Film Reviews

Ice Age

• Rating:
• Director: Chris Wedge.
• Starring: Starring (Voices of) Ray Romano, John Leguizamo, Denis Leary, Goran Visnijic, Jack Black, Cedric the Entertainer, Stephen Root, Diedrich Bader, Alan Tudyk.
• Details: US / 90 minutes / (G).

Glossy but cumbersome animated feature set in -you've guessed it! - Ice Age, where a sloth named Sid (voiced by Leguizamo) and a woolly mammoth called Manfred (Romano) team up to return a lost child to his father. They're joined on their adventures by Diego (Leary), a duplicitous saber toothed tiger, intent on leading the pair (and nipper) into the jaws of his herd. It's inevitable that comparisons will be made between Ice Age and other recent animated fare like Shrek and Monsters, Inc., and not without justification. Essentially, Ice Age seems to be a hybrid of both of its technologically superior predecessors. The relationship between Sid and Manfred closely mirrors that of the character Shrek and Donkey, while the story bears more than a passing resemblance to that of Monsters, Inc. Unfortunately, Ice Age lacks the bite, sparkle and drive of either. In terms of animation and style, the main characters are well executed, but the backgrounds aren't up to the same standard, appearing to be borrowed from an earlier, less accomplished effort. In short, if you're over the age of 12, there's not a lot to see here.

Review by Garreth Murphy