Dir.
Carlos Saldanha, Mike Thurmeier (co-director), US, 2009, 94 mins
Cast (voices):
Ray Romano, Queen Latifah, Denis Leary, Simon Pegg, John Leguizamo
Review by Michelle Moore
If you thought that the previous two Ice Age films were funny, then be prepared to need a change of underwear for the next instalment Ice Age 3 – Dawn of the Dinosaurs.
This is a fast moving, information packed film, where mammals and dinosaurs go head to head. Although it's the first Ice Age film to be released in digital 3D, this has nothing to do with how great the film is. There are certainly moments where you can almost feel yourself rolling with the characters through bushes or sliding though the snow and being chased by dinosaurs, but it is the focused and more compact plot line and surrounding aspects rather than the 3D imagery that makes it so enjoyable to watch.
Life is changing for the characters we remember from the previous films. Manny (Romano) and Ellie (Latifah) are expecting a baby, Diego (Leary) feels he is becoming too laid back and ponders over finding a new way of life and Sid (Leguizamo) is looking to start his own family with some eggs he has found. Little does he and everyone one around him realise these eggs are the beginning of a big adventure involving dinosaurs of all shapes and sizes.
There are some hilarious moments in this film, more so than from the previous two. There are animals passing wind, animals on helium laughing hysterically, as well as baby animals and dinosaurs playing not so friendly. It's the occasional rude bit that makes the film enjoyable for the older viewers - things younger children will probably not understand to some degree, but adults will laugh quietly at.
And lastly there is the way the actors and the characters they play are so in tune with each other. Manny and Diego for example appear to have adopted the facial characteristics of the actors playing them (Ray Romano and Denis Leary). A special mention has to go to Buck the Weasel, voiced by Simon Pegg. He has a Captain Jack Sparrow style voice and an attitude to match. There is though a bit of a change in the visual appearance of the characters from the previous films with the mammals looking very animal like but the dinosaurs being more in the style of caricature.
There's one particular moment, which is guaranteed to make the audience fall totally silent and then dissolve into mumbling adoration the next, and that's when we witness the birth of a totally gorgeous baby mammal; it's one to melt the stoniest of hearts. With the school holidays fast approaching, children will be clamouring to see Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs. And it will not only be fun for them, but accompanying adults will also enjoy the experience.
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