Warm Up To It (Ice Age (DVD))

Member Name: fooyoo

Product:	Ice Age (DVD)
Date:	22/01/04 (95 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Funny, Entertaining

Disadvantages: I have to watch it all the time!!

'Ice Age' is a film which I would never have seen if I was not a parent, as I generally wouldn't choose to watch these types of animated films. Over the last few years, the techniques used to develop these films has improved greatly, which has resulted in some impressive films which appeal to a wide age range, and they are no longer considered as children's films.

The film follows a group of pre historic animals who live in the Ice Age, hence the title. The film starts with the animals making plans to head south to warmer climates in order to try and escape the Ice Age. They are not alone in these plans, as some local tribesmen are preparing to make the same journey, whilst being unaware that their every move is being watched by Soto, a tiger, who frankly, is a nasty piece of work. He is driven by his need for revenge against the tribesmen after they killed some of his pack. Whilst watching the tribe make their plans to move, Soto notices that there is a new baby amongst them, and decides that taking the baby will be the best form of retaliation, and he also gets a tasty snack into the bargain!

Soto orders his sidekick Diego to go to the village and take the baby. All does not go to plan though, as Diego is discovered by the baby's mother, and we watch as she desperately tries to protect her child, but ultimately ends up paying the biggest price when she loses her life when she finally escapes. Now at this point, it is clear that these films are no longer with made with children as the main target audience, as this is pretty grim stuff in what is expected to be a light hearted animation. Anyway, the baby is discovered by Sid the Sloth and Manfred the Mammoth. They are a hilarious pairing, with Sid seemingly unable to control his motormouth, making the generally moody Manfred even worse than normal. Sid has a huge chip on his shoulder as he has been abandoned by his friends when they made the move south, and he inadvertently cros
ses swords with two less than hospitable rhinos, and it is only when Manfred saves him from a savage beating that the two become friends.

Not surprisingly, the two disagree on what to do with the baby, with Sid wanting to take the baby back to the village, whilst Manfred thinks that is a bad idea as he does not want to be on the receiving end of the treatment he is sure the tribe will dish out. He wants to walk away from the situation, that is until Diego turns up, and Manfred does not want to leave the baby's fate with Diego, as he knows of Diego's original plan, and so begins the game of each animal trying to outwit and outbluff the other, with Diego seemingly wanting to return to baby to it's father, whilst Manfred and Sid think he has other motives, and so the real story begins, and the film starts to pick up pace. Whilst it may seem that I have told you a lot about the film, please don't think this is all spoilers, as what follows from this point is what really makes the film.

The actors who provide the voices make this film what it is. Manfred's voice is provided by American TV actor and stand up comedian Ray Romano. Sid is the hilarious John Leguizamo, Diego is the hugely underestimated Denis Leary, whilst Soto is Goran Visnijc, who plays Luca Kovac in ER, and then Zeke is the always funny Jack Black, and finally Roshan is Tara Strong. The life that they inject into each character coupled with their own style of humour works really well as they deliver the hilarious slapstick one liners with perfect comic timing.

'Ice Age' did not impress me in the way 'Monsters Inc' and 'Toy Story' did, but it is still a very enjoyable and well made film. The animation is clever and visually impressive, and the images jump out of the screen at you as they are so well defined. I really enjoyed watching it, and I have done so the many times I have watched it since, as it ranks highly in my daughter's l
ist of favourite films, as we are all thoroughly entertained with each viewing.

Summary: