I can't say I don't have time but I am sooooo disorganised!
I can't say I don't have time but I am sooooo disorganised!
Member since:08.12.2005
Reviews:99
Members who trust:51
Well, how pleased was I to find that on our in-flight entertainment, the movies available included not just one, or two, but three Ice Age films! I love to watch things in sequence, so of course this was next on my list. By now we were flying from Doha to Jo’Burg, and to be honest after 6 hours plodding around in 30 degree heat, I was a bit tired. I really enjoyed the first film and was determined to see the second two. Sadly due to my tiredness I only just managed this one. Even then I had to keep replaying it! If you’ve not seen the first film yet, I’d strongly recommend you do before reading this review, because this one would be a spoiler of that film from the start and that I cannot help.
Story
The Ice Age had caused everything to be covered in huge glaciers of ice, but now, that ice is starting to melt. Manny the mammoth, Sid the sloth and Diego the sabre-toothed tiger realise that if the animals are to survive, they need to move away from the melting icebergs. Already, the vultures are gathering, sure to pick up any unfortunate
creatures that do not survive the journey or get killed in the floods. They know a safer place to go, but will they make it?
As with the first film, the story features a squirrel-rat called, funnily enough, Scrat, who is trying to keep his acorn. The acorn is bigger than him, and it is funny watching him struggle away with it and risk his life in all these crazy situations just to keep the acorn. There were a few of these scenes scattered among the main story, very much in the same way as the first film.
This film seemed a lot more sombre than the first one for some reason. Also it didn’t have the same interaction of characters, because this time they are all familiar with each other. To introduce more characters would have crowded the story a lot, but with just the same people in a new situation I felt more was needed. There was a school of naughty little animals, and this added a bit to the humour, but they only really featured rather than becoming something more significant. I also found that there was less humour than in the first film, and this would have helped to liven it up a bit. Still, it was worth watching just to know what happens and to see Scrat again.
Graphics and voiceovers
These are pretty much the same as the last film, but used differently. For those of you who don’t know, Manny the mammoth was played by Ray Romano, Sid the sloth by John Leguizamo and Diego the sabre-toothed tiger by Denis Leary. I did find it odd that someone with such a light voice, like Ray Romano was chosen to play a mammoth. You might imagine a mammoth to have a very strong and deep voice, so this was a bit weird. I didn’t really get used to that even by the second film, but still it was at least something original. There is one more addition to the strange tribe, that of Ellie, who is played by Queen Latifah. Now this seemed pretty random to me, but actually this character works quite well with the others and it is nice to have a female main character in there now.
I felt that there was a lot less dialogue and more long dark scenes where it was hard to keep concentrating in this film. We did have those new animal children so that brought in a bit of variety, but for me it just wasn’t enough. Still, the graphics were otherwise as effective as the last film with impressive cartoon expressions and some exaggerated detail. I'm quite fond of the appearance of the characters and might even try drawing a few soon. I did that with the Wallace and Gromit films - so these characters obviously impressed me!
This film is a PG, same as the first. As with the first film, I didn’t see anything that should really not be shown to children of any age. There is a scene where a chicken walks over this minefield of hot steam bursts and one bursts on him, then he comes back down looking like a regular plucked and cooked chicken. It was too funny and unrealistic to be scary. The only thing is that the film as a whole may not be fun enough for the younger viewers this time.
Conclusion
As a movie in its own right, I didn’t feel that this film was very good. At times I found it hard to still concentrate on what was happening, because there was little dialogue or it was too dark to see what was going on. I think, especially as this film is really aimed at kids first and foremost, it needed to be a lot more exciting and eventful. If you have seen the first film, though, it is nice to see what happens as the story continues. Just, remember, as always, sequels are rarely as good as, let alone better than the first film. Don’t go out of your way to spend on this one, but if you’ve see the first and have a chance to see this on telly (or at 40 000 feet!), then give it a go.
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Nov 3rd, 2009
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