movie, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, said as much when a T-Rex came out to menace Manfred the mammoth -- who, I was also reminded, is not a dinosaur at all. (In the words of pint-sized paleontologists everywhere, "Duh.")
Oh, if I had a nickel for every kid who professed love for dinos.
Not that such prehistoric shortcomings mattered much to moviemakers. The latest entry to the Ice Age franchise gets around the little matter of, oh, extinction by planting the dinos in an undiscovered, subterranean land before time.
"I thought those guys were extinct," exclaims Ellie.
"Well, then," says Manfred, "that is one angry fossil."
So much paleontological correctness.
Following in the mammoth prints of the first two Ice Age movies, Dawn of the Dinosaurs finds Sid the sloth, bemoaning his place as second banana, happening upon three purportedly orphaned eggs, and attempting to find love by dubbing the trio Eggbert, Shelly, and Yoko, then adopting them as his very own. The triplets turn out to be T-Rex juniors, and isn't Sid surprised when mama Rex appears, absconds with babies and takes Sid along for the ride. This puts Manfred, Ellie, and Diego on Sid's trail, where the search leads them to the Chasm of Death and Buck, a one-eyed weasel who's acting out his own Moby Dino adventure.
With big critters aplenty, Ice Age is as much action 'toon as comedy, with the characters fending off all manner of drooling, menacing predators, an advent that left some kids thrilled, and others, um, less so (the tears and hasty exit or leap into mom's lap were hints). In all of their 3-D (where available) glory, the big guys are indeed marvelously gargantuan. One just wishes the movie itself were more colossal. The trouble with great flicks like the original Ice Age (which I loved, by the way) is that they're often followed in obligatory fashion by later movies that are not as great. Not that this installment didn't have its moments. Sid, whose hilarious style of speech was created when John Leguizamo learned that sloths store food in their cheeks (talk about Method acting), reduced the lot of us to giggles just by opening his mouth. And Manfred? With his droopy voice and nasally accent, Ray Romano was just made to play the floppy prehistoric giant. But, it all felt done, and there wasn't enough originality to keep the tundra feeling cold and fresh.
Maybe I'm spoiled by the likes of UP that fine-tunes every delightful cinematic note. And, Ice Age is still a perfectly pleasant diversion, a fact illustrated by Jamie, who measured the movie's appeal by the number of trips she and her trio of tots (ages 4, 5 and 6) took to the bathroom -- which is to say, zero.
And that alone could be worth the price of admission.
Kids Will Like:
Jamie's 6-year-old daughter Carli "loved, loved the sloth being a mama." Four-year-old Sean "was mesmerized by the dinos." And her 5-year-old Godson Ney, he loved the squirrels. The hearty trio wasn't phased at all by the scary stuff, but then, Jamie says that's not their style. Their favorite movies include the Lord of the Rings trilogy, muses Jamie, "so there is not a cartoon movie that can intimidate them!" 3-D, where available, is used peripherally, meaning there are no gotchas, which is probably a blessing considering the already jump-off-the-screen premise. It sure is pretty to look at, but I'm not sure if 3-D worth the extra price here. In fact, Jamie says the little ones bristled at having to wear the glasses. "Sean took them off and watched the whole movie without them, and didn't seem to mind a bit."
Parents Will Like:
Scrat the Squirrel returns throughout the movie on his ongoing quest for the acorn. This time, he finds himself a girlfriend -- and a Lou Rawls soundtrack. Extra points for creative use of "ammo," and a helium scene that rates as about the funniest in the film. Jamie said she laughed as much as her kids.
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