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Ice Age
Ice Age
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*** 1/2
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Rating
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PG for mild peril
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Director
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Carlos Saldanha & Chris Wedge
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United we stand
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Starring
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Ray Romano
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John Leguizamo
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Denis Leary
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Cedric the Entertainer
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Jack Black
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A patchwork family composed of a saber-tooth tiger, a woolly mammoth and a sloth rescue a lost human infant and try to return him to his tribe.
"Ice Age" is an animated film with two distinct layers. The first is what we see in the trailers with Scrat (a cross between a squirrel and a rat), who is obsessed with protecting an acorn which is in constant danger of being lost or crushed. Although he's in the film throughout, Scrat's key role is to get the plot rolling (so to speak) by setting off a series of avalanches and near death misses because of trying to dig a hole in the ice to bury his acorn. What follows are a series of slapstick gags by a host of "pre-historic" animal characters that will bring a smile to the face of both adults and children. At the end of the film, with the passage of 20,000 years and a change in climate, Scrat is still trying to protect his acorn but from a melting ice cube on a tropical beach.
The second story in "Ice Age" deals with a migration (similar to "Dinosaur") where various species travel to a safe location in pairs. Some are predators like the Rhino (Cedric the Entertainer) who wants Scrat and his acorn¾as a meal. Then there is Manfred the Mammoth (Ray Romano), a loner who teams up with silly Sid the Sloth (John Leguizamo) to protect and return a lost child to his tribe. Unknown to these stalwart protectors, saber-tooth tigers with a vendetta against the tribe are hunting the mother and child. After an attack on their village, the mother escaped with her baby.
Totally exhausted after surviving many hours in treacherous waters, the mother and child meet Manfred, and she encourages him to return her child to the tribe. Diego, the saber-tooth tiger (Denis Leary), has a mission from his leader to bring Manfred, Sid and the baby into an ambush so they can kidnap the child. Although Diego smiles in the faces of his new found friends, with the mission to become a traitor, his morality is challenged as friendship develops during their journey.
As George viewed the film and listened to the reactions of kids in the audience, he noticed there was a mixture of fear for natural enemies (animals who survive by eating other animals) and joy as various species did positive things within their own "culture" as well as helping others. While "Ice Age" is not as slickly produced as "Shrek" or "Monsters, Inc.," it's a thoroughly enjoyable film, along the lines of "Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius." Of the four films, this one is probably the most fun for the very young and the easiest to see a second time because of its lighthearted cartoon-like flavor.
The opening and closing scenes of "Ice Age" are destined to become classics and when this film comes out on video we'll add it to our library. This one will keep the youngsters occupied while the adults discuss the best films to see that are targeted only for them.
George O. Singleton © 2002
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