Movie Review by Vivienne Messenger
Starring (voices of): Ray Romano, John Leguizamo, Denis Leary, Goran Visnjic
Director: Chris Wedge
The antics of Scrat (Chris Wedge) a lovable, sabre-toothed squirrel, with a troublesome yet precious acorn, set the tone of this animated prehistoric adventure.
With food in scarce supply and the ice advancing, both animals and humans are embarking on a mass migration. All except a sloth called Sid (John Leguizamo) who’s fallen asleep in a tree and been left behind. Sid bumps into Manny (Ray Romano), a woolly mammoth who has decided to go in the opposite direction to all the others. This unlikely duo team up against Manny’s protests when they are caught up in an adventure that will change their lives forever.
Pausing by a river they come upon an exhausted human mother who, in a last final effort pushes a bundle up onto the bank towards them before being swept away. On inspection a baby is uncovered and Sid unhesitatingly sets out to return the baby to the human settlement. Manny reluctantly tags along because he knows how incapable Sid can be and that’s when Diego (Denis Leary), a ferocious sabre-toothed tiger, leaps into their path, trying to make the baby his next meal!
Diego, apparently now full of concern for the safety of the baby, joins them on their quest to return the baby to his father, but, cunning by nature and full of duplicity, he’s secretly hatching a plan to the contrary. And Scrat, well Scrat bounces in and out of the adventure with his own highly amusing exploits involving that acorn! However the quest on which they are about to embark will ultimately push them all to their limits, both physically and mentally as their journey becomes increasingly perilous.
ICE AGE is an extremely entertaining movie peppered with hilarious moments that help to offset the very moving, quite frightening and suspenseful adventure that unfolds – complete with a couple of really heart-rending scenes, which the children in the audience seemed to take in their stride. Perhaps the adults in the audience were more affected?
The fast paced animation is excellent for both the characters and backgrounds, from when the tigers launched into one of their attacks, to the natural disasters that occurred such as avalanches and erupting volcanoes. A special mention has to go to the fast action scenes that suddenly develop with exhilarating speed and almost leave you breathless. For instance when the baby falls down a hole and the heroes plummet downwards in pursuit through a series of icy, meltwater tunnels leading to a cavern below.
ICE AGE is definitely the must see movie for the coming holidays for both children and adults, so chill-out with these sub-zero heroes – you won’t be disappointed.
