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Review: Scrat Steals Show In 'Ice Age' Sequel
POSTED: 8:14 am CST March 31, 2006
'Ice Age: The Meltdown' (PG)
(out of four)Two movies clash against each other in "Ice Age: The Meltdown," a film that captures better than ever before what's been lost in mainstream American animation along with all that's been gained.Anyone who saw the first "Ice Age," and is in turn excited about the sequel, is likely interested in two things: a spectacle that will absorb their child's exuberance for a solid 90 minutes, and Scrat -- that ever-optimistic, ever-frustrated squirrel who just can't quite reach that acorn that would answer all his prayers.Make no mistake, it is in the wide-eyed, giddy, twitch and persistent Scat that Twentieth Century Fox trusts. It was with the Oscar-winning short, "Gone Nutty," that Scrat first tickled people's funny bones, leading to the development of the first "Ice Age," which was essentially a half-dozen Scrat short films intercut with a meandering story of animals migrating south during the Ice Age.That film grossed $366 million and sold more than 27 million copies at the video store thanks to this Scrat-catch fever. So really it's no surprise that "Ice Age: The Meltdown" is peppered with a whole new array of shorts in which the squirrel -- press notes identify him as a "squirrel/rat" -- flies, swims and pole vaults to his treasure.His adventures are just as lovable and entertaining this time around as they were four years ago. The only problem, though, is that this squirrel/rat's 10 minutes of screen time are chopped up amid 80 minutes of a rambling, tired and flat slapstick and melodrama, bringing back the original cast of sabertooth tiger Diego (Denis Leary), sloth Sid (John Leguizamo) and wooly mammoth Manfred (Ray Romano).The premise this time around is not a migration south, but a migration inward; the Ice Age is coming to an end -- the film opens with a character muttering "This global warming is killing me ..." -- and these critters live in the equivalent of an ice bowl surrounded by the ocean. As water starts to make its way through the cracks of the ice, a great flood is going to wash them all away.The best new character is a vulture ("Arrested Development's" Will Arnett) who bursts into song, unable to control his giddiness over the notion of new corpses to feast on.Still, throughout this race against time, away from bursting dams and deadly flood waters -- slightly uncomfortable subject matter only seven months removed from the flooding of New Orleans -- the story is mired in the same bland, generic formulas one has come to expect from today's animated comedies.All three of our heroes, along with three newcomers, trek across the countryside, as Sid makes the expected wise cracks and Manny provides the emotional subplot with his worries that he might be the last of his species. Their ultimate destination is a "boat" they've been told will save the animals from the flood. Though when they arrive, the ark ends up being a natural stone formation, and Noah is nowhere in sight.Yet try as it might, the main "story" of this "Ice Age" is just mindless fodder, lined with rushed slapstick, over-the-top musical numbers and a marathon of modern-day references that have become a staple of this genre in decline.And as the film's imagination breaks down, it shifts gears from a lively comedy to a mediocre diversion. At the screening I attended, the evidence could be seen all around, as parents became less interested in this epic hike and more interested in their giggling youngsters. A great family film involves the entire family, but the majority of "Ice Age" is sadly just an entertaining children's film that often leaves the parents behind.What is inventive here is Scrat, an homage to the classic, inventive days of animation when visuals -- not punch lines -- told the story, a hero who is pushed to the sideline in favor of manic comedy and celebrity voices. If only the makers could acknowledge that he is the real attraction, that through his expressive eyes -- the most important attribute of any animated character -- and through his deliriously creative mishaps, both parents and children alike can come together for a fun little ride.But as it stands, "Ice Age" is a meltdown of misguided assumptions about the audience; truly animation's best of times and worst of times, all swirled together. Sure, the DVD will still get bought, but it will be the kids who ask for it, not the parents.
(out of four)Two movies clash against each other in "Ice Age: The Meltdown," a film that captures better than ever before what's been lost in mainstream American animation along with all that's been gained.Anyone who saw the first "Ice Age," and is in turn excited about the sequel, is likely interested in two things: a spectacle that will absorb their child's exuberance for a solid 90 minutes, and Scrat -- that ever-optimistic, ever-frustrated squirrel who just can't quite reach that acorn that would answer all his prayers.Make no mistake, it is in the wide-eyed, giddy, twitch and persistent Scat that Twentieth Century Fox trusts. It was with the Oscar-winning short, "Gone Nutty," that Scrat first tickled people's funny bones, leading to the development of the first "Ice Age," which was essentially a half-dozen Scrat short films intercut with a meandering story of animals migrating south during the Ice Age.That film grossed $366 million and sold more than 27 million copies at the video store thanks to this Scrat-catch fever. So really it's no surprise that "Ice Age: The Meltdown" is peppered with a whole new array of shorts in which the squirrel -- press notes identify him as a "squirrel/rat" -- flies, swims and pole vaults to his treasure.His adventures are just as lovable and entertaining this time around as they were four years ago. The only problem, though, is that this squirrel/rat's 10 minutes of screen time are chopped up amid 80 minutes of a rambling, tired and flat slapstick and melodrama, bringing back the original cast of sabertooth tiger Diego (Denis Leary), sloth Sid (John Leguizamo) and wooly mammoth Manfred (Ray Romano).The premise this time around is not a migration south, but a migration inward; the Ice Age is coming to an end -- the film opens with a character muttering "This global warming is killing me ..." -- and these critters live in the equivalent of an ice bowl surrounded by the ocean. As water starts to make its way through the cracks of the ice, a great flood is going to wash them all away.The best new character is a vulture ("Arrested Development's" Will Arnett) who bursts into song, unable to control his giddiness over the notion of new corpses to feast on.Still, throughout this race against time, away from bursting dams and deadly flood waters -- slightly uncomfortable subject matter only seven months removed from the flooding of New Orleans -- the story is mired in the same bland, generic formulas one has come to expect from today's animated comedies.All three of our heroes, along with three newcomers, trek across the countryside, as Sid makes the expected wise cracks and Manny provides the emotional subplot with his worries that he might be the last of his species. Their ultimate destination is a "boat" they've been told will save the animals from the flood. Though when they arrive, the ark ends up being a natural stone formation, and Noah is nowhere in sight.Yet try as it might, the main "story" of this "Ice Age" is just mindless fodder, lined with rushed slapstick, over-the-top musical numbers and a marathon of modern-day references that have become a staple of this genre in decline.And as the film's imagination breaks down, it shifts gears from a lively comedy to a mediocre diversion. At the screening I attended, the evidence could be seen all around, as parents became less interested in this epic hike and more interested in their giggling youngsters. A great family film involves the entire family, but the majority of "Ice Age" is sadly just an entertaining children's film that often leaves the parents behind.What is inventive here is Scrat, an homage to the classic, inventive days of animation when visuals -- not punch lines -- told the story, a hero who is pushed to the sideline in favor of manic comedy and celebrity voices. If only the makers could acknowledge that he is the real attraction, that through his expressive eyes -- the most important attribute of any animated character -- and through his deliriously creative mishaps, both parents and children alike can come together for a fun little ride.But as it stands, "Ice Age" is a meltdown of misguided assumptions about the audience; truly animation's best of times and worst of times, all swirled together. Sure, the DVD will still get bought, but it will be the kids who ask for it, not the parents. Distributed by Internet Broadcasting. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
