Review #419: 'Ice Age: The Meltdown' (2006)

With the Ice Age coming to an end, Manny (Ray Romano), Sid (John Leguizamo) and Diego (Denis Leary) learn that the valley they are living in will collapse and ultimately flood. They set off on a journey to reach higher ground, with Manny depressed at the fact that he may be the last mammoth alive. They come across two mischievous opossums Crash (Seann William Scott) and Eddie (Josh Peck), who are travelling with their 'sister' Ellie (Queen Latifah), a mammoth who believes that she is an opossum. Facing some hungry sea creatures, an army of mini-sloths who wants to sacrifice Sid (who they believe to be a fire God), and a temperamental volcano, the group must face physical perils, as well as their own company.

Following the mega-success of the first film, the first sequel (there are now four films all together) arrives with an increased budget and some much improved animation, and was naturally a huge success. It is a damning indictment of audience's thirst for originality, as The Meltdown is nothing more than a less-funny re-hash of the first film. The wafer-thin plot of the first is given a slight twist with the fact that they are escaping a massive world event, rather than returning a baby to some humans, but it is the same basic, threadbare story. Only this time, the ever-annoying Queen Latifah is on hand to give her trademark sass, and make me want to throw things at the screen.

That said, the film is as mindlessly entertaining as it predecessor, with Sid providing the majority of the laughs within the central plot, even though the focus seems to have moved to the less interesting Manny and his relationship with Ellie. But Scrat, the sabre-toothed squirrel that was highlight of the first film, is on hand again to provide some inspired animated physical comedy, as his endless quest to retrieve his acorn carries on,  inadvertently getting caught up with the events around him. Overall, a bit of a disappointment given the fact that the first film wasn't bad at all, but is still able to provide enough laughs to make it worthy of 90 minutes of your time.


Directed by: Carlos Saldanha
Voices: Ray Romano, John Leguizamo, Denis Leary, Queen Latifah, Seann William Scott, Josh Peck
Country: USA

Rating: ***

Tom Gillespie