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When mammals met dinosaurs
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Manny the Mammoth (voiced by Ray Romano), Diego the Saber-Toothed Tiger (voiced by Denis Leary) and Sid the Sloth (voiced by John Leguizamo), tackle on the theme of family with the arrival of a new member to the group, the definition of a family and the possible breakup of the trio in “Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaur.”
Manny is nervously anticipating the birth of his first child and is on pins and needles to the false pretenses of labor from his mate, Ellie the Mammoth (voiced by Queen Latifah). To keep his mind occupied, he spends his time as an overprotective father who attempts to baby-proof nature. Diego realizes the limitation that comes with the progression of aging decides to setout on his own and advises Sid to do the same. Sid fearing change, goes baby crazy in that he decides to raise three eggs that he finds when he falls below ground.
Unbeknownst to Sid, he rears three dinosaur eggs causing panic and pandemonium on the surface world. Sid wanting to prove how responsible he is decides that he is up to the challenges of raising them as if they were his own. However, being outnumbered three to one, the dinosaurs cause havoc as he attempts to integrate them into the mammalian environment.
When the mother dinosaur is forced to trek to the surface world for her babies, she returns with them and Sid in tow. He is unexpectedly taken back to the underground world where dinosaurs still thrive and exist. It is up to Manny, Diego and Ellie to rescue him.
Helping them navigate the dinosaur realm is Buck (voiced by Simon Pegg) the swash-buckling, adventurous weasel who steals the spotlight. His pirate mannerism does get overplayed quite a bit in the film and loses its appeal and charm as the film progresses. He helps them through their adventure in which they must go through the Chasm of Death and the Perils of Whoa while being on the lookout from Buck’s arch-nemesis, Rudy, who rules the underground world with terror. The film cleverly builds up to the hype and anticipation in revealing Rudy, which the audience only gets to see him through menacing shadows, showing his true form later on.
Buck the Weasel will never steal the stage from the true star of the film, Scrat the Squirrel (voiced by Chris Wedge, director of the first “Ice Age”) who is always after that one acorn. After overcoming all different depths of perils and obstacles, he has a new adversity with a female squirrel, Scratte (voiced by Karen Disher) who is able to use her feminine charm and emotions to entice him from his main objective.
Scrat must make the decision of what takes precedent of his heart, the acorn that he has been chasing for his entire life or this girl who is also after the same acorn. If there is ever a call for a spin-off for the “Ice Age” films then it had its star all along with Scrat in that he brings laughter with every action, movement and situation that he finds himself involved with.
This film is an improvement over the last “Ice Age” film, but it doesn’t quite live up to the high standards and expectation set in the first film. Viewers will be entertained with its animation, simple story-telling and the comical situations that Scrat and Sid get themselves into.
Despite the inaccuracies of time period in which the film shows mammals and dinosaurs living during the same time period, and the unresolved explanation of how Buck came to be the guardian of the dinosaur world can be overlooked in this entertaining film for the summer. The film keeps the kids occupied with the cute creatures while allowing the adults to have some fun with the mature jokes and innuendos while finding their inner child.
Through this latest adventure to retrieve Sid from the dinosaur world, they realize how important they are to each other and under what circumstances they are willing to go through for each other like a family all the while awaiting for the latest addition to this prehistoric herd.
| Classification: In Theaters Grade: 3 stars out of 5 stars
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