Review #437: 'Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs' (2009)

With Mannie (Ray Romano) and Ellie (Queen Latifah) shortly expecting their first child, Sid (John Leguizamo) fears for the future of the herd. Soon enough, Diego (Denis Leary) decides to leave after failing to catch a gazelle, fearing he has gone soft. Sid finds three eggs in an isolated underground grave which he excitedly adopts, only for them to hatch the next day into tyrannosaurus rex's. When their angry mother attacks the herd and takes her babies back with Sid with them, Mannie, Ellie, Diego, Crash (Seann William Scott) and Eddie (Josh Peck) go off in search of rescue only to discover an underground lost world still inhabited by dinosaurs. It is a hostile environment and the group are soon under attack, but they are rescued by a demented one-eyed weasel named Buck (Simon Pegg) who becomes their guide through the treacherous jungle.

There seems to be continuing theme throughout the Ice Age films. It could be said the first film dealt with childhood, with the three hapless creatures dealing with a delicate baby, and the second film dealing with adolescence, with Mannie finally discovering a female mammoth and falling in love. Naturally, the third film has Mannie and Ellie having their own baby, and therefore focusing on adulthood. Even the sabre-toothed squirrel Scrat is growing up, finding a possible mate in Scratte, and giving all his attention to her rather than his beloved acorn (which seems to be lonely in an inspired yet quite bizarre love montage between the two). Although, in my opinion, the first sequel The Meltdown (2006) was a step back compared to the first film, the third is the best of the bunch, and it's nice to know that the films are growing just as their characters are.

The 'underground lost world' is admittedly a bit of a cheap way to throw in some dinosaurs, but I found it hard to care with animation this beautiful. The opening shot amongst the tree tops of the jungle, with dinosaurs slowly moving and eating from trees, is truly stunning, and a real improvement of the slightly blocky animation of the first film. Sadly, Diego is again given little to nothing to do, and seems a waste of Leary's talents, but the introduction of Buck was certainly a smart one. With Buck as our insane tour guide, it becomes easier to put up with Mannie and Ellie's slightly dull moral heart of the story and enjoy lines such as "about three months ago I woke up married to a pineapple. An ugly pineapple! But I loved her so...". In Pegg's hands his sheer randomness is hilarious. Directors Carlos Saldanha and Mike Thurmeier have stepped up their game rather than relying on the Ice Age franchise to bring in the punters, and given the series the kick up the arse it needed.


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

Rating: ****

Tom Gillespie