Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs 2009 Movie Review
Ray Romano, Queen Latifah, Denis Leary, John Leguizamo
As the first family film to hit the box office after Up, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs had a lot to live up to. And perhaps that’s the reason it comes off as just an ok movie.
Ice Age is cute and silly enough to entertain kids, and just smart enough to keep grownups awake, but it isn’t nearly as convincing as the first or even the second film in the franchise. It falls a little flat.
Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs Plot
Ray Romano and Queen Latifah return as the voices Ellie and Manny, woolly mammoths who are now expecting their first baby. Their good friend Sid the sloth (John Leguizamo) feels a little left out, so he finds some kids of his own, in the form of three dinosaur eggs. This is a little confusing since the eras don’t quite match up, but all is explained when it’s discovered that there’s a secret underground cave where dinosaurs are alive and well (a ‘Lost World’ if you will).
Soon Sid finds himself being followed by three newly hatched T-Rexes, which would have been fine if their angry Mama hadn’t shown up looking for her babies. Mama decides to take her children back and kidnap Sid at the same time, taking him down to dino-land.
Now the gang, which also includes Denis Leary’s saber-toothed tiger Diego and the wacky squirrel Scrat (Chris Wedge), must attempt to save him and, of course, they face some serious trouble along the way. Their only hope is to hook up with a wild-eyed, slightly demented weasel named Buck (Simon Pegg), a crazy local who offers to serve as guardian and tour guide. Craziness ensues.
Ice Age 3 Review
Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs isn’t a bad movie, but it isn’t very inspired either. As with many overextended franchise films, one gets the sense that filmmakers are trying too hard to squeeze every last nickel out of this franchise, when they should have just bowed out gracefully. With the first two Ice Age movies, it felt as though the filmmakers had fun making them and it translated to the final project. That sense of fun and creativity is missing from the threequel.
The 3-D effects are good, but, like the rest of the film, they represent a larger problem. What Ice Age 3 lacks are the amazing and inventive visuals, and incredibly strong stories that are increasingly the standard in the animation world. Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs still retains some of the sweet goofiness of the first two films, but enough already. The kids will like it, but next time let’s try to give them something more.
- Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs
- Director: Carlos Saldanha
- Writers: Michael Berg, Peter Ackerman
- Cast: Ray Romano, John Leguizamo, Denis Leary, Queen Latifah
- Running Time: 94 mins
Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs
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