Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (U)

Alison Rowat's Review

Having saved an infant in the first Ice Age, and the environment in the second, the Pleistocene pals are back for another toothsome animated romp. What’s different this time is that they are in 3D, which means better looking fur and lots of harum-scarum chases. Oh, and there are dinosaurs.

Yes, dinosaurs. Scientifically, historically, and every other bally way, the big reptiles had nothing to do with the Ice Age. But children love them and they look great in 3D, so they make the cut.

The script at least has the good grace to have a character exclaim that she thought dinos had gone bye-byes forever. The outrageous anomaly is explained away by having two worlds. There’s the icy one, inhabited by mammoths Manny and Ellie (voiced by Ray Romano and Queen Latifah), Sid the sloth and Diego the sabre tooth tiger. And underneath this is a Jurassic Park-like land where the dinosaurs roam.

The worlds collide when Sid stumbles across a batch of eggs and decides that, like pregnant Ellie, he’s mummy material too. The eggs’ real mother, a T-Rex no less, is unimpressed. When she snatches back her babies, plus Sid, his hairy chums launch a rescue expedition.

Otherwise, it’s same old, same old, from Scrat pursuing his elusive acorn (though he has company this time) to Manny’s dripping sarcasm. But the 3D generates a lot of thrills and dazzling landscapes, Simon Pegg does a nifty turn as a piratical weasel, and there are jokes for all ages.

The baby creatures are cute too. Not sure which was the most adorable – the infant mammoth or the mini dinosaurs. Maybe in Ice Age 4, when they’re all grown up, they can fight it out, King Kong and T-Rex style.

Click here for times for Ice Age 3 in 3D.

Paul Greenwood's Review

Lamenting the fact that most animated films these days don't come close to the quality of Pixar's releases is an exercise in futility.

Rival studios like Dreamworks and, in this case, Fox, may be trying their best but most of their efforts plain stink and there's very little we can do about it.

Ice Age 3 is a major step backwards from the solid Ice Age 2, which managed to expand the world of the first movie while being funny and delivering an un-preachy global warming message. Instead we're given a tired and dreary adventure, completely lacking in wit or invention. Animated comedies should never be boring, but tedium is a constant threat throughout this film.

Kids will start to get itchy during an opening stretch that's more domestic drama than animated romp, as Manny the mammoth (Ray Romano, bored stiff instead of just his usual laid back) gets anxious about his impending fatherhood with Ellie (Queen Latifah), and sabre-tooth tiger Diego (Denis Leary) suffers a mid-life crisis.

Meanwhile dopey sloth Sid (John Leguizamo) has come into possession of a trio of eggs and believes he has become a mommy. Sid ends up being taken by the real mother, and when the gang go looking for him, it turns out they've been living above a lost world the whole time, one where dinosaurs still rule the earth.

Be warned, the screening I attended was packed with kids, and one was heard to say ‘It's not funny,’ while restless tots roamed the aisles in search of entertainment.

Laughs are hard to come by. And while the 3D animation is rich and deep, and the physical set pieces offer some interest, they mostly involve sliding down mountains or dinosaur tails.

Where are the larger themes and the engaging characters, the things we take for granted from a Pixar production?

Most of the characters just seem to be along for the ride, adding nothing and going nowhere. Simon Pegg turns up as a psychotic weasel who helps the gang in their search, but even he is powerless against the dismal tide.

Only the figurehead of the series, the manic squirrel Scrat, offers any respite with his eternal search for acorns, and his ongoing battle with a feisty female combines imaginative animation with real wit.

It's sad to report that Ice Age 3 spends more time searching for jokes and a plot than it does for Sid. In fact, it's the worst thing Fox has served up in recent years.

Click here for times for Ice Age 3 in 3D.