The main reason I reviewed Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs this week is because adults were giving this children’s film a thumbs up.
So I spent the extra $3 to get 3D goggles to watch this animated film, just for you readers.
This latest Ice Age is about Sid’s (voiced by John Leguizamo) need to adopt three eggs that he’s taken from an underground cave. When the eggs hatch into baby T-Rex dinosaurs, their mother comes to look for them.
After taking Sid and her three babies back to their home in a “lost world,” the gang, Diego (Denis Leary), Ellie (Queen Latifah), Manny (Ray Romano), Eddie (Josh Peck) and Crash (Seann William Scott) journey to save Sid. Along the way, they meet Buck (Simon Pegg) who becomes their travel guide.
Written by Yoni Brenner, the plotline is decent for a kids’ film. It shows kids how hard it is for their parents to save them, and teaches them that their parents are there to protect them. So the message is on point. But the storyline, for me as an adult, is not that interesting.
Directors Carlos Saldanha and Mike Thurmeier have directed a funny kids film; at least, the audience members in my movie theater seemed to thoroughly enjoy the film.
However, a lot of the really funny parts are given away in the trailers. So, it was kind of hard to find the same bit funny for the 30th go around. But all in all, the film is still pretty comical.
My favorite characters are the babies: the dinosaurs and little Peaches, Ellie and Manny’s newborn mammoth. None of these characters talks because they are just babies. Yet they are the cutest little things, with the cutest little facial expressions.
What I also liked is that all of the major characters in this film are growing and progressing in life. There were three different generations represented: Sid, the ever-slow sloth is still, well, slow, and represents childlike innocence. Diego is getting older, so he’s losing his tiger edge, but regains it in a time of need.
Manny and Ellie are moving into the parenting phase of their lives with their new baby mammoth.
There are certain guidelines when it comes to G-rated films, but they are still great representations and models for living that children can understand.
I wish I could have enjoyed this film as much as everyone else, though. It took me a while to adjust to those 3D glasses. The last time I wore 3D goggles, I was 14 years old. I don’t remember what movie I watched, but the goggles were pretty far out.
Now, with the dawn of digital films, those glasses make everything a lot more realistic. The action that brings itself up close is pretty intense. They also get great reactions of awesomeness out of the kid audiences. So, the glasses are OK.
I just thought I would have laughed more when I saw this film. Like I mentioned before, most of the really funny parts are in the trailers. So, they just seem like overkill when they’re viewed in the film.
With all of the great feedback from adults concerning this film, I feel like I should have liked it more. But, alas it’s just a decent kids’ movie to which I can take my niece, which isn’t all that bad.
Considering that I can’t take her to see Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen because of the bad language and bad role models represented by those idiotic twins, Ice Age is a step up; even though Transformers still has my favorite animated characters.
Well, you win some, you lose some.
KAliciaG@Aol.com
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