COLUMN: ‘Ice Age’ an entertaining film
Grade: B+
Every time a new animated film comes out I find myself being skeptical about how good it will actually be. After all, it’s only a cartoon.
I know, calling it a cartoon will offend the animation purists who are always quick to point out to me films like this are computer-generated. But they still can’t stop my celluloid-chauvinistic brain from scoffing at every new animated film that comes down the pike.
I went to the theater expecting a cutesy animal adventure barely capable of entertaining the 10 and under crowd. Instead I found a film that was written for me. I can’t explain it. Sure the theater was packed wall-to-wall with mom’s little booger-eaters, but when it came time to laugh, the kids were drowned out by the guffaws of their parents – and me.
So either I have to admit that I have the mind of a child or it’s time to start taking animation seriously.
Ice Age is a show about prehistoric animals who find themselves struggling to cope with the changes in their environment, the emergence of the human race and each other. Their witty interactions provide the fuel for most of the comedy. The story follows the adventures of a sloth, a mammoth and a saber-tooth tiger who rescue a human baby and decide to return him to his “herd.”
It’s a prehistoric buddy movie that ends up feeling just as credible as the ones that use real actors. The film showcases the voice talent of John Leguizamo as Sid the sloth, Ray Romano as Manny the mammoth and Denis Leary as Diego the tiger. I don’t know how much they were paid for their voice talent, but it wasn’t enough. Leguizamo and Romano made this film work.
I especially liked the character of Scrat, who I can only describe as a saber-toothed squirrel. Scrat spent the entire film looking for a place to bury his acorn. Nothing goes right for Scrat, but it doesn’t stop him from trying. Along the way he is crushed by glaciers, zapped by lightening and finally entombed in ice. He only interacted once with the other characters, and his existence has little to do with the plot, but his story provided excellent comic relief when things started bogging down.
Ice Age is one of the best animated films I have seen to date. It’s also one of the most entertaining films I have seen in months. I went to the theater expecting a wooden story and maybe a couple of laughs. Instead I found myself actually caring about the plight of three cartoon animals. But here’s the best part – Ice Age gave me plenty of opportunities to smile.