More cool pre-historic fun (Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (DVD))

Member Name: Chelle1969

Product:	Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (DVD)
Date:	03/07/09 (120 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Fun, great animation, just the right length

Disadvantages: Small children may find some scenes scary

Review of the film only

Ice Age: Dawn Of The Dinosaurs is the third in the series of Ice Age films from the animation studios of Twentieth Century Fox. All the usual characters are back again along with a few new additions to add to the fun.


Cast (voices)
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John Leguizamo - Sid the sloth
Ray Romano - Manny the wooly mammoth
Queen Latifah - Ellie the wooly mammoth
Denis Leary - Diego the sabre-toothed tiger
Simon Pegg - Buck the weasel


Synopsis
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The film starts with Ellie and Manny the two mammoths expecting a baby any day and Manny nervously panicking about becoming a father. Sid the sloth starts thinking about how great it would be to have a family and so when he stumbles on some apparently abandoned eggs he decides to take them and rear them as his own. The eggs hatch into three baby dinosaurs and the trouble starts when 'Mummy' dinosaur comes looking for her babies. Sid ends up being taken with the babies back to the tropical dino infested jungle, which lies beneath the ice world. Naturally the rest of the misfits that make up the strange herd of creatures follow to try and rescue Sid. To help them in their mission they enlist the help of 'Buck' a crazy weasel voiced by Simon Pegg who's afraid of nothing. Cue the start of a dangerous and exciting adventure encountering various scary dinosaurs that really should have been extinct! Of course, alongside all the action and criss-crossing with the band of heroes is Scrat the squirrel-rat, still trying to get his hands on the elusive acorns but this time coming up against some tough competition in the form of Sratte a female of the species...


Opinion
*******
I love the Ice Age films, I think they're amongst some of the wittiest and best-scripted animations of recent years and this one is no different. There are many laugh-out-loud moments and that's from me as an adult who watched it alone, so I'm sure kids will absolutely love it.

As with the other two in the series there is a strong moral to the film - that family and friendship are important above everything else. The animals all go together to rescue Sid even though they all find him to be a bit of a pain in the butt at times, but he's part of the herd and therefore part of the family. This one plays particularly heavily on the family theme with the imminent arrival of a mini-mammoth and it's interesting to see how the characters of the animals have developed since the first film. Manny in particular has mellowed and softened immensely since he's become a 'married' mammoth, and Diego is starting to show signs of age and worrying that he's going soft.

The addition of a couple of new characters is good too, I had my doubts that a partner for Scrat would work, having been such an integral part of the films with the long-running gag about the acorns, I didn't want it to spoil the fun. However my doubts were misplaced, Sratte is a wonderful addition to the 'cast' and their relationship adds a new dimension to the film. I'm sure many adult couples will watch them and see themselves reflected in their on-screen actions. Oh, and isn't it about time Scrat got his own film?
Simon Pegg was a surprise, I had no idea he was voicing the character of Buck until the end credits, he plays it with such a strong London accent. At first I found the little erratic and frenetic weasel rather irritating, but that soon passed and I quickly warmed to him, in no small part due to the great script.

I think it's worth noting that although the film is rated a U (universal for all ages) there are some scenes that may frighten very young children. Some of the dinosaurs may be a little too scary and there's a tremendously exhilarating action packed flying scene (which incidentally I'm sure will look stunning in the 3D version) that may be a little too intense for sensitive kids.

Over all this is a great fun family film, highly entertaining for adults and children alike. If you liked the other Ice Age films, you'll love this one too. It's one that you can watch over and over and see new bits each time, the script is sharp and the visual humour is fantastic. Go see it!


Directed by: Carlos Saldanha and Mike Thurmeier
Certificate: U
Running Time: 94 minutes

www.iceagemovie.com

Summary: I highly recommend this film