FILM: Ice Age 3: Dawn Of The Dinosaurs

Sid the sloth’s search for a family causes trouble in ‘Ice Age 3: Dawn Of The Dinosaurs’.

Daniel Carey

WHAT would ‘Jurassic Park’ have been like if, instead of Sam Neill, Laura Dern and two cute kids, those trying to out-run dinosaurs were animals of various shapes and sizes? It’s not a question that ever occurred to me before last week, but if ‘Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs’ is any guide, the answer is: perhaps not as bad it sounds.

Unlike most of the young audience members who have been going to see ‘Ice Age 3’ since it opened on Wednesday, I have not seen either of the first instalments in the franchise. This second sequel wouldn’t have me rushing out to the DVD store, but nor would I be horrified (or surprised) to learn that ‘Ice Age 4’ is on the way.

The core group in this computer-animated children’s movie are a strange herd – two woolly mammoths, Manny (voiced by Ray Romano) and Ellie (Queen Latifah); a sloth named Sid (John Leguizamo); and a tiger named Diego (Denis Leary). The mammoths are expecting a baby, while the sloth becomes attached to three eggs, which soon pop to reveal baby dinosaurs. Their mother, a Tyrannosaurus Rex, comes looking for them, kidnaps Sid, and so the adventure begins.

The film opens with an amusing battle over an acorn – anyone who has been to the cinema over the past six months will have seen it in trailer form. This duel is replayed in various forms at intervals throughout the next 96 minutes. It has nothing to do with the main story, but with touches of Roadrunner and Laurel and Hardy, it offers its share of decent set-pieces.

And that’s where ‘Ice Age 3’ is at its best: when fur is flying, when things fall down, when animals go sliding and crashing into things. The animation is impressive, and the narrative is easy to follow. But at least for this Ice Age novice, it took some time to empathise with the characters. Ellie is heavily pregnant, but it’s her mate, Manny, who’s ‘having kittens’. Diego strikes out on his own, seeking adventure, while Sid struggles to control his adopted children as the dino-babies run riot. “Liar, liar, fur on fire,” he argues as playground antics end with the young carnivores swallowing some of the other creatures.

The chatter-filled early stages are dull, and the entire premise rather flimsy – even ten-year-olds know there were no dinosaurs during the Ice Age. But the picture comes into its own as Manny, Ellie and Diego lead a mission to rescue Sid from the T-Rex.

Buck, a weasel voiced by Simon Pegg, joins the gang and brings street-smarts to the jungle. He also has some of the best lines in a script that improves as time goes by, telling two eager possums along for the ride that he can’t interpret what the breeze is telling them because ‘I don’t speak wind’. He even gets to say ‘the Buck stops here’ and ‘pop goes the weasel’. Would the Sultan of Pun please stand up?

Sid, for his part, is trying to negotiate custody rights with the large Tyrannosaurus in between attacks, but has to admit that broccoli doesn’t cut the mustard for natural meat-eaters.

Notwithstanding the frequent complaints of one child who wanted to go home from the tenth minute or so, most of the youngsters present seemed to thoroughly enjoy their evening out. Many of the accompanying adults seemed to have more fun than they expected – I would count myself in their number.

‘Ice Age 3’ isn’t exactly cool. But it’s not frozen over yet either.