The T-rex Trek (Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (DVD))

Member Name: Ayesha-`

Product:	Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (DVD)
Date:	08/11/09 (39 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: More of those loveable characters

Disadvantages: A typical film number 3 in the series

We've just had a two week holiday in South Africa. On the journey back, the first film I wanted to see was Ice Age 3, mostly because I wanted to complete the series and find out what happens, having seen the other two films on the way out. Please bear in mind that if you have not seen the first two films, I do not recommend you read this review (even if that means I miss out on your rating!) That's because if the film sounds like your thing, I will have spoilt both those first two films within this review of the third. So staying on this point, I'd say that really you should watch the first and second films before seeing this one. I'm not completely sure, but I don't think this film would make much sense without that prior knowledge of the characters. Anyway, on with the review!

Story

Manfred and Ellie are still together, and now they are due to have a baby. Manny is fussing like mad to make everything perfect for when his son or daughter arrives, and meanwhile Diego is beginning to wonder if family life is for him. Sid decides he wants children of his own, but when his desires bring him into trouble with a big t-rex, the others are forced onto a rescue mission. This takes Manny, Ellie, Sid and the two possums, Eddie and Crash, on a treacherous journey, where they seek the guidance of Buck, a weasel who takes on dinosaurs regularly. In the meantime, Scrat meets and falls for Scratte, a pretty female, but he can't be sure whether he is interested in him or his acorn.

As a whole, the story does follow a similar pattern to the previous film, where the group must embark on a dangerous journey. I can understand the need to introduce new characters to keep this film original, and this certainly helps make it more interesting. On the other hand, the humour wasn't really particularly new and I guess after two films already it was not so funny.

Acting/Characters

I'm only going to talk about the new characters here, as I think the main characters were not much different to how they were in the previous films, which you should see first. If you haven't seen them yet, here I would point you to my reviews of those films for more information, or of course reviews by others! The only thing I did notice was that somehow Scrat seemed a bit different although I couldn't put my finger on why, that left me a little disappointed. He just wasn't as funny. Perhaps I preferred when his character didn't really have much of a plot to follow and was kept simple. He was a popular character, though, so it was nice to see more of him.

So Scratte is one of the new characters, and she is a very foxy girl-squirrel-rat, superior in skills and smartness to Scrat. She is very unpredictable and adds quite a bit of excitement to the little snippets we see of the pair chasing acorns and flirting with one and other.

Eddie and Crash, played by Josh Peck and Seann William Scott respectively, also had more prominent parts in this film than the previous two. They introduced more humour and their playful voices often loosened up the tension.

The most significant and different newbie is Buck, the weasel. It threw me a bit to notice that he had an English accent, and as I did not know who was playing him, I spent most of the film trying to guess who it was. The first person to spring to mind was Simon Pegg, and this turned out to be him. Funnily enough, I also thought Buck sounded a lot like Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean, not to mention that where he was wearing an eye-patch and brandishing a tooth as a sword throughout, with the mannerisms to complement, even if it wasn't him I couldn't help but think it was intended to imitate this character to a degree.

The dinosaurs were the other key additions. Among them was the main t-rex, but more important were her three children, whom Sid names Eggbert, Shelly and Yoko - as he finds them all as eggs! If the Ice Age animals didn't think their mother was scary enough, when Rudy comes along, they are really in for a surprise. He is a much bigger challenge for Buck, and an even bigger terror for all the others, when he makes mummy dino look a dwarf. Sadly we don't really get that much communication from the dinosaurs as they don't seem to talk, just "grr". Admittedly this helps distinguish them from the others as the real predators or monsters, and their expressions were amusing, but it might have been fun to see how they would have talked.

Graphics and sound

This was very much of the same standard as the previous two films, except, contrary to its title, we saw a lot more of jungle-like scenery than icebergs. Although for a while I thought this was a bit off-plot, I have to admit I really liked the new scenery and the variety it added.

The dinosaur voices seemed to have convinced me, even if they didn't really sound at all how a dinosaur would sound. I suppose with animations that's the great thing, there's no need to be realistic and all the better when you are not.

Classification

As with the other two films, this one is rated as a PG. IMDB mention "rude humour" but to be honest I think even if that were the case the younger the child the less likely to get it anyway, so that shouldn't put people off letting their kids watch it. Personally I didn't pick up on it, or at least not enough to remember now. The dinosaur scenes may be a little scary for some, but then they are only cartoons and maybe a little edge-of-the-seat action is harmless. It's not exactly Jurassic Park, anyway.

Conclusion

I didn't mind watching this just to find out what happens, and I guess also kind of so I could complete the set of reviews! It wasn't as good as the first film and so that well known comment that sequels are often weaker does apply here, although I'd say it was probably as good as the second. I wouldn't rush out to see this one or fork out too much money on it, but perhaps one day it might be worth renting for you to complete the set if you have seen the other two or as a nice reminder of those films. Otherwise, if you can wait then maybe one holiday it will be on telly anyway.

Summary: Worth a watch to see what happens and still good but not as funny.