| Ice Age |
| 2002, 20th Century Fox. Directed by Chris Wedge. Voices of Ray Romano, John Leguizamo, and Denis Leary. Rated PG for mild peril, deaths; some crude humor. |
| Grade: B |
| Review by Anthony |
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| Ice Age is a computer-animated family film in the classic style of Shrek and Monsters Inc. - really in classic style of Shrek and Monsters Inc. Throughout the movie, I was frequently reminded of both of the latter movies, from plot to characters to humor to dialogue. To begin with, Manfred the mammoth (Ray Romano), Sid the sloth (John Leguizamo), and Diego the saber-tooth tiger (Denis Leary) are on a mission together to bring a human baby back to its family - harking back to Monsters Inc. in which two monsters, Sully and Mike, have to bring a human toddler back to her home. Manfred and Sid are very much Shrek-like and Donkey (Shrek's comical sidekick for those of you who don't already know)-like characters, respectively. Manfred, the Shrek-like character, is a big, intimidating guy who just wants to be left alone. Sid is garrulous and at times annoying but very funny. These descriptions also fit Shrek and Donkey perfectly. The first few scenes were also very similar to the first few scenes of Shrek. In Ice Age, Manfred saves Sid. Sid wants to stick with Manfred. Manfred wants Sid to leave him alone but can't seem to shake him. Manfred and Sid end up on a quest together. In Shrek, Shrek saves Donkey. Donkey wants to stick with Shrek. Shrek wants Donkey to leave him alone but can't seem to shake him. Shrek and Donkey end up on a quest together. However, one new aspect that Ice Age brings is the addition of a third party, Diego the tiger, who starts out planning to betray Manfred and Sid to his pack of fellow tigers, but as the movie progresses, he becomes attached to the baby, Manfred, and Sid and has conflicting emotions about whether or not he should go through with his betrayal. This was an interesting angle that helped make Ice Age more than just another Monsters Inc. or Shrek. Although Ray Romano (TV's "Everybody Loves Raymond") does have some funny moments, he was not the main focus of the movie's humor, which surprised me. John Leguizamo as Sid the Sloth is. While I do think that Romano could easily have done a good job at being the funny man, Leguizamo was hysterical. His character was by far the funniest in the movie, earning himself a place along with Billy Chrystal (Mike Wazowski in Monsters Inc.) and Eddie Murphy (Donkey in Shrek). The crude humor of Ice Age consists of some excretion waste jokes, but it is definitely not as crude as some of the humor in Shrek. Also, tots may be scared by tigers and some deaths. All in all, Ice Age is a good family movie that blends some of the touching moments of Monsters Inc. with some of the comedy of Shrek. Although it doesn't quite match either of its predecessors, it's still very funny and enjoyable. |