Ice Age: The Meltdown - Manny, Diego, and Sid Go on Another Adventure
Written: Apr 12 '06 (Updated Sep 19 '08)
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Pros: Scrat. Cute movie with returning characters. Good animation.
Cons: Predictable at times. I wanted more Scrat.
The Bottom Line: Ice Age: The Meltdown is a cute, entertaining family movie. People that enjoyed Ice Age will probably like this one as well.
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| dragonfire88's Full Review: Ice Age 2: The Meltdown |
In 2002, the animated movie Ice Age was released and was very successful. I wasn’t in any hurry to see the movie but did head to the theater when I had the chance to see it. I ended up really enjoying the movie and picked up the DVD once it was released. I have been wanting to see the sequel, Ice Age: The Meltdown, ever since I found out it was being released.
Ice Age told the story of three animals, Manfred the wooly mammoth, Sid the Sloth and Diego the saber tooth tiger, that embarked on a journey together and ended up becoming friends. The adventures of Scrat, a creature that looked like a saber-toothed squirrel - if there was such a thing - and his attempts to get an acorn were included throughout the movie. That is all I am going to say about what happened in the first movie because I don’t want to spoil things for people who haven’t seen that movie yet.
One day a large group of animals were gathered in one area and most of them were playing in the water or sliding down some slides formed by the ice. Fast Tony was telling anyone that would listen that the ice was melting and there would be a flood. He was trying to sell something to help the animals breathe underwater. Manny thought that Fast Tony was running a scam until he saw for himself how the ice was melting. Within a short time, the valley where the animals lived would be flooded. A vulture told them that there was a boat at the other end of the valley so all the animals headed in that direction. Manny was feeling a bit depressed because several animals kept saying that he was the last mammoth. He was pleasantly surprised when he met Ellie, a female mammoth and then dumbfounded by an issue that she had. Ellie and her two brothers, Crash and Eddie, joined Manny, Diego, and Sid on their journey. Scrat and his many attempts to get his beloved acorn were added throughout the movie.
It wasn’t said for sure how much time had passed after the end of the first movie and before the beginning of Ice Age: The Meltdown. The friendship between Manny, Diego, and Sid was more established. Even though the movie featured the same main characters, there really wasn’t a continuation of the plot of the first movie. Things that happened in the first movie really weren’t brought up that often. There were a few very brief references to how the three friends first met and Manny had to try to deal with something that was first brought up in the previous movie. Other than those few things, nothing from the first movie was mentioned. People should be able to follow Ice Age: The Meltdown all right if they haven’t seen the first one since the movies do have their own plot. Manny, Diego, and Sid would be more developed if the movies are watched in order.
The plot of Ice Age: The Meltdown wasn’t complicated so children shouldn’t have trouble following what is happening. I wasn’t bothered by the fact that the plot was fairly simple. I expected that since it happens in most animated movies. Overall the ending was predictable, but there were a few small surprises added in throughout the movie to help keep things interesting. I honestly was surprised by a few things. There was some action included in some scenes when the group ended up in danger. I do think that a few scenes were intended to add a small amount of suspense. One thing did make me jump a little bit because it wasn’t expecting something like that to happen. A few scenes might be a bit intense for younger children. I believe those scenes are why the movie received a PG rating instead of G.
Ice Age: The Meltdown was very funny. A lot of the humor came from how the different characters interacted with each other. Diego showed that he had a fear which did lead to a few humorous scenes as he tried to avoid what he was afraid of and then confront it. Sid was a bit odd and did many things that made me laugh. The whole situation with Ellie and her unique issue was very funny. It was rather silly, but it worked and added many laughs to the movie. There wasn’t any kind of gross or juvenile humor used in the movie. It does get old when animated movies feel the need to rely on jokes about farting or burping for the only source of humor. Certain things that happened were silly. That didn’t bother me at all because I expected that before I saw the movie. Even though the movie was really funny overall, there were a few more serious moments included. Those moments did add to the development of different characters without really slowing the pace of the movie down too much.
Scrat and his many attempts to get the acorn were probably my favorite part in Ice Age. He is a cute character that cracked me up every time he showed up. His part in the movie was small and really didn’t have an impact on the overall story and was rather simple since he was just focused on getting his little paws on the acorn. Before seeing the first movie, I wouldn’t have thought that one squirrel could have so much trouble getting an acorn. The first previews that I saw for Ice Age: The Meltdown only featured Scrat in a few acorn grabbing attempts. Those previews got me really looking forward to seeing the movie. Like was done with the first movie, a short segment with Scrat started the movie. His many failed attempts to get his acorn were shown throughout the movie. Every one of his little parts made me laugh. I love that character and would have been happy if he’d gotten more screen time in this movie. I really think I could sit and watch a movie that just had him trying to get the acorn.
Ice Age: The Meltdown was a computer-animated movie like the first movie was. The animation was very well down throughout the movie. Since melting ice was the main point of the plot, there was a lot of water shown throughout the movie. The animated water was very well done and looked realistic. A few scenes had one of the characters looking into the water at their own reflection. Those scenes were also very well done. Even though I do think the animation was very well done, I don’t think it was quite up to the standards of Pixar. The one place that I thought that the animation fell short on was with the hair or fur on the many animals. Manny and Ellie were covered in somewhat long hair that really didn’t move. The individual strands of hair were visible but they didn’t move independent of each other with the movements of the animals or the wind. Diego and some of the other animals that were minor characters were also covered in hair that didn’t move either. That is how the hair was handled in the first Ice Age movie and I really didn’t see any improvement in that aspect of the animation. I still think that Pixar’s Monsters, Inc. had done the best at animating hair with the character of Sully, the large blue hair covered monster. I didn’t like this movie any less because the animation of the hair wasn’t better. It was just something that I noticed.
Ice Age: The Meltdown featured the same small group of main characters that were in the first movie. Manny, Diego, and Sid were still sticking together in their own unique herd and they seemed to be better friends. Manny did seem to act a bit less depressed most of the time. Once some of the other animals started calling him the last mammoth, some of his depression returned until he first met Ellie. Manny having some moments of sadness didn’t drag the rest of the movie down. Ray Romano returned to provide the voice for Manny. I’ve never really been a fan of Romano but his voice fit Manny perfectly. Diego seemed to be a bit friendlier in this movie. He also showed a small weakness with a fear that he had. That fear contributed to a few interesting scenes. Denis Leary did the voice for the character well. I’ve seen him in a few different movies that I’ve enjoyed.
Sid was still mostly the same. The others picked on him a bit at times which did start to get to him. At one point Sid was treated with the respect that he felt he deserved, though it didn’t turn out the way he’d hoped at all. Sid was a cute character. The voice that John Leguizamo did really fit the character. I’ve also seen him in several movies including Moulin Rouge. He’s been in several episodes of ER this season as a new doctor. Scrat was around in several small scenes and even interacted with Sid once. Scrat never said anything. He was only plotting to get his acorn and any noises he made were to express his joy at spotting one or his sadness that he once again failed to reach his objective. Chris Wedge provided those sounds as Scrat’s voice. Fast Tony showed up several times briefly trying to get animals to buy something from him to help survive the flood. He was always trying to run a con of some kind. Jay Leno did a good voice for the character.
In addition to the returning characters, there were three new characters that had main parts in the movie. Ellie and her two brothers, Eddie and Crash, were the new additions to the group. Crash and Eddie were a bit wild and their antics did annoy Diego and Sid. Josh Peck did the voice for Eddie and Sean William Scott did the voice for Crash. I’ve seen Scott in several movies, like American Pie 2 and The Dukes of Hazzard, and I didn’t recongize the voice he used in this movie at all. Ellie seemed really nice even though she had a little issue that she needed to deal with. That issue added a lot of humor in several scenes of the movie. Queen Latifah did the voice really well for the character. I usually like her and think she’s very funny, like in Bringing Down the House and Last Holiday. She was also in Taxi, a movie that really wasn’t that good despite her best efforts. Several other animals were briefly featured throughout the movie without becoming main characters. Some of them had a few lines here and there and that was it. None of the other animals played a major role in the movie. Ray Romano’s two sons did voices for two of the child animals.
Voice Talent
Queen Latifah - Ellie
Denis Leary - Diego
John Leguizamo - Sid
Jay Leno - Fast Tony
Josh Peck - Eddie
Gregory Romano - Start Boy 1
Matthew Romano - Start Boy 2
Ray Romano - Manny
Stephen Root - Aardvark Dad
Sean William Scott - Crash
Chris Wedge - Scrat
Carlos Saldanha - Director
Ice Age: The Meltdown was a very cute, entertaining animated movie. I really enjoyed it and am already planning to get the DVD once it comes out. This is a good family movie that is worth seeing. People that liked Ice Age should give this one a chance.
Animated Movie Reviews
Ice Age ~ Robots ~ Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas ~ Shrek ~ Shrek 2 ~ Shark Tale ~ Madagascar ~ Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit ~ Hoodwinked ~ Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius ~ The Polar Express ~ Looney Tunes: Back in Action ~ Tim Burton's Corpse Bride ~ The Emperor's New Groove ~ Sleeping Beauty ~ Lilo & Stitch ~ Treasure Planet ~ Brother Bear ~ Home on the Range ~ Valiant ~ Chicken Little ~ Beauty and the Beast ~ Monsters, Inc. ~ Finding Nemo ~ The Incredibles ~
Recommended:
Yes
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