Ice Age - Land of the Cold, Home of the Brave

Ever since we saw the first trailers for Ice Age, my son Ethan has been counting down the weeks and days until it opened up in movie theaters. Today was the day.

Let me tell you how clueless I was. When I saw the previews for Ice Age, I thought that it looked a little cartoonish. You know, like watching Bugs Bunny and Roadrunner all day. There's just so much of silliness that you can take before it gets on your nerves.

I was totally wrong.

The End
I put this here because I would much rather you go and see it without too much knowledge of who the characters are or what the story line is. Let me tell you this. If you enjoyed The Lion King, you will love this movie. The animation has a real 3D feel, the characters are loveable and the story line (although nothing original) will grab you by the heartstrings.

The Story
It's 20,000 years ago. As Winter sets in, the animals (as usual) start heading off for warmer destinations. Left behind is Sid the Sloth (John Leguizamo). He shouldn't be surprised that he's by himself because every year, his family does this to him.

As all of the other animals are exiting, a giant mammoth, Manfred (Ray Romano) is actually heading in the opposite direction.

Sid, walking along, rambling to himself, runs into two giant rhinos who become very angry with him for eating the last dandelion. While he runs away from them, he runs straight into the path of Manfred. Although Manfred is irritated by this pipsqueak of a Sloth, he saves him from the mean rhinos.

Meanwhile, a pack of Sabertooth Tigers, led by their leader Soto (Goran Visnjic) are eyeing the camp of humans. Their goal - steal the baby and eat it as pay back to the humans for killing their brothers for warmth (furs). Soto's right hand sabertooth, Diego (Dennis Leary) has been ordered to bring back the baby alive to him.

When the pack of sabertooth's attack the camp, the baby manages to fall into the hands of Manfred and Sid. Diego tries to convince them to hand over the baby (he's just returning it to the camp). Manfred smells a rat and decides that they will return the baby.

Diego, in order to stay close to the baby, agrees to lead Manfred and Sid back to the humans. Of course, we the audience know, that he's really setting them up for a trap.

Does the baby return to the humans?
Do Manfred, Sid, and Diego live?
And what about that crazy squirrel with his nut?

What Made This So Good
Where to begin....

One of the characters I did not mention is the squirrel - Skat. Skat sort of stays in the background of the other four main characters (Sid, Diego, The Baby, and Manfred), providing a large dose of comic relief.

He was featured in the trailer that I'm sure, many of you saw. I was concerned that after awhile, this skit with Skat would get old but no. I found myself doubled over in laughter in almost every scene he was in.

Every single one of the "good guys" are so easy to warm up to and love. Sid, although he can get a little annoying is just as squeezable and fun as your little brother or sitter. The baby, just like in Monster's Inc. steals the scenes. Over the course of the movie, we get to see sarcastic and bitter Manfred, defrost into a pile of jello. And Diego - well even though Diego is a bad guy, you can't help but love him, especially later on in the movie.

I could sit here and give you all of the "technical" (specifically animation) aspects about the movie but I think that would take all of the fun out of it. The animation differs from Pixar and Disney in that it felt bright, fast, and felt very 3D'ish like. Pixar movies seem like they have primary colors that are crisp and Disney movies seem to soften their animation effects.

The voices were almost perfect. I instantly recognized Dennis Leary. No one else could have played the character of Diego but him. I'm not familiar with Ray Romano's voice and thus, I did not recognize him. Honestly, I felt that John Goodman would have been a better fit for the role.

There are a couple of scenes in the movie where you will tear up. You won't be able to help yourself. Since I like to cry at this movies, I consider this a plus!

Just one thing I want to caution you about. If you have children under five, there are a couple of scenes in the movie that were dark, like in The Lion King. My seven year old was fine with it but I could see that a couple of other children in the 3-5 range seemed a bit uncomfortable.

If I Could Change One Thing....
If I had one beef to pick with the movie it's that the music featured didn't do anything splashy or fancy. I don't hold this against them though because I think that Pixar and Disney have spoiled me with their radio friendly tunes. Maybe this is just Fox's way to differentiate themselves from the rest of the crowd.